Syrup

A year after breaking Vermont's decades-old record for maple syrup production, syrup makers are predicting less-than-stellar output this year because of warm weather. Farms in northern Vermont are far behind last year's production, 1.1 million gallons, sugarmakers say. Vermont has been the top syrup-producing state since 1976. New York was number two last year, with 564,000 gallons.

After last year's record season for maple syrup production on Vermont, it looks like this won't be such a great year for the sugarhouses. Vermont produced a record of more than 1.1 million gallons of maple syrup in 2011. But the Burlington Free Press (http://bfpne.ws/GMaIQb) says 2012 is shaping up as a down year for syrup in Vermont and elsewhere. That may mean the cost for syrup goes up, depending on how the season went in Quebec, the biggest syrup producer in the world. Bernie and Ann Comeau's maple sap boiling operation in Williston started and ended earlier than ever this year — Feb. 17 to...

It's sugaring season at Moose Hill Wildlife Sanctuary, which presents its annual Maple Sugaring Festival on March 11, 17, and 18. Visitors can see maple sap turned into syrup and get a taste. Take a 90-minute guided tour on a wooded trail, where people will portray historical characters at a Native American and Colonial site going about their daily activities, including making the syrup. At the Mass Audubon sanctuary's Nature Center, visitors can sample hot pancakes with maple syrup and other maple treats.

A year after breaking Vermont's decades-old record for maple syrup production, syrup makers are predicting less-than-stellar output this year because of warm weather. Farms in northern Vermont are far behind last year's production, 1.1 million gallons, sugarmakers say. Vermont has been the top syrup-producing state since 1976. New York was number two last year, with 564,000 gallons.

How to get there Manchester, Vt., is approximately 190 miles from Boston, 40 miles north of Williamstown. Take the Massachusetts Turnpike to exit 2 in Lee and continue north on Route 20 and then Route 7 into Vermont. Once in Vermont, take exit 3 and pick up scenic Route 7A into Manchester or take exit 4 into town. Information www.manchestervermont.net www.manchestervermont.com Both provide general information on the Manchester area.

STURBRIDGE - Visitors to Old Sturbridge Village this weekend and next can see how families in the 1830s turned maple sap into sugar in that quintessentially New England process known as "sugaring off. " Interpreters in period costume will tap trees and boil the sap over open fires at the village's outdoor sugar camp from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. Saturday and Sunday. The Oliver Wight Tavern will offer a free pancake breakfast with the price of admission on both Saturdays from 8 to 10:30 a.m. There will also be hearthside cooking demonstrations using...

Serves 4 According to Gary Schaefer and Barbara Fingold, co-owners of Snow’s Nice Cream Co. in Greenfield, three ingredients make a milkshake — milk, syrup, and ice cream. Fingold also uses a milkshake machine, which mixes without liquefying. Match the syrup and ice cream (such as chocolate and chocolate), or mix the two (chocolate and coffee). 3 cups whole milk 1/2 cup chocolate syrup 3 cups (24 ounces)

Serves 10 Also known as basbousa or harrissa, this delicious cake, coveted across the Middle East, is made with farina and semolina. It’s a specialty at Masri Sweets, in Dearborn, Mich. Khaldon Masri, whose Palestinian father owns the bakery, likes to add a sparing amount of rose or orange blossom water to the simple syrup, which teases out flowery grace notes. SYRUP 2 cups sugar 1 cup water 2 teaspoons lemon juice 1 teaspoon orange blossom or rose water (optional)

Serves 2 Malted milk powder is available at www.bakerscatalogue.com. 1 1/2 cups whole milk 2 tablespoons chocolate syrup 1/2 cup malted milk powder dissolved in 2 tablespoons hot water, cooled 6 scoops chocolate ice cream 1. In a blender, combine the milk, syrup, malt powder, and...

