MARCH IS MAPLE SYRUP TIME IN CANADA

 We love our Maple Syrup.

I did a post in 2017 on Maple Syrup Locations in Ontario. March 5, 2017. You can find the link in the sidebar to your right.

It was for the 150th of Canada.

At the Cambridge Farmers Market.

On a trip to St. Joseph's Island near Sault Ste Marie Ontario, we visited Thompson Farm where one of the largest output of Maple Syrup is produced.

Quebec has the highest production in Canada.

Maple Syrup- a wonderful Canadian food. Thanks to our Indigenous people who showed us how to collect sap and produce it.

I love it on pancakes, in my oatmeal and use it in baking.

How about you? What do you do with Maple Syrup?

#maplesyrup#pancakes#reflectivethoughtsbybarbara#barbaradimambro

 

MARCH IS MAPLE SYRUP SEASON

Yeah the sap has been running. Maple Syrup a wonderful Canadian food. Available in Supermarkets or at Farmers' Markets. A wonderful school theme or even a class trip to see how it is collected. Maple trees a Canadian symbol give us this wonderful commodity. Quebec is the largest producer of Maple Syrup. Great on pancakes or french toast! There are wonderful recipes that use maple syrup like fudge! So what are you making today.
#maplesyrup#spring#pancakes

#21 BARB'S REFLECTIVE 150- MAPLE SYRUP

Maple syrup is so Canadian and so good. On pancakes, in fudge and baking and even snow cones dipped in it, no one leaves without a smile. March is Maple Syrup month.

It can be found in many locations. The farm, the markets and even the supermarket. The PC brand costing $10.00 for the bottle in the picture is an easy find. Depending where it is bought there are a variety of containers.

On a farmer's market trip to Cambridge we bought the 2 Litres jug from this sweet company.
#ShadyGroveMapleCo.
Shady Grove Maple Co
During a family trip to St. Joseph's Island, we discovered it was the largest producer of Maple Syrup in Ontario.

Thompson's Maple Products was a fun jaunt with family.
#Thompson'sMapleProducts
Thompson's Maple Products
Thompson
We came home with some products from this wonderful location.
Other market trips like St. Jacob's yielded wonderful jugs of the product.
#stjacobsmarket
St.Jacob's Market
Although lots of maple syrup comes from Ontario, Quebec is the largest producer in the country and I believe in the world. Calls for a trip to La belle province to visit some locations and buy their syrup.
For those that love maple syrup, it does comes in lighter and darker versions.
Some of the best maple syrup I have used comes from my brother Ron and wife Sheila who live on St. Joseph's idea. He has a small sugar bush and bottles his own syrup for personal consumption. It is dark and very tasty.
In our area here in York Region, there was the Baker sugar bush at Bathurst and Highway 7. Gone now but there is a street name after them. The Baker family was an original Pennsylvania family that settled in the area in 1790.
The conservation areas in the province have special days for obtaining the sap to make the syrup. Bruce's Mills near us has school trips for young people to learn about this important heritage.
Thanks to our First Nations people who introduced it to the White Man, it is definitely a very Canadian tradition. Yes it does come from the sap in a Maple tree!
There are lots of sites that have history and information on the process of gathering the sap and boiling it to sugar. Try visiting some sites then go to an actual location. Lots of fun for the whole family!

#maplesyrup#stjacobs#thompson'smapleproducts#shadygrovemapleco#visitstofarmersmarketswherelotsofmaplesyrupissold#reflectivethoughtsbybarbara#barbaradimambro#onpancakes#makefudgefrommaplesyrup#maplesyruponoatmeal#lovemymaplesyrup#averycanadianitemshowntousbytheindigenouspeople

CANADA DAY 2013-PANCAKES WITH MAPLE SYRUP AND PEAMEAL BACON

Canada Day is always celebrated on July 1 of each year. We are 146 years old since Confederation but of course Canada has a longer history. Canadians like pancakes for breakfast, attending local ceremonies and fireworks at night. There is often coverage from Ottawa of the hoopla there! T-shirts in red and white are worn. I actually have a purple one- not surprised eh? It is a time to be thankful we live in one of the best countries in the world. Peace earned by many times of conflict-with a price! Tolerance! Acceptance! Lots of good manners! And smart people! Never assume good manners and honesty mean we are stupid! Just nice! Hard working! Love our family! We know how to eat well. There are traditional dishes from all parts of the country. Today-fresh maple syrup on my pancakes with some Canadian peameal bacon. Then off to Richmond Green for some of the day's festivities and may return for the fireworks or not! For those with a birthday today-have a good one! What are you doing to celebrate our special day? Alittle history-it used to be called Dominion Day! So what year was it changed to Canada Day? What 4 provinces were the first to become United? What was the last province to join the Confederation in 1949?

