top of page
Fun Facts About Me
The purpose of this page is to show some of the unique interests that I have. As unconventional as the below interest may seem, they are unique to me and further gives the reader more information about my experiences.
_edited.png)
Maple Syrup Festival
Date: Last Full Weekend of April
Maple syrup festivals are something that I have enjoyed for the last 5 years (2022, 2023, 2024, 2025, 2026). I have always enjoyed maple syrup, but I first discovered my love for raw maple syrup when I was eating pancakes one weekend and it occurred to me, "I wonder how much better these pancakes would taste if I had them with the real stuff (raw maple syrup)". From that point on I researched where to buy raw maple syrup and to my surprise I find out that Michigan has a couple of major maple syrup festivals. I could have first experienced raw maple syrup by way of buying it online from a place that sold it, but I thought that attending a festival would be a great idea to create new experiences. Little did I know that the experience would become a yearly tradition. At the maple syrup festival that I attend they have more than just maple syrup there as there are activities, pancake breakfast, local vendors that sell Michigan made products and much more.
Maple Sugar
Maple sugar is something that I did not know existed until I discovered that Michigan had maple syrup festivals. While attending my first maple syrup festival in April 2022, I saw that one of the vendors was selling maple sugar. I inquired about it and I find out that maple sugar is a great alternative to the frequently used white granulated sugar as it is healthier and has many health benefits in its own right. Maple sugar can be used in anything that various other sugars are used in including coffee, tea, oatmeal, pancake mix, and much more. Maple sugar is produced by boiling maple syrup to a very high temperature (typically around 257°F to 262°F which is 125°C to 128°C) and as it is cooling stirring or shaking it. This process will begin to assist the syrup with crystalizing into granulated sugar.
Honey
My love for not just honey, but raw honey 'straight from the hive', started around 2008 when I tried honey in tea. That combination was amazing! At that time it was the basic honey that you could buy in a bear shaped container at the store. And as many know, the store bought honey is generally looked at as authentic, however, it is pasteurized which means it is filtered and you lose many of the natural benefits that raw honey has to offer. However, around that same year in 2008 I tried raw honey for the first time and it was a game changer for me. From that point on, I was hooked. It wasn't until I got to college that I started to buy raw honey myself and started to enjoy it more because it was readily available to me. It was around the summer going into my sophomore year in college when I found a place that was close to the college that I could buy raw honey from. I would get my honey from that same place for the next 6-7 years until I discovered the maple syrup festival that I spoke about earlier on this "Fun Facts About Me" page. At that festival I went there with the intention of obtaining maple syrup, but found a vendor who sold honey there as well and from that point on I made it a point to get my order of honey from them as they had an assortment and various amounts that could be purchased. A fun fact about honey is that it can be considered robust and sweet. Sweet honey is typically lighter in color and robust honey is darker. This is because of the type of flower that the nectar comes from.
Places I Purchase Honey, Maple Syrup & Maple Sugar
The below links include places that I currently do/have purchased raw honey, raw maple syrup and raw maple sugar from over the years.
Vermontville Maple Syrup Festival
I have purchased raw honey, raw maple sugar, and raw maple syrup from this festival over the years. I purchased raw maple sugar twice (2022, 2026), raw honey 5 times (2022-2026), and maple syrup 5 times (2022-2026)
RC's Bees
RC's Bees is a vendor that I have purchased raw honey from while at the Vermontville Maple Syrup Festival over the years (5 times from 2022-2026)
Delaney's Wood Fired Maple Syrup
Delaney's Wood Fired Maple Syrup is a small business that I have purchased raw maple sugar (2 times in 2022 and once in 2024 ) and raw maple syrup from over the years (1 time in 2023)
Polk Around Farms
Polk Around Farms is a small business that I have purchased raw maple sugar from (1 time in 2026).
Gramma's Gardens Nursery
Gramma's Gardens Nursery is a small business that I have purchased raw honey from (approximately 10 times from 2014-2022).
bottom of page