MAPLE: OK, the flavor of maple just makes stuff special.

The PA Route 6 Alliance shared this simple recipe from the Inn on Maple in Port Allegany:

Maple Glazed Apples

2 cups sliced apples with the peels on

¼ cup butter

½ teaspoon cinnamon

3 tablespoons maple syrup

1 tablespoon karo/corn syrup

½ cup apple juice

1 teaspoon cornstarch

Melt butter in a large saucepan over medium heat. Add apples, sprinkle with cinnamon and cook, stirring constantly until the apples are soft.

Add both syrups, and stir gently to mix.

In a separate bowl, stir the cornstarch into the apple juice until it’s dissolved. Pour the mixture over the apples. Bring the apples to a low boil, stirring occasionally, and sweeten to taste with additional maple syrup.

The warm apples can be served over waffles, pancakes or ice cream with additional maple syrup on the side.

The alliance shared this recipe and others in anticipation of upcoming maple events along U.S. Route 6, including the 14th annual Maple Weekend in Potter and Tioga counties.

During the weekend of March 17-18 to 17 members of the Potter/Tioga Maple Producers Association will open their sugar shacks to visitors, who will have a chance to see how trees maple syrup is made

The event is set for 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. each day. Anyone who wants to check it out can download a map of the sugar shacks at www.pamaple.com/2018-maple-weekend.

As the alliance explains, “The production of maple syrup and maple by-products is not just a hobby along the PA Route 6 Heritage Corridor; it is part of the traditions and folk life of the northern tier of Pennsylvania.

“Each year in early spring, maple producers throughout the state begin tapping the maple trees and producing a sweet sugary treat, known as Maple Syrup. The PA Route 6 Alliance is proud to honor this tradition, naming March as Maple Month.”

We’re kind of sad we’re not eating pancakes right now.