Holy hotcakes, Batman! There's a National (USA) Maple Syrup Day and it's celebrated on December 17th! Here's a few ideas on how to celebrate!
Step 1
Make a breakfast that goes well with real maple syrup. Pancakes, waffles, french toast, and crepes would all be an excellent start to your celebration. (See related links) If you don't feel like cooking, take some real maple syrup with you to your locally owned pancake house.
Step 2
Try a PBMS. Make a peanut butter sandwich, only add maple syrup instead of jelly.
Step 3
Dinner ideas include a glaze for ham, a side dipping sauce for sushi, and a topping for vegetables. Try it for the sweetener in your favorite recipe for muffins, baked beans or barbecue sauce, too. If you're replacing crystalline sugar, reduce the other liquid a bit.
Step 4
Real maple syrup adds an explosion of flavor to any dessert. Try topping ice cream with it, making a layer of syrup in cakes, and dipping Twinkies or other light cakes in it.
Step 5
Pour some syrup on a double layer of wax paper a few days before the holiday, and crack off your delicious treat on the big day.
Tips
- For every occasion use real maple syrup, not the maple-flavored kind as it has high fructose corn syrup as a main ingredient and it can't be processed by the human body. (Lots of other food products have high fructose corn syrup including most all sodas, bad stuff for any human to consume.)
- Learn how maple syrup is made. Did you know it takes about 40 gallons of maple sap to make one gallon of syrup? Did you know that the higher grades have lighter colors and taste less strongly of maple? Look at the links at the bottom of the page to brush up on your facts.
- If your syrup has crystallized, revive it by warming it with a little extra water or eat it as candy.
- Feel free to come up with your own fantastic ways to celebrate National Maple Syrup Day!
- Tell everyone about this day, or throw a party! Try having a contest to see who can come up with the most creative maple syrup dish.
Warnings
- Maple syrup is not carbohydrate, calorie, or sugar free unless indicated so on the label. Enjoy with caution.
- It tastes extremely good so it may become addicting.
- Beware of fake maple syrup made up of artificial ingredients. The ingredients should read: "100% pure maple syrup" or just "maple syrup". There should be no other ingredients.
