One Of My All-time Favorite Foods-Maple Syrup!

I have loved maple syrup my whole life and can distinctly remember enjoying it as a boy in suburban New Jersey. Now I will admit I ate some Log Cabin and maybe Aunt Jemima a few times when we did not have the real stuff but found that “fake” syrup to be a bummer.

As an adult, I would shutter when I went to a pancake breakfast or church breakfast when they rolled out the fake syrup, a travesty in my mind. I’ve become a maple syrup snob! I only enjoy the real stuff. I remember when my favorite breakfast restaurant, Cracker Barrel started sneaking fake syrup into those little glass bottles. I would GLADY pay extra for 100% real syrup and to me, that would have been a smarter move for Cracker Barrel than just adulterating the real stuff with cane syrup thinking their customers would not find out.

So why does this sticky maply stuff mean so much to me? It all starts with breakfast, breakfast has some seriously fun foods; fried eggs, pancakes, waffles, silver dollar pancakes, bacon, sugar-cured ham, sausage patties and links, omelets, French toast…so many items a child (and adult) is fond of. No other meal IMO bring the goods like breakfast.

Think about it, who does not look forward to going out for breakfast? Or eating pancakes and bacon or ham. I feel powdered sugar on French Toast with syrup with sausage links is the stuff of dreams. For me, the most important ingredient of breakfast is no doubt, maple syrup. It’s the breakfast icon, the real deal, the OG.

I also love winter and all the wonderful things I associate with winter; skiing, ice skating, sledding, hot chocolate, Christmas trees, twinkly lights, crackling fireplaces, wood smoke in the cold evening air, Santa Claus, and you guessed it, maple syrup!

I guess no other foodstuff makes me as happy as maple syrup. One of my dreams is to harvest and produce my own syrup. I hope to tap sugar maples (or others that can produce sap) and produce my own syrup one day. In fact, as I shop for homesteads in the Smoky Mountains I look to see if any stands of sugar maple are on or near the property. Yes, even the southern USA in places like Western North Carolina, East Tennessee, and Southern Virginia all have sugar maple trees. They can even be found in North Georgia and parts of Louisiana.

An interesting thing about my father is that he loved to drive. I cannot tell you how many road trips I took with my father. We drove all over upstate New York, New Hampshire, Vermont, Connecticut, Massachusetts, and Pennsylvania. Lots of trips were made to compete in ice hockey tournaments as that was a HUGE part of my childhood and some of the best memories I have.

Whenever we were in New England we always stopped at sugar houses to buy cans of syrup. Sometimes we’d buy gallon cans of grade-A amber, which is awesome syrup. My father also loved breakfast and we ate so many pancakes and waffles that it’s mind-boggling. Now as Dad to my three kids I have certainly kept these traditions alive and as I write this there is a batch of sourdough pancake batter fermenting in the kitchen all ready for tomorrow morning, Saturday, breakfast day!

I was just lamenting that finding edible sausage links for breakfast is nearly impossible here in Southern Utah. I love dipping those little sausages in syrup…that is a treat! I am likely buying myself sausage-making supplies for Christmas so I can start making my own sausages again because the crap sausage they sell in local stores is nothing to write home about.

I always keep a ready supply of syrup on hand but most of it these days is from Canada, and they are no slouches when it comes to sugaring. In fact, they are the largest producer of maple syrup in the world. Here in the states, Vermont is king and they make 40% of our syrup. I recently learned about a threesome of Jersey boys that bought a huge plot of land in Island Pond Vermont to make syrup in a new high-tech way. Rather than attempt to explain it I have a video below for you to watch.

They are doing some pretty neat work and using some amazing equipment to make so much syrup. In the end, those who make the food will win! Especially those who control the entire process like Maple Guild Does. I hope you all have some syrup soon!