Jan 30 2025 - Maple Syrup

 

Maple syrup seems like winter food to me.  That was the case with the Indigenous populations. It was a very important winter staple. There's a lot of maple syrup produced in Canada. Quebec is the largest producer - over 96% of exports.  The Sugar Maple is the source of Maple Syrup.  Don't bother with the other Maples as the concentration of sugar is far less. Indigenous communities used maple as a food and to cure meats.  The syrup collection actually starts in early spring.  Right now, the trees are maturing their sugar.   When the temperature goes about 0 degrees C in the day and then fall below freezing at night, then there is a natural flow of sap.  Makes you wonder how things will react with climate change.  Maple syrup has gotten expensive over the years.  It is a work-intensive product.  However, we have lots of favourite maple syrup foods.  What comes to mind are two brunch favourites -  pancakes and French toast.  For the more adventurous, there's glazing vegetables and meats.    Maple syrup has its own Guinness World Records - things like fastest time to drink a bottle of maple syrup - less than 11 seconds for 32 ounces.  What about the largest bucket of maple syrup - that was at the Elmire Maple Syrup Festival in 2000 and 605 litres - that's a lot.  I bet that was just a little expensive.   The Great Canadian Maple Syrup Heist in 2011 involved 23,000 tons valued at $18.7 Canadian then.  It was stolen from a storage facility in Quebec.  There's a strategic reserve that is maintained and the facility is managed by the maple syrup federation.  The perpetrators were caught in 2012 and got substantial jail sentences and fines.   As you can imagine, there are a lot of bad maple tree/ maple syrup jokes. Making maple syrup is just like making holy water...you gotta boil the hell out of it! What’s a Canadian ghost’s favorite condiment? Maple scream!  What’s a Canadian’s favorite type of music? Anything with a good sap-rano! I poured maple syrup all over my counterfeit money… now I’m wanted for making pancake stacks. Did you know that our oldest maple - The Comfort Maple is about 500 years old and is a sugar maple?  Here it is.

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Mar 7 2023 - Maple Syrup is good for you

 

I saw that headline recently.  Here it is:  "pure maple syrup is not only high in antioxidants, but every spoonful offers nutrients like riboflavin, zinc, magnesium, calcium and potassium."   So woodpeckers know something!  But what about bears who love honey?  "Real Maple Syrup has significantly more calcium, iron, magnesium, potassium, zinc, copper, and manganese than honey. These minerals do great work for your body including things like cell formation, maintaining healthy red blood cells, and immune support." But wait!  Is it a case of all those  healthy syrups and sweetners going onto the wrong foods?  How to explain that it is expected that obese adults are expected to outnumber those who are not overweight by 2040?  Too many pancakes or waffles or french toast with maple syrup?  Or what? With the UK numbers projected to be that 71% of people will be overweight by 2040, shouldn't we have some answers to "Why do so many of us get so fat?" Scientific American looks at the question and answers with our current-thinking: a disorder of the energy balance.  The article says this has never been tested as it is too difficult and expensive to do correctly. This article pursues the question of the role of hormones (insulin) in stimulating fat accumulation.  And the sugars of note are sucrose and high-fructose corn syrup.  This hypothesis of obesity implies that the ongoing worldwide epidemics of obesity and type 2 diabetes (which stems to a great extent from insulin resistance) are largely driven by the grains and sugars in our diets. And that was the premise of the Aitkins Diet - eat as much saturated fat as you want, just don't eat carbohydrates. Isn't that the keto diet as well? The keto diet is known to help those with diabetes.  The full article is HERE.  It seems to me that the scientific and medical communities are still trying to figure out how we get fat and how to get unfat.  I bet that won't happen by 2040.  Especially with the recipes that follow the articles - bacon-wrapped salmon followed by the "meatza" - a paleo pizza - with a ground beef and pork crust.   Yikes! On to our photo of the day - it is pussy willow time.  I've brought home 200 stems, and realize there are more pots this year than last year at the two places where I do the decorative pots.  Back for more! Read more daily posts here: marilyncornwellblogspot.com Purchase works here: Fine Art America- marilyncornwellart.com Redbubble - marilyncornwellart.ca

Sink into Spring

What might sink in the spring? "I don't know what happened:  the boat was sitting there on the bottom." As we drove back from Ottawa, the highway revealed travelling boats heading to their summer destinations.  These boats didn't sit in water over winter. What would happen to make a boat sink over the winter? It looks like there are lots of parts to a boat, so quite a few things can be the cause - Boatus.com has the answer HERE 1. Heavy spring rains get through poorly caulked ports, hatches, chainplates, and deck fittings 2. If the owner is unaware of leaks because the automatic bilge pump dutifully kept the bilge dry during the warmer months, the battery and bilge pump may go dead over the winter.  Water accumulates. 3. A poorly attached hose (secured with only one hose clamp) can be "lifted" off the seacock as the water freezes and expands. 4. If water is left in the intake sea strainer, it can freeze and break the bowl. 5. If a stuffing box isn't tightened before the boat is laid up, even small amounts of water - steady drip - can eventually swamp a boat. My own experience with boats is at the parking lot in Port Dalhousie where they are being stored.  Some are for sale. Of course, I am looking for the scrapes and  scratches on the bottom that make good photo opportunities.   Ottawa has its namesake sign, complete with muskoka chairs.  This will be a busy scene in the summer when tourists arrive.  The market is a tourist attraction with the beavertail pastries and maple syrup for sale.