Food...

It is still maple season here in Michigan. (To be sure that it’s maple season at all: http://www.riverwired.com/blog/march-maple-season.) I recently visited with my grandmother, a Vermonter who knows maple syrup, and she had an interesting question for me: How do they get the maple sap from the trees to the sap house to be processed in Michigan? Well, I’ve never thought about that. But the Michigan Maple Syrup Association has the answer: once the trees are ready to be “tapped” maple producers work quickly to collect all the sap they can each day. They use plastic tubing to collect the sap, and vacuum pumps to keep it moving and to pull as much sap out of each tree as possible. The sap is then transferred into large storage tanks at the sap house. So, there’s your answer: a combination of plastic tubing and vacuum pumps keep maple syrup flowing in Michigan. (For a video about Michigan maple syrup collection, visit http://www.mi-maplesyrup.com/Information/info_prod.htm.) Finally, in the spirit of the season, here’s a recipe from the Detroit News article, Maple Butter wakes up ordinary breakfast bagel. I remember spreading (store-bought) maple butter on toast as a kid, and it is delicious. Maple ButterAdapted from allrecipes.com.
2 tablespoons butter, softened
1 tablespoon brown sugar
1 1/2 teaspoons maple syrup
1/4 teaspoon pumpkin pie spice
In a medium bowl, mix together the butter, brown sugar, maple syrup and pumpkin pie spice until well blended. Chill in the refrigerator, for about 30 minutes. Form into a roll using waxed paper and store wrapped. It can be frozen for later at this point, if desired. Serves 1
Per serving: 268 calories; 24 g fat (15 g saturated fat; 81 percent calories from fat); 14 g carbohydrates; 66 mg cholesterol; 253 mg sodium; 0.3 g protein; 0 g fiber.Photo taken from The Field Farm in Vermont where you can buy maple butter if you don't want to make your own.