Maple Open House Weekend is celebrating its 16th year by expanding the weekend’s offerings and activities to include local partnering businesses who specialize in their own craft and support Vermont’s maple industry by including maple in their ingredients, on their menus, and offered for sale at their locations.
Sugarmakers throughout the state will open the doors of their sugarhouses on March 25 and 26 to educate and share with the public the process of making maple syrup from sap. Examples of activities offered at participating sugarhouses include sampling of syrup; tours of the sugarhouse and woods; traditional sugar-on-snow parties; and plenty of maple products to taste including maple donuts, maple cotton candy and maple creemees.
In efforts to include maple supporting businesses and collectively market maple’s expanding uses in beverages and dishes beyond the breakfast table, Vermont Maple Sugar Makers’ Association invited Vermont companies to demonstrate how they uniquely feature maple and showcase its diversity as an ingredient. From sweet to savory, in richly dark beers to elegant cocktails, maple is highlighted as a key component of recipes and menus appearing throughout the weekend.
At the heart of the event, sugarhouses will continue to provide free and fun family entertainment and educational opportunities, giving visitors an inside view of the hard work Vermont sugarmakers put in each year as the leading maple syrup producing state in the nation.
The partnering businesses are working to bolster the draw of both a local crowd and tourists by expanding the appeal to a broader market of visitors who are interested in seeing how maple has found its way into Vermont craft breweries and distilleries, and as a revered ingredient inspiring chefs throughout the state.
For more info about the weekend and to see a listing of participating sugarhouses and partnering businesses, visit vermontmaple.org/openhouse.
Photo courtesy of vermontmaple.org
A Vermont sugarer pours harvested sap from a bucket into a vat aboard a horse-drawn wagon.
