My friend Doug O'Neill just gave me the sweetest gift ever from his tour of rural Ontario: liquid gold from Sandy Flat Sugar Bush in Warkworth, Ontario. Owners George and Alice Potter have won the award for world's best maple syrup four times. [caption id="attachment_1663" align="aligncenter" width="426" caption="Sandy Flat Sugar Bush award-winning maple syrup"] [/caption] This week's food news offered a few maple-icious stories: Maple syrup is not only delicious, it's full of antioxidants. [cbc.news] Field Trip: A Visit to the Sugar Bush includes some great photos of the process of turning maple sap to liquid gold, and turned me on to the Ontario Maple Syrup Producers Association site, full of maple resources, recipes and festival directories. [National Post] Nanaimo's Morden Maples is experimenting with a maple sugar cotton candy you'll be able to taste at the Wild Foods Festival in Nanaimo, B.C. on April 16. [canada.com] If you can't make it out to a sugar bush this year, MapleSyrup.tv lets you follow the whole process live from inside a sugar house via four cameras. Throw your own maple syrup festival at home:

• It's maple syrup season! Fresh maple facts, syrup buying tips and new recipes
• Maple Pudding Chômeur This wickedly sweet cake-pudding combo is a French Canadian favourite.
• Maple Apple Tarte Tatin A Canadian version of the classic French upside-down apple pie.
• How to make maple syrup taffy pops - a fun sweet treat for grown-ups and kids to make together.
• Maple sugar shack party for a crowd - back from the maple sugar shack, warm up with our Maple Leaf Sour and canapés of chicken wings, smoked salmon and prosciutto shrimp that showcase fresh maple syrup from the forest.

I discovered a Facebook page called " Just Say NO to Fake Maple Syrup" that claims "Fake maple syrup is made from high fructose CORN (i.e., not maple) syrup and preservatives. Exceedingly sticky. The leading cause of cancer and divorce." Do you buy the fake stuff or spring for the real thing?