Good morning, it’s Wednesday.
The holiday season is speeding along. Chanukah is already halfway done, as tonight will be the fourth night. (I am having a hard time keeping track, as I wasn’t home to light the candles last night). Christmas is eight days away, and Kwanza will be observed in nine days.
With all the dark, grey and cold going on these days, I find myself gravitating toward comfort food. If you really pay attention to food cravings, you’ll find that your body definitely is attuned to the shift in the weather.
In the winter, for example, with the exception of iced coffee, to which I have now officially converted (this is a post for a different day), I generally have a hard time finding cold foods – like salad, smoothies, cereal, fresh fruit – palatable, gravitating instead toward the hearty and the warm, like soup, roasted veggies, and, above all, oatmeal.
Yes, it looks about appealing as a bowl of lumpy paste, but oatmeal is, in my opinion, about as close to a perfect meal as one can get. Not only is it warm and filling, but it lends itself to all sorts of mix-ins, both sweet and savory, though I prefer the former.
And that is where maple syrup – a natural companion to oats, and, in my humble opinion, arguably better than brown sugar and cinnamon (come at me) – comes in. I have recently returned to maple syrup and wondered why I ever strayed from its side.
True, it is a form of sweetener, which should be consumed in moderation, and true, it does have a significant number of calories. It is, however, a natural product and can be a healthier alternative to refined sugars, and – assuming it’s not pure and not table syrup, meaning it’s minimally processed and without additives, it does have minerals and bioactive compounds.
Our neighbors to the North (Canada – specifically Quebec) produce the lion’s share of the world’s maple syrup supply – as much as 85 to 90 percent, which is about 20 million gallons. Neat trivia: It takes about 40 gallons of sap, boiled to evaporate its water content, to make one gallon of syrup.
So important is maple syrup to Canada that the company maintains a strategic reserve of the stuff, which most of us probably had not a clue about until we learned of the 2011 great maple syrup heist when thieves made off with about 3,000 tons, worth $18 million, over a period of several months. (Why a facility that housed many millions of a product had no security to speak of remains an open question).
The second-largest producer of maple syrup, though far behind Canada, is the U.S., which churns out about 4 to 5 million gallons a year – and as many as 6 million in a really bonanza season. That’s not nearly enough to cover demand (the average person consumes about 3 ounces a year – up from about 1 ounce in the early 2000s), and so we import about 60 percent of what we use from the North.
Because the maple syrup industry depends on trees, which are sensitive to climate change, the industry itself faces considerable challenges. That and a variety of other factors, including everything from labor costs to fluctuating inventory to tariffs on equipment, have caused maple syrup prices to steadily climb.
Today is National Maple Syrup Day, in case you hadn’t already guessed.
Maple syrup is usually produced in the spring, which, sadly, is very far away. BUT you could be forgiven if you got confused about that fact due to today’s weather, because it’s going to be freakishly warm – seasonably speaking – with temperatures climbing into the 40s (!!!). Skies will be mostly cloudy.
In the headlines…
President Donald Trump will deliver a live national address tonight at 9 p.m. from the White House. “It has been a great year for our Country, and THE BEST IS YET TO COME!” Trump posted on his social media platform.
The White House is trying to tamp down Americans’ economic anxieties by dangling the prospect of checks and other paydays next year, hoping that the money might assuage voters who blame the president for their rising cost of living.
The Trump administration is expanding travel restrictions to an additional 20 countries and the Palestinian Authority, doubling the number of nations affected by sweeping limits announced earlier this year on who can travel and emigrate to the U.S.
Trump has ordered “a total and complete” blockade of all US-sanctioned oil tankers entering and leaving Venezuela.
The move is an escalation of military operations and a pressure campaign against Nicolás Maduro, Venezuela’s leader. But its scope and economic impact are not clear.
Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth and Democrats are battling over publicly releasing the video of the U.S. military’s Sept. 2 attack on an alleged drug-trafficking boat in the Caribbean.
Trump’s job approval rating has rebounded after a second-term low, according to new polling averages from Decision Desk HQ (DDHQ).
Trump defended White House chief of staff Susie Wiles, saying she was right to tell Vanity Fair he has an “alcoholic’s personality” and that he has confidence in Wiles to continue in her role.
Republicans on the House Rules Committee shut the door on amendments to extend the expiring Affordable Care Act subsidies, effectively setting the stage for a surge in health insurance premiums as Congress leaves for winter recess later this week.
The amendments were blocked from getting a vote at a meeting of the House Rules Committee yesterday, when the moderate Republicans argued that failing to vote to extend the subsidies for 22 million people would have consequences.
An infuriated Rep. Mike Lawler left a closed-door House Republican meeting and sounded off on GOP leaders who are planning to allow key Obamacare subsidies to expire in two weeks.
Leaders of the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) are seeking to reconcile as they face the wrath of some members of the Make America Healthy Again (MAHA) movement over recent chemical-related decisions.
Higher electricity and natural gas prices coupled with forecasts for unusually cold temperatures across parts of the country are expected to drive up bills as winter takes hold.
Creepy, zany and demonstrably fake content is often called “slop.” The word’s proliferation online, in part thanks to the widespread availability of generative artificial intelligence, landed it Merriam-Webster’s 2025 word of the year.
After months of negotiations over a controversial measure that would permit doctors to help some terminally ill patients end their lives, Gov. Kathy Hochul is expected to announce a deal to sign it today.
“(A)fter careful deliberation, I decided to support legalizing medical aid in dying in very specific circumstances and with significant protections included in the law to ensure it is not misused or broadly applied,” Hochul wrote in a Times Union op-ed.
Hochul still has a solid lead over her most likely 2026 Republican challengers — despite half of New Yorkers saying they want a new governor, according to a new poll released yesterday.
Suicides in New York are not declining and a state comptroller’s office audit found counties are not receiving timely data that could help prevent them.
A coalition that wants to restore ferry service on the Hudson River between Newburgh and Beacon trekked to Albany to enlist Hochul’s support.
A more than 1,000-page state Energy Plan finalized by state officials yesterday included a slogan that has become a new catchphrase on how many public officials believe New York can meet its future electricity needs: “All of the above.”
New York officials solidified a major shift toward energy affordability and reliability with the new plan, and moved away from a focus on achieving ambitious climate targets.
Hochul bucked precedent, including her own, by vetoing a bill to prohibit renters’ insurance policies “from discriminating against insureds or potential insureds based upon the harboring or owning of specific dog breeds” – mostly pit bulls.
Mayor-elect Zohran Mamdani is already facing a hurdle to his freebie-filled agenda with a projected $2.18 billion budget shortfall — with bigger funding gaps possible in the years ahead, a new report said.
The budget shortfall could balloon to over $13 billion by 2029 due to underbudgeting of costs and sluggish economic growth, according to the report from outgoing comptroller Brad Lander.
Mayor Eric Adams went on CNBC’