Sugar Highs

There’s nothing better than pancakes with REAL maple syrup.  Now that I think of it, maple syrup would probably make Cod Liver Oil palatable.  Sugar Maples are a true gift - shade in the summer, vibrant red leaves in the fall and sweet sap in the spring.

If you’ve never experienced this treat, or seen how it’s produced, I’d recommend a trip to one of the maple farms we have in Genesee County.  This is Maple Sunday Weekend and our farms will have maple products, demonstrations and tours.  You can visit:

Indian Acres Maple Farm, 2005 Broadway Road, Darien, NY, 585-547-3557 (they generally make maple cotton candy)

or

Randall’s Maple Products, 10307 Smithley Rd., Alexander, NY, 585-547-3596

For a full listing of maple farms in the area visit: www.mapleweekend.com

Or, if you want to make your own syrup, click here.

Just don’t do what some urban, maple syrup hobbyists did in central Massachusetts.  They thought they found the perfect solution to a lack of sugar maples in their neighborhood.  They started tapping trees in a nearby cemetery, which the authorities frowned on, calling the practice “tacky.” Which, of course it was, in so many ways.

Maple syrup is not everyone’s “sugar of choice,” but I suspect most of you ladies out there would agree that chocolate, in all its forms, is comfort food. (Here’s a tidbit for you, did you know that in the 1700s, hot chocolate was a thick mixture of water and cocoa – WITH NO SUGAR ADDED? Yuck.)

One of the best places I can think of to get my chocolate fix is Oliver’s Candies.  Right now, everyone at Oliver’s is in full-blown, chocolate-bunny, mode.  Easter Basket’s just wouldn’t be the same without the bunny - whether it’s solid or hollow, sitting up right, or on all fours.  My parents used to hide the baskets on Sunday morning, help us find them, then make us get all dressed up and go to church. Now, what child do you know of that wants to leave behind a full basket of candy?  That should have been my first inkling that life just isn’t fair.

Oliver’s not only provides basket bunnies and a huge assortment of jelly beans, cream eggs, etc. They always have a 4 foot hollow bunny for you to drool over. (for $475, you can carry it home)  I wonder how long it would take for me to eat a bunny that size? Any guesses?

HINT: For those of you who would like a real baby bunny, visit Herbly Wonderful in Batavia - and the neat thing - they'll board your adorable pet during the winter. The boarded rabbits help to heat their greenhouses. Talk about going green! They also have colored eggs that the chicken lay in blue, green, tan brown, ect. Instant Easter Eggs.

By the way, the answer to the frog question from my last blogg is five. Deciding is NOT doing.

- Dawn