Monday, March 30, 2015

Review Recipe & Giveaway: Tonewood Maple


Ever since I was a little girl I have loved maple syrup. Now, I don't mean the “maple syrup” that you find next to the quick mix in an anthropomorphically shaped plastic bottle. I'm talking the liquid gold in the glass bottles on the top shelf.

I think it started on a field trip in grade school, where we went to one of the many nature preserves and watched as someone boiled down some sap and then everyone got a small sample of it that we got to cool in the March snow like they did in Little House in the Big Woods!

Then, when I was older, we moved to a house that had plenty of sugar maples for us to tap and make our very own syrup! Alas, I have since moved from my home in the northwoods, and now am in the desert where sugar maple trees are in short supply and good maple products aren't a commonplace thing.

To my rescue came Tonewood and their premium maple products!

Tonewood offers a variety of pure maple syrup items as well as having an “Adopt a Tree” program where you can choose to sponsor a tree from one of two farms.

Aside from offering syrup in four different grades, Tonewood also sells maple wafers, maple flakes, maple seasoning, maple cream, and maple cubes in two different flavors (Golden Delicate with a light, buttery flavor, and Dark Robust with a bold, maple taste), as well as a cookbook and a cube grater.

If you're looking for a variety of maple goodies as well as a way to help support small maple producers, you should definitely check out the Adopt a Tree program.

The Adopt a Tree program includes three packages that are delivered to you through the year; the first package arrives shortly after you place your order, and includes an adoption certificate and a picture of your tree; the second package arrives in the spring and contains their four grade collection of maple syrup as well as a recipe book to help you explore their culinary possibilities; the third package will come in the fall and delivers their sweet pairing package of a maple cube and eight maple wafers.

 You can choose to adopt from one of two farms in Vermont, and support their efforts for $120 a year.

I was lucky enough to be able to try out their maple cube in Dark Robust (16.99) for this review.

I knew the day my package arrived that something wonderful was in store for me! My mailbox smelled like heaven. Inside the deceptively ordinary cardboard box was a business card, a postcard sized maple grade guide, and the Dark Robust maple cube of goodness!

Upon opening the wrapping, I had the immediate urge to lick it like you would a giant jawbreaker of maple divinity.

 Instead, I quickly dished out some plain vanilla ice cream and used my microplaner to put some of the block of joy on top. I was not disappointed!

The Dark Robust certainly lived up to its name, giving me the intense almost smokey flavor of pure maple deliciousness.

 I have since used it with a variety of foods, such as yogurt, oatmeal, puffy oven pancakes, tea, coffee, and bacon, to name a few. Everyone in my family has enjoyed my maple adventuring, even my sometimes picky Mischief!

I store my maple cube of delight in a zippy bag, though you can purchase cube grater that doubles as a storage container.

Here's one of my favorite ways to use the Tonewood Dark Robust Maple Cube:  Baked Maple Bacon! (I'll pause while you drool)

Baked Maple Bacon

Place a cooling rack over a cookie sheet.
(For easier cleanup, I place aluminum foil on the cookie sheet to catch most of the grease)
Lay bacon on top of the rack
Grate the maple cube over the bacon to your desired level of mapleness.

 I like a strong maple flavor, so I grated a lot of the cube, but if you'd like a subtler flavor, just use less.
Bake at 350 until desired doneness. 10 min for chewier 25 for extra crispy in my oven.
ENJOY and try to not burn yourself! ;-)

I am certainly going to be ordering another cube once mine runs out, as well as trying out a few of their other goodies. My family and my tastebuds would never forgive me for letting us live without it!






Tonewood Maple is letting us host a Giveaway of a Dark Robust Maple Cube ($16.99) of your own!

To enter the giveaway, leave a comment in this entry as instructed by the Rafflecopter, then leave the name you commented under and your email in the box in the Rafflecopter entry. (This allows us to contact you if you win!)  This will open up additional optional entries to increase your odds of winning.

This giveaway is open to US RESIDENTS ONLY
and will end just before midnight ET on 4-13-15. 

The winner will be notified by email within 24 hours after the end of the giveaway.  In order to claim the giveaway prize, the winner will need to respond within 24 hours of notification, or an alternate winner will be selected.

Good luck everyone!

a Rafflecopter giveaway


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48 comments:

  1. I love the Tree Adoption, and also the Maple Wafers - mmm!

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  2. The maple bacon recipe sounds great. This might be the beginnings of a maple bourbon milkshake. :)

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  3. Where has this been all my life? This sounds AMAZING!

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  4. I think the Maple Wafers look pretty awesome too! I don't know if I'd be able to share those though!

