Comments on: Tapping Ann Arbor’s Sap

By: George Hammond

George Hammond — Fri, 13 Mar 2009 17:36:21 +0000

Followup: it looks like the Discovery Center at Waterloo isn't doing sugaring this year, though they do have lots of other events. Here's a pdf with a schedule: link to PDF However, the Metroparks definitely are doing sugaring, every weekend in March! link to schedule

By: George Hammond

George Hammond — Sun, 08 Mar 2009 02:33:32 +0000

The visitor center out at the Waterloo Recreation Area has had a great maple sugar demonstration in past years. I don't know if they're doing it this year. The full name of the place is the Gerald E. Eddy Discovery Center. It's a nice little natural history and geology center, near Chelsea. link

By: Edward Vielmetti

Edward Vielmetti — Mon, 02 Mar 2009 19:25:32 +0000

the typical source of artificial maple flavor is fenugreek. there was reporting in the new york times recently about a maple syrup smell wafting over manhattan, which was traced to a new jersey flavor factory.

By: cmadler

cmadler — Mon, 02 Mar 2009 18:03:52 +0000

Brands like Aunt Jemima and Log Cabin no longer even claim to be “maple-flavored syrup,” they’re now called “breakfast syrup,” “pancake syrup,” or something along those lines.

By: Al Feldt

Al Feldt — Sun, 01 Mar 2009 21:54:33 +0000

I used to tap about a dozen trees on my “hobby farm” in Hillsdale County. The maple syrup was good but the real benefit came from spending three or four weekends absolutely alone in the woods while collecting sap and the firewood needed to boil off the sap atop old oil drums. It was worth many thousands of dollars of psycho-therapy to me.

By: Juliew

Juliew — Sun, 01 Mar 2009 19:27:47 +0000

I grew up on a street in Ann Arbor that was lined with maple trees and we tapped them every year to make syrup. It was a really fun spring tradition. I highly recommend boiling the sap down outside! We didn’t one year and ended up with a kitchen absolutely covered in a light film of stickiness that was almost impossible to get off.

It wasn’t until I moved to Colorado that I realized not everyone has ready access to real maple syrup. It is a huge luxury in a lot of places in the country. We are lucky here in the north to have maple syrup so available and so inexpensively. Plus it is easy for us to get maple candy, maple sugar (which makes amazing cotton candy), and other really yummy maple food.

The Snow’s Sugarbush Maple Festival (http://snowssugarbush.com/festival.htm) is a fun excursion and a good excuse to eat a lot of maple syrup!

By: Bob Martel

Bob Martel — Sun, 01 Mar 2009 18:40:57 +0000

I have fond memories of visiting the sucrerie (sugar shack in French) in my parent’s home town in Quebec. It was always so cold outside but warm, humid and fragrant inside! Try boiling the maple syrup down further and then pouring it still hot into snow to make a delicious toffee textured maple treat!

By: Linda Diane Feldt

Linda Diane Feldt — Sun, 01 Mar 2009 16:04:11 +0000

I’m so glad you gave further coverage to the breaking news of maple sap! The sapcicles are a bonus, and probably there will many the next few days. The sap flows and drips out of the tree naturally – and with this weather it will freeze. Break it off and there is your treat. I have found them just out walking, they look like icicles but in unlikely places on the tree, and the bark is often dark nearby from the dripping sap.
The weather has likely put a hold on sap collecting until Tuesday. But this is an urban project anyone can enjoy.
When you boil off the sap, run your exhaust fan, as the humidity is high during the boiling process. Or better still, outside on a propane stove or grill.
I have about a quart of precious syrup so far.
One of my favorite treats is to use the pure sap instead of water for making oatmeal in the morning. It can also be used for baking, in soups, etc.

Thanks for letting people know that maple sugaring isn’t just an “up north” activity. It can be a sweet reward for urban foraging!