Depending on where you live, grilling season may already be in full swing. 

To reduce your consumption of red meat, substitute lower-fat ground turkey in burger recipes. (Click here for a basic recipe.) 

Today’s dish gets a flavorful boost from freshly chopped organic rosemary and 100% pure maple syrup. You can grill the burgers outdoors or indoors, as weather permits, and serve them with a side of roasted vegetables or a crunchy green salad. 

All of the ingredients should be available at your local natural and organic food store.

Maple Rosemary Turkey Burgers

Makes 4 servings

1. Preheat outdoor grill or indoor grill (medium heat).
2. In bowl, combine ground turkey, egg, rosemary, maple syrup, bread crumbs and seasonings.
3. Divide meat into 4 equal parts, and form into patties. Baste with olive oil, and grill on low heat for 4 minutes on each side, until fully cooked through.
4. Serve on hamburger buns or Kaiser rolls with your favorite condiments.  

Recipe and photo courtesy of the Federation of Quebec Maple Syrup Producers

John Rothstein, beverage manager and mixologist at Buddakan in New York City, knows that maple syrup adds complexity to cocktails. 

We’re toasting the new year with his twist on the traditional lemon drop  (vodka, lemon juice, sugar). 

Rothstein blends light maple syrup and lemon juice with tequila, Sauvignon blanc and St-Germain, an artisanal liqueur made from freshly picked elderflower blossoms. To add some heat, he infuses the liqueur with jalapeño before mixing the drink. 

Check out Laura’s review of organic vodkas before you go shopping.

Sweet & Spicy Maple Lemon Drop

1. Add all ingredients to a cocktail shaker.
2. Shake and strain into chilled martini glass.
3. Garnish with a lemon spiral.

Recipe and photo courtesy of the Federation of Quebec Maple Syrup Producers

As children, many of us grew up with pancake-syrup brands like Log Cabin and Aunt Jemima. More accurately, these pantry staples should have been called maple-tasting syrups, as manufacturers created them from high-fructose corn syrup and artificial flavoring. 

Today, Log Cabin boasts that it has substituted “real sugar” for the high-fructose corn syrup, while touting “authentic maple taste.” The label on a bottle of Aunt Jemima Original Syrup reads like a science-fair project: corn syrup, high-fructose corn syrup, water, cellulose gum, caramel color, salt, sodium benzoate and sorbic acid (preservatives), artificial and natural flavors, and sodium hexametaphosphate. The only thing missing: maple syrup. 

Pure maple syrup comes from the sap of honest-to-goodness maple trees, and it’s been indigenous to North America for centuries. It’s 100% natural and free of any coloring or additives. 

Pure maple syrup also has fewer calories than corn syrup or honey, and it most assuredly does not contain any high-fructose corn syrup. What is does contain are essential nutrients like iron, calcium and zinc. 

While states like Vermont, Maine and New York are known for their maple syrup, Canada produces 80% of the world’s supply, 91% of which is produced in Quebec. There are 8,600 Canadian producers, according to the Federation of Quebec Maple Syrup Producers, and the harvest season lasts for only about 12 to 20 days, usually in early March to late April. It takes 40 liters of maple sap to make 1 liter of maple syrup. 

Be sure to read labels when purchasing maple syrup to ensure you’re buying the real thing. U.S. maple syrup is graded by its color and flavor. I recommend buying Grade A syrup, which is available in light, medium and dark amber colors. The lighter the color, the more delicate the flavor. Medium amber is ideal for pancakes and tabletop dishes. 

Grade B syrup is often called “cooking syrup,” according to the Massachusetts Maple Producers Association, and it’s very dark and strong. While some connoisseurs may prefer Grade B on their waffles, it’s usually used for cooking, baking and flavoring foods. 

You should find a variety of pure, organic maple syrups at your local natural and organic food store. If availability is a problem, you may order an online brand like Coombs Family Farms 100% Pure Organic Grade A Medium Amber Maple Syrup. 

Tune in tomorrow for a special maple cocktail recipe that’s perfect for New Year’s Eve. In the meantime, check out: 

1. Maple Wasabi Glazed Salmon
2. Creamy Vanilla Sweet Potatoes
3. Grilled Sweet Potato Steaks with Maple Pecan Butter
4. Super Bowl Pancakes

If you eat pancakes, you probably love drowning them in maple syrup, hopefully pure organic maple syrup and not the brand name stuff cut with water and high fructose corn syrup.

Here’s the problem, hotter temperatures are smothering sugar maple trees in the United States:

It is the 3˚ to 10˚ F warming predicted over the next century by the United Nations Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change that may doom the sugar maple in the northeastern U.S.

Even the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency concedes that the sugar maple will not survive the century in New England. It’s Climate Action Report from 2002 notes "climate change is likely to cause long-term shifts in forest species, such as sugar maples moving north out of the country."

In other words, it is not a question of if the sugar maple will disappear, it is a question of when. Such shifts of species have taken place gradually in the past, over hundreds of years, allowing adaptation, but not in this case.

Sugar maples aren’t the only living things being edged out by climate change. Global warming could cause drought starving 3 billion people, wipe out 75% of Antarctic’s penguin colonies and a temperature increase of just 2 degrees will annihilate kangaroos.

Via The Daily Climate.