This weekend and next, maple producers all over New York State are presenting the best of their efforts to the public in the annual giant open house called Maple Weekend. Almost 160 producers are participating, each in their own way. The pancake breakfasts many of them host are so popular that the Maple Weekend website has a search function devoted just for that. While the offerings at each producer vary you can be sure you’ll get to pour house-made maple syrup at every one of the breakfasts! Continue reading
Tag: maple festivals
Let’s start with doughnuts. Maple doughnuts. As fried and glazed by the Mill Gap Ruritans. These pastries are a passion among Highland Maple Festival veterans. You’ll see a long line of folks waiting for their chance to purchase a pair, or a dozen, or multiple dozens. If it’s you first time at Virginia’s Highland Maple Festival (this is the 57th annual edition), which is going on this weekend and next weekend, you might want to make those maple doughnuts your first priority, as they stop selling at 1 p.m. Or would you rather begin your day with a stack of plain or buckwheat pancakes topped with local syrup? Choices… Continue reading
The Kalamazoo Nature Center celebrates their 50th annual Maple Sugar Festival this coming weekend, March 14th and 15th. Start your visit with a pile of pancakes drenched with Michigan maple. Follow that up with a maple sugar tour through the woods with a naturalist, which departs every 15 minutes. At the DeLano Homestead you can see how sugaring was done in the 19th century, take a horse-drawn wagon ride, and observe blacksmithing, spinning, and fiber art demonstrations. When you catch your second wind, enjoy some ice cream topped with more of that sweet elixir. Continue reading
As soon as late winter days see above-freezing temperatures (and as long as overnight temps drop below freezing) sugar maple sap is flowing and trees are tapped in maple sugaring country. That’s also when the regional maple festivals begin to pop up. This year’s 25th annual Hebron Maple Festival in Connecticut has been postponed from this coming weekend to March 21st and 22nd, because of heavy snow in the area. When that weekend arrives you’ll get the opportunity to immerse yourself in all things maple. Continue reading
One day in early 1947, Kate Smith mentioned on her radio show how much she would enjoy a taste of Vermont maple. The local citizens of Somerset County in Pennsylvania, inspired by this comment, sent her some of their own Pennsylvania brew. Kate’s response? In April, she proclaimed on her show that Somerset County maple syrup is the sweetest she ever tasted! And so the seed was planted for the Pennsylvania Maple Festival in Meyersdale, which was first held the following March. Continue reading