It takes at least 40 gallons of sap to make one gallon of syrup, but the early New Englanders didn’t care because they didn’t make syrup. Syrup required refrigeration to prevent mold, so they boiled the sap down to sugar. Learn more at Maple Sugar Making at Old Sturbridge Village where historians will demonstrate the process from tapping the trees to “sugaring off.’’ There will be tastings. Yum. Today, 10 a.m.-2 p.m. (Sat and Sun through March 28). Museum admission is $20, $18 seniors, $7 ages 3-17 (free return visit within 10 days)

KIDS TOM FOOTE & THE RHYTHM KIDS BAND Silly Foote and his silly pals present an interactive concert with lots of percussion. Groove to music of James Brown and the Beatles, kid classics like "The Wheels on the Bus," and traditional African drumming. March 18, 2:15 p.m. $10, $30 family maximum. Congregation Beth Elohim, 133 Prospect St., Acton. 978-266-9988, www.bostonjcc.org/rhythmkids JAMES AND THE GIANT PEACH An orphan and his ginormous insect friends embark on a trans-Atlantic journey in a stage adaptation of Roald Dahl's classic.

KIDS "SEUSSICAL" Horton, JoJo, Gertrude McFuzz, the Cat in the Hat, and the quiet little Whos sing and dance their way through TheatreworksUSA's adaptation of the Broadway classic. March 11, 1 and 3 p.m. $15. Leventhal-Sidman Jewish Community Center, 333 Nahanton St., Newton. 617-965-5226, www.bostonjcc.org/magicark LIVE WOLF PROGRAMS No big bad wolf here, just a real live one. Michael LeBlanc offers a one-hour presentation covering the animal's eating habits, looking at social behavior, and debunking myths about the species.

Across the region, record winter temperatures are wreaking havoc with maple tree systems, forcing syrup producers to tap trunks early in the hope of catching the best, most sugary sap before it disappears with spring. At least one producer in Massachusetts, Turtle Lane Maple Farm in North Andover, has decided not to tap its trees because the unusual weather has affected the trees' sugar, making the production of syrup too onerous and costly. "With the energy cost and labor, it just wasn't worth tapping 500 trees and gathering the sap and boiling it down," said Paul Boulanger, who...

By Betsy Levinson, Globe Correspondent A special alchemy on Virginia Road is turning the clear watery sap from over 120 Sugar Maple trees in Concord and Carlisle into a small supply of pure thick amber syrup that will be donated to food pantries in the Boston area. Watch a video of how it's done here. Overseen by the staff at Gaining Ground, a local nonprofit garden that provides organic produce for free, the sap is trucked in 30-gallon barrels from the trees to a small sugar shack at the organization's headquarters at the Thoreau Birthplace.

Bill Greene/Globe Staff (From left) Katie Gradowski, Ethan Cole, and Tyler Rynne collect sap last year as part of the Somerville Maple Syrup Project. The following was submitted by the Metropolitan Area Planning Council: Join the Metropolitan Area Planning Council (MAPC) for a "Maple Syrup Boil Down" in Somerville on Saturday, March 3 from 10 a.m. to 11 a.m. This event is part of the "MetroFuture Walks and Talks" series.

It's sugaring season at Moose Hill Wildlife Sanctuary, which presents its annual Maple Sugaring Festival on March 11, 17, and 18. Visitors can see maple sap turned into syrup and get a taste. Take a 90-minute guided tour on a wooded trail, where people will portray historical characters at a Native American and Colonial site going about their daily activities, including making the syrup. At the Mass Audubon sanctuary's Nature Center, visitors can sample hot pancakes with maple syrup and other maple treats.

Serves 6 1 medium green cabbage, quartered and very thinly sliced 2 carrots, grated 1/2 cup mayonnaise 2 tablespoons maple syrup 1/4 cup cider vinegar 1/2 teaspoon dry mustard Salt and pepper, to taste ...

CATALYST 300 Technology Square, Cambridge 617-576-3000 www.catalystrestaurant.com When Aujourd'hui closed in 2009, chef William Kovel found himself suddenly out of work. It spurred him to open his own restaurant. Now he has done so, in the increasingly delicious neighborhood of Kendall Square, near MIT and many technology companies. It makes sense that the place is named Catalyst. The restaurant opened two weeks ago. The food is already getting a reaction. The menu is highly seasonal, with a chicken logo that practically squawks "Farm to table!"

A Rhode Island man has pleaded guilty in Vermont federal court to selling mislabeled maple syrup. Fifty-year-old Bernard Coleman of West Warwick, R.I., said he initially sold pure maple syrup over the Internet. But when the price of syrup increased, he decided to make his own out of water, sugar and maple flavoring. He said he made the syrup in his home and sold it since 2009. A couple who bought about $220 worth of syrup from him doubted that it was authentic and had it tested by the state Department of Agriculture Consumer Protection.