Tuesday, July 13, 2021

T.T.: Come Over To the (Maple) Dark Side

(Today is Calvin's birthday. He is nine. Although I usually post a picture of the birthday kid on the day, he is definitely not okay with me posting a picture of him, so I won't.)

One of the culinary carryovers from my decade and a half of living in New York State was a deep and abiding love of maple syrup. I had never even had real maple syrup before moving there--we always used Aunt Jemima for our pancakes and so on when I was a kid--but it didn't take me long to decide that I could never be without it again. 

We even made it ourselves for several years at Blackrock, which is very fun and also means syrup in enough quantity that it can be used for things other than just pancakes or waffles. 

We use maple syrup in many, many ways. On oatmeal and cream of wheat, in yogurt, as a sweetener in applesauce or fruit crisps, and on and on. Almost anywhere you can use brown sugar, maple syrup is just as good, if not better.

I even sometimes add it to milk for the kids. They've never had chocolate milk made with Hershey's syrup, but they love maple milk.


When it comes to maple syrup, I prefer to think outside the waffle/pancake box.

And then we moved to New Mexico, where sugar maples are in short supply.

I decided, however, that it's worth it to me to still have maple syrup in large quantities. Thanks to the Internet and modern shipping, I can have it. And because I buy it in such large quantities, it costs the same for me to order it and have it sent to me as it did for me to buy it from the maple farm up the road from us when we lived in Northern New York.

I order it four gallons at a time from a Vermont syrup company. But I don't get the same syrup you're likely to be buying at the grocery store, which is what they used to call Grade A, and is now called Amber. I much prefer the Grade B syrup, which is now called Dark Robust.

Whatever you call it, I think the dark syrup is vastly superior to the lighter syrup. It has a much more complex flavor, like caramel. The lighter syrup tastes very bland in comparison.

It might not be available where you are, and you might not be crazy enough to buy it gallons at a time like I do, but if you ever get the chance to get some of the dark syrup, definitely do it. It makes life so much more delicious.


6 comments:

  1. Sounds delicious.
    Linda

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  2. You are so right. Grade B is the best, and luckily I work with someone who makes syrup every year!
    Happy Birthday Calvin!

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  3. Sounds so yummy and happy birthday to Calvin!

    I just thought of some questions for your questions post :) And you may have answered it some where here before and I missed it but what made you move from New York to New Mexico? How did you find your house and the area you wanted to live in?

    I have basically lived in the same area, probably a 20 mile radius, my whole life. I would love to be able to move some where new but it all seems so intimidating.

    I cannot remember how I stumbled across your blog a few months ago but it is amazing :)

    Monica :)

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  4. Happy birthday, Calvin. (Forgot to mention this morning).
    Linda

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  5. I'm with you on the dark maple syrup! We buy it in gallon jugs from a farm somewhat near us. When we finish off a jug, I pour in milk and shake it up for maple milk. My kids are maple milk lovers, and they get it more often than they get chocolate milk.

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  6. Happy belated birthday Calvin!

    Years ago my stepfather ran a sugarbush in northern Michigan. He sold the "good" stuff (fancy and grade A) but we kept the grade B for ourselves. I agree - it's the best!

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