RECIPES FROM CRACKERS: 

Meat Loaf (from The Vermont Country Store, Serves 6-8):

1 lb ground beef
1 lb ground pork
2 eggs
1 glove garlic, minced
1 onion, finely chopped
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/4 teaspoon pepper 1/8 teaspoon bay leaf powder
1/4 teaspoon thyme
1/2 green pepper, finely chopped
3/4 cup Vt. Common Cracker crumbs
2 Tablespoons chopped parsley

• Preheat oven to 350º
• Mix all ingredients and press into loaf pan.
• Bake 11/2 hours.

Mock Mince Pie (from The Vermont Country Store):

12 Vt. Regular Common Crackers, rolled
3/4 cup sugar
1/2 cup molasses
3 Tablespoons lemon juice
1 cup raisins, chopped
1/2 cup water
1/4 cup butter 1 egg, well beaten
1/2 teaspoon cinnamon
1/2 teaspoon ground cloves
1/4 teaspoon nutmeg
Pastry for 1 double crust pie

• Preheat oven to 425º.
• Prepare pastry and line pie tin.
• Mix all ingredients except butter and fill bottom crust. Dot with butter, cover with top pastry, make a vent.
• Bake for 10 minutes, then reduce heat to 350º and bake 40 more minutes.

Cracker Pudding (from the Vermont Country Store):

2 eggs, separated
1 cup sugar
Grated rind of 1 lemon
1/2 cup raisins
1 quart milk
2 Tablespoons butter, melted
1 teaspoon vanilla
1/2 cup coconut
3 cups Vt. Common Cracker crumbs
1/3 cup jelly
1/2 cup powdered sugar

• Preheat oven to 350º
• Mix together egg yolks and sugar, lemon, butter, vanilla, coconut, raisins, milk, and cracker crumbs.
• Pour into a buttered 3-quart casserole and bake one hour.
• Spread top with jelly.
• Beat egg whites until soft peaks from and add powdered sugar, beating until glossy to make a meringue.
• Spread meringue on top and bake until delicately brown.

RECIPES USING MAPLE SYRUP:

Martha Freeman's Maple Syrup Icing (recipe from customer S.King, Virginia):

• Beat one large egg white.
• Boil 1 cup Maple Syrup until it makes a thread when dropped from a fork.
• Gradually add Maple Syrup to beaten egg white, beating the mixture until it stands in peaks.
• Excellent on yellow and white cakes.

Bread Machine Maple Oatmeal Bread (recipe from The Official Vermont Maple Cookbook):

1 cup very hot water
1/2 cup rolled oats
3 Tablespoons softened butter
1/4 cup Pure Maple Syrup
3 cups bread flour 1/4 cup sugar (granulated maple sugar is best, white will do)
1 teaspoon salt
1 package dry yeast
1 large egg, unbeaten

• Combine hot water, rolled oats, butter, maple syrup, and salt.
• Let this mixture cool to luke warm, then add egg.
• Follow your Bread machine directions for order of wet and dry ingredients and yeast.
• Use white bread setting.

Sugar-on-Snow (New England Tradition):

Prepare pans of clean packed snow and leave outside so they don't melt.

• Heat one quart of maple syrup in largest pot available. Watch pot, turn heat down if it threatens to boil over.
• When candy thermometer reaches 234º, remove from heat and cool slightly. Putting a little bit in a small cup on the snow will cool it a bit more.
• Test by spooning a ribbon of the thickened warm syrup over the snow; if the syrup sticks on top of the snow and sticks to a fork like taffy, it's ready - if not it needs to cook just a bit longer.
• Pour in thin ribbons over the pans of snow. Use your fork to pick up the ribbons and taste. After a taste of the sweet "sugar", take a nice bite of a sour pickle, and then bite of a home-made raised doughnut. After the doughnut bite - start again with another bite of "sugar".