Did you know?! It takes 40 gallons of Sap . . .

IT TAKES 40 GALLONS OF SAP TO MAKE 1 GALLON OF MAPLE SYRUP!

It's a long road from the tree trunk to the tabletop. Sugar maple sap is about 98 percent water, and producers must painstakingly boil it down to 33 percent water and 67 percent sugar to yield syrup. But talk about sweet benefits: The breakfast staple packs a nutritional punch of manganese, zinc, magnesium, calcium, and potassium - plus more than 50 antioxidants. Just don't go overboard - as a sugary substance, it's also high in calories. And all maple syrups are not created equal. "Different colours have different uses," says expert Kathy Hopkins, as an educator at the University of Maine Cooperative Extension. She recommends lighter syrup for baking and darker syrup for glazes, "but it all tastes good on pancakes."

SPIRIT: South West Airlines magazine, November 2011, p. 36