You can go to the grocery store any time and buy maple syrup.  All different brands from factories and companies all over the United States.  But have you ever wondered where syrup comes from or how it is made?   How you can get the “real deal” right here in New Hampshire?

Basically, the warmer weather causes the maple tree to mix starch it has stored with ground water and turn that into sap.  The trees are then tapped, and the sap is collected in buckets.  The buckets are hauled back to the sugar shack, where it is poured into large bins and boiled for hours.

Eventually, the sap (which is roughly 2% sugar) becomes syrup which is almost 70% sugar.  And delicious!

It takes forty gallons of sap to make approximately one gallon of syrup!  That’s a lot of cooking in the sugar shack, and it takes a professional to do it just right!

• Waffles
• Pancakes
• French toast
• Sweet Potatoes
• Maple Bacon
• Maple Sausage

These are just a few of the many uses for maple syrup.  If you’re looking for more ideas, check out 57 Magical Ways To Use Maple Syrup – BuzzFeed

And if you’d like to make a family day of it, complete with a sleigh ride through the woods of Candia to a real working sugar shack, you need to learn more about Charmingfare Farm’s Maple Express.