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  5. Stopping by from the link up :) I love real maple syrup as well! There are quite a few farmers in my are in Ohio that make their own and one happens to be a client. He always brings me new bottles so I never run out :)

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  6. Thank you for linking up with Waiting on...Wednesday at While I'm Waiting blog! My hometown is actually home to a Syrup Festival! :)

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  7. Oh my gosh, I didn't even know that maple syrup cubes were a thing! I wish I could enter the giveaway because your bacon idea sounds delicious (we live overseas, so I think we're disqualified).
    Found you through the Little Things link-up,
    Amber at OurCharmedLife.net

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  8. Wow, just like Amber, I didn't know this existed. I have been trying to figure out how mcdonald's does their pancakes and this might work!! Thanks

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  9. I think this would be interesting to try in coffee. I've never thought of sweetening coffee with maple syrup.

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  10. The maple cream looks really good.

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  11. I had no idea such a thing even existed... I love the idea of those maple cubes! Thanks for sharing this post with Friday Favorites, we love having you :)

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  12. I have never seen this before! I learned that they produce pure maple syrup!

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  13. How interesting! Never heard of such a thing. Their Maple Wafers sound like a fun thing to try.

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  14. This sounds great and I love Maple syrup which I use daily in recipes for sweetener instead of sugar. The bacon looks delicious. Thanks for sharing on Real Food Fridays. Pinned & twitted Have a healthy happy blessed Easter!

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  15. I love real, authentic maple syrup - I have no time for the stuff in the plastic bottles either! I like the idea of the Tonewood Maple Cube - what a great way to make you own maple bacon. Thank you for sharing with us at the Hearth and Soul Hop.

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  16. The only syrup that I use is 100% maple. I would add some to plain, nonfat yogurt.

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  17. The maple cream would be great as a spread on toast.

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  18. I love their adoption process to support sustainable farming practices!

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  19. I have never heard of solid maple cubes and didn't know that there were different grades of maple. This would be amazing in my coffee or on my oatmeal.

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  20. I would use it to season my steel cut oats.

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  21. I would like to try the Maple Cream

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  22. The maple wafers look really cool.

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  23. I have never heard of a maple cube! That is so cool, and I don't think it would last very long in our house! :D

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  24. I also like the Maple Flakes and Maple Cream products.

    Nancy
    allibrary (at) aol (dot) com

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  25. I would really love to try the Maple Flakes!

    andysavi.mom@gmail.com

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  26. I love maple! I don't eat donuts often, but when I do, it's the maple ones that I go for. This cube sounds so yummy! Maple bacon sounds heavenly also! Thanks for sharing with SYC.
    hugs,
    Jann

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  27. The maple wafers look neat. I'd like to add these to baked beans and brown rice.

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  28. i love the recipe for the Almond Biscotti with Maple Glaze! yummy!

    kmcgrew213@aol.com

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  29. I had no idea maple came in so many different forms! I'd love to try the flakes on sweet potatoes the most.

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  30. wow, very nice. I would love to try this on my oatmeal for breakfast.

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  31. Decisions, decisions, decisions ... looks like I might have to break down and try BOTH flavors of the sugar cube. Everything looks so delicious and intriguing!

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  32. Everything looks great. I love maple syrup!

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  33. I would add to my morning oatmeal, I like the maple cream

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  34. This is brand new to me! I think I really like this. I see on their site that they won lots of awards in 2014, including from Martha Stewart. I expect to start seeing lots more of this company around. So glad you shared at Merry Monday. Hope to see you at the new party tonight!

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  35. I've never heard of anything like this! I would make the bacon recipe, yum!

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  36. I would love to try the Amber Rich - Maple Syrup

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  37. Yum! Thanks for linking up to #tastytuesdays

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  38. I would def try making the maple bacon! so yummy :)

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  39. I love all things maple so this product looks amazing to me. I also learned that they won a Martha Stewart award and offer a nice variety of liquid and solid maple products.

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  40. I love the idea of the maple cube and tree adoption. It's nice to learn of this company. Their products are of course unique and have several applications. rene chartier(joan)

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  41. Any of the products look really great. If I had to choose, I think the Maple Wafers really caught my eye!

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  42. I had never even heard of such a thing as maple solids! It sounds simply wonderful!

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  43. This is such an interesting product! The recipe for Almond Biscotti with Maple Glaze looks quite fabulous :)

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  44. I would love to try the Dark Robust Maple cube on something savory like a pork tenderloin!

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  45. Oh i am really drooling at this - get in my belly! :'D #tastytuesdays

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