THE MAPLE LEAF

For Canadians, the maple leaf has become symbolic of our nation. It's on our flag. It come from maple trees. There are a variety of these decidious ones that  grow across the country. One variety even make a delicious syrup. Hardy, changes colour in the Fall and rejuvenates in the Spring with beautiful green foilage. Its' seeds blow in the wind and make numerous new trees everywhere. Sometimes in our gardens where we do not want any new ones. No wonder it is indicative of our nation!

A POSTCARD FROM A SON VISITING FLORIDA

Since it Mother's Day, I perused my postcard collection and found a card from my brother Ron sent to my folks in BC. He was visiting Florida with his wife Sheila.

He sent the card the Feb. 14, 2002. " Hi Folks: Florida weather has been nice-cool nights and warm days in 70's. We BBQ in our portable most nights, lots of fresh beefsteak tomatoes and grapefruits every day and strawberries are in season. Bigger trailer is quite comfy and we even shower in it. Will be heading back end of month for the sap run. Love Ron and Sheila"

For those of you that are not Canadian, Ron was referring to the Maple Syrup season- sap run that occurs in March in most of Canada. The Sugar Maple trees are prolific in Ontario, Quebec and the Eastern Seaboard of the United States. If you have not had maple syrup, never too late to try it!

I have my folks' postcards and find it very interesting how much of a life can be found from the little tidbits they reveal about the family and friends. Nice to see how people kept in touch with them! Mom always liked to write letters and cards herself so know she especially appreciated receiving them.

If you want a postcard featured here, email me at abdm@rogers.com and I will send you my address so you can send me a postcard.

MAPLE SYRUP-CANADIAN EH!

Maple Syrup is very Canadian. I have been very fortunate to live near several Maple Sugar Bushes in the York Region area.
In 2007 I visited Thompson's which is
a major producer on St. Joseph's Island near
Sault Ste Marie Ontario.
It is so interesting to know how the syrup is
made.

March is the time of year when the sap runs in the Maple trees prolific for maple syrup. The two main sources are the sugar and black maple trees. We have 2,600 producers in Ontario alone. Quebec has the most production and locales in the USA are renown as well. The farmers use a plastic tub collection 80% of the time while the traditional bucket tapping can still be seen in some locations. The Native Canadians introduced the white man to maple syrup. School children will have spring trips to Maple bushes to learn about the process and to taste the raw product. As for me, love it on pancakes, in my oatmeal and have used maple syrup as a sugar substitute in baking. Do you have favourite dishes that include maply syrup?

THE MAPLE LEAF

This time of year brings out the glory of the colours in our trees. It is such a beautiful time to drive and find a single tree or small woodlots with trees in radiant colours. Children like to collect the leaves and schools often make projects about fall and the leaves. One tree that is so indicative of this adventure is the Maple Tree.
A book written by Daniel Tignes- Canadian Forest Trees Essences gives much detail on all the trees in our country. For now I would like to reflect on the one leaf.

The Maple Leaf is such a Canadian symbol. After a little research to determine that I knew all the varieties of Maple trees in Canada, I discovered there are 129 species in the world. I always thought it was just a Canadian and North America tree. Several species actually grow in Canada- Red Maple, Mountain Maple, Manitoba Maple, Silver Maple, Big Leaf Maple, Douglas Maple and of course the Sugar Maple. As a deciduous tree the Maple sheds its leaves in the fall and renews in the Spring. The Red Maple on our flag is recognized around the world. Maple syrup from the sap of the Sugar Maple was adapted from the Native population by the white man and is a major industry now in Eastern Canada and the US. Pancakes always taste better with some Maple syrup on them. Of course the Toronto Maple Leafs- my local team- who eventually will win another Stanley Cup and hopefully in my lifetime uses the leaf motif. Every Canadian Traveller will have a little maple leaf somewhere on their person to let the world know we are Canadian. But I wonder when the Maple Leaf started to become such a symbol for us? When there was the debate to create a new flag in 1965 and the winner was the flag we have today, the red maple was a popular choice. Our Olympic atheletes proudly display it. Canada Day has them in abundance. Gardeners like to plant a Maple Tree and of course suffer the consequences of raking copious leaves in the Fall. It would be hard to imagine Canada without a Maple Leaf. If we decided to create another symbol, could you imagine what it could be? I can not. For now, I would love to sing that childhood song, rarely heard today- The Maple Leaf Forever!