Wednesday, January 27, 2010

A (Maple) Tree Grows in Brooklyn

Ava Chin writes about making maple syrup in Brooklyn, a New York City borough, in The New York Times. "This time of year," she writes, "the city’s maple trees are ripe for tapping, and, as I discovered in Brooklyn this weekend, the sap is flowing."

The entire article is here.

Tuesday, January 26, 2010

Parke County Syrup Festival

Nothing signals the end of winter better than maple syrup festivals! One of the largest takes place throughout Parke County in west central Indiana. This year's dates are February 27 and 28 plus March 6 and 7. Not only do Road Trips Foodies get to see how the sweet stuff is produced, but there are the scenic drives along country roads punctuated with Parke County's famous covered bridges! Maple sugar camps on the tour this year are Foxworthy, Williams & Teague, Smiley’s Camp, Sweetwater Farms, and Baird’s Sugar Shack.

The festival headquarters is on US 41, one mile north of Rockville, Indiana, at the county 4-H Fairgrounds. Hours are 8 a.m. to 4 p.m. Maps and information will be provided for all the places you’ll want to visit in Parke County, but there's a reason to stick around the fairgrounds for a bit: pancakes are served all day with whole-hog sausage and maple syrup (of course). In addition, the fairgrounds will have maple syrup, maple sugar candy and maple syrup cookies for sale, plus the works of Parke County artisans, handmade crafts, home baked goodies, jams and jellies. The Butcher Shop sells smoked ham, bacon, country pork sausage and cheese. so that you can take home some of that great country flavor. Parke County Collectibles is open from 9 a.m. to 4 p.m. with handmade and homegrown products for sale from appliquéd clothing to woodcrafts.