Maple Old Fashioned Whiskey Cocktail

I had someone inquiring at the Farmers' Market yesterday about a recipe for a maple cocktail for her gourmet club. I was able to find this video on youtube with instructions for making a maple old fashioned whiskey cocktail. Looks delicious!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8UksnUyBfUA

Finished Tapping

Well, we did indeed work hard on Thursday and finished tapping all of our trees! Now, we just have to wait for this winter storm to clear out and hope for some warmer weather!

At this time of year, Canadians everywhere are beginning to think maple. I noticed an article today about a brewery in the Ottawa area that welcomes spring with a special seasonal beer. Heritage Brewing uses maple sap instead of water to brew its Maple Bush Lager.

"The beer varies in dryness from year to year depending on the sugar content of the sap," the company says. "This beer has the aroma of maple, the smokiness of a sugar camp and the rich colour of amber maple syrup."

Sounds great! You can check it out on their website: http://www.heritagebrewing.com/seasonal.html

Making Mead with Maple Syrup

Ken Roberts has some links to different maple syrup mead recipes.

• Made with honey and maple syrup
• Made with pure maple syrup

The page also mentions maple syrup wine and a liquor made from maple syrup.

Maple Syrup Diet aka Lemonade Diet

So several celebrities including Beyonce are promoting this supposed miracle diet called the Maple Syrup Diet or the Lemon Cleanse or the Maple Syrup Lemon Diet or whatever.

Even though Maple syrup has an abundance of trace minerals that are essential to good nutrition: potassium, magnesium, phosphorus, manganese, iron, zinc, copper and tin, as well as calcium, the fact is that Maple Syrup is still primarily a sugar. It should be enjoyed in moderation and as part of a good healthy diet. Don't bother with fads like this, you might lose some weight for a period of time but will do nothing to improve your overall health, instead try to keep your calories down and get some exercise.