National Maple Syrup Day
Well, it’s a sticky situation, but we’re happy to tell you about National Maple Syrup Day. On December 17 each year, fans of maple syrup far and wide celebrate National Maple Syrup Day.
What would a maple syrup celebration be like if you didn’t have a complementary food item like waffles or pancakes? Well, just not as tasty. So, start planning your menu right after Thanksgiving to be ready for the event the third week in December.
Maple syrup’s roots go back far in North America. Indigenous people tapped into maple trees to extract maple sap. In colder climates, trees store starch in their roots and trunks. When the weather conditions are just right – sunny, warm days and cooler nights in Spring – the starch converts to sugar and rises in the form of sap.
Holes are bored into the maple trees, and the sap is collected in buckets of some type. The sap is usually then condensed on open fires to increase the thickness and sugar content.
When is National Maple Syrup Day?
National Maple Syrup Day is celebrated on December 17 of each year.
Why do we celebrate maple syrup?
National Maple Syrup Day celebrates the rich tradition of collecting maple syrup, the maple syrup industry, and folks’ pleasant experience with eating it on favorite foods. Since it’s been around for hundreds of years, there’s a certain nostalgia associated with its collection and production.
How to observe National Maple Syrup Day?
Put on your Toronto Maple Leaf’s jersey (if you have one) and plan a meal that enables you to pour syrup on it.
Here are some ideas on ways to use maple syrup:
- French toast.
- Flapjacks.
- Waffles.
- Pancakes.
- Crepes.
- Biscuits.
- Popcorn, yes popcorn.
- Scones.
- Oatmeal.
- Sweet Potatoes.
- Baked Beans.
- Maple spiced candied nuts.
- Porridge.
- Roasted vegetables.
- Yogurt.
- Donut holes.
- Sausage.
- Bacon.
- Applesauce.
- Chicken wings.
- Granola.
- Maple glaze on salmon.
See National French Toast Day.
How Real Maple Syrup is Made Video
Fun Facts About Maple Syrup
It’s more expensive than oil. A gallon of maple syrup can sell for $32 per gallon.
About 80% of all maple syrup sold comes from Canada. Quebec generates about 2/3’s of the world’s supply. The state of Vermont is the biggest producer in the U.S.
Canada produces over 5 million gallons of maple syrup per year.
The sugar maple leaf has come to symbolize Canada and is seen on the flag of Canada.
Indigenous peoples in North America were the first to make maple syrup and maple sugar. Legends suggest that Native Americans observed squirrels biting at trees to get to the sap.
Three types of maple trees native to Canada are used for syrup. They are black maple, red maple, and the biggest – sugar maple.
A maple tree needs to be about 30 years old and have a trunk size of 12” diameter for good sap collection.
Maple trees yield sap for about 100 years.
Interesting Tidbits
Maple sap collection season is about eight to ten weeks in early Spring.
Sunny days and frosty nights encourage the sap to flow in trees.
Maple syrup may well be the most nutritious of natural sweeteners. A University of Rhode Island study showed that maple syrup reduces inflammation, helps prevent cancer, and is a good source of antioxidants that can improve immunity.
Unopened maple syrup sealed properly can last many years. It’s not infinitive like honey, but still, for a very long time. But, once opened, it’s recommended to refrigerate.
It takes about 40-gallon buckets of maple syrup sap to make one gallon of real maple syrup.
The sugar content of sugar maple sap is about 2.5%. Authentic maple syrup is 66% sugar.
Foods made from maple include maple sugar, maple taffy, maple butter, and various liqueurs.
Grade A is the top grade of maple syrup. It is lighter and produced earlier in the season than Grade B and Grade C.
FAQs
Here are some frequently asked questions about maple syrup.
1.) How is maple syrup different from pancake syrup?
Pancake syrup sold in grocery stores is frequently made mostly of corn syrup. Pure maple syrup comes from boiling real maple sap until the water concentration is 33 percent.
2.) What do you call a person who makes maple syrup?
A Sugarmaker.
3.) What is a sugar shack?
A sugar shack, also called a sugar shanty, sap house, sugar house, or sugar cabin, is a building where sap is collected from maple trees and then condensed down to maple syrup. Sugar shacks are most commonly seen in Northern New England states and Eastern Canada.
4.) How many calories are in a tablespoon of maple syrup?
A tablespoon of maple syrup has about 50 calories.
5.) Can vegans eat maple syrup?
Yes, maple syrup is vegan-friendly. As the product comes from maple trees’ sap, it does qualify for a vegan diet.
Famous Fans of Maple Syrup
Here are some lovers of sappy sweeteners.
- Ben Franklin was a big fan of maple syrup. So much so that he campaigned colonial America to use it as its primary sweetener. He argued this would reduce America’s dependence on foreign goods.
- George Washington apparently had a sweet tooth, and when the mood struck him, he satisfied his urge with maple sugar.
- Rachel McAdams once said of maple syrup, “I drink maple syrup. Then I’m hyper so I just run around like crazy and work it all off.”
Quotes
Check out these funny and interesting maple syrup quotes.
- We don’t want you convicted of condiment theft. You go to that prison; you’ll meet big-time operators. Maple syrup stealers.
Deb Caletti
- I am passionate about tea, running, the idea that we are bound only by the limits of our imaginations, and maple syrup.
Misha Collins
- I’m not from a maple-producing area, and so my maple syrup credentials are very much of the eating side.
Nancy Greene
- Buddy’s stepmother: You like sugar, huh?
Buddy The Elf: Is there sugar in syrup?
Buddy’s stepmother: Yes.
Buddy The Elf: Then, yes!
Check out 29 Funny Buddy the Elf Quotes
- Sugaring season is the season when you tap the trees for sugar that turns into maple syrup. I’ve married someone from Vermont, so it’s an expression I kept hearing, and I’m like, ‘What is that? That’s just so beautiful.’ I like the idea it’s the very, very first murmurings of spring.
Beth Orton
- The food that’s never let me down in life is porridge, especially with milk and maple syrup, which is delicious. Paris isn’t a porridge place, but I can buy it in London when I’m there and bring it back with me.
Marianne Faithfull
Maple Syrup Jokes
On this national celebration day, pull out some humor with these puns and jokes.
- Did you hear about the guy who couldn’t stop eating maple syrup?
Yes, he’s going to have to join Eh Eh. (Think Canadian-speak).
- Did you hear the one about the maple syrup company that went out of business?
Those poor saps!
- Yes, I guess the syrup company maple their brand off the shelves soon.
- Did you read that book about maple syrup?
It starts off sappy but ends up sweet.
- If blood is thicker than water and maple syrup is thicker than blood, pancakes are more important than family. Please pass the plate.
- Father: Easy with the maple syrup, son!
That stuff doesn’t grow on trees, you know.
- I went through my best maple syrup jokes, but now I’m tapped out. I could try to invent one, but then it would all be maple leaf.
Hashtags for National Maple Syrup Day on Instagram
- #NationalMapleSyrupDay
- #MapleSyrupDay
- #CanadianWater
- #PleasePassTheSyrup
- #VermontsBest
By Mike O’Halloran
Mike is the founder and editor of Greeting Card Poet and a big maple syrup fan.
Etcetera
You’re on our National Maple Syrup Day page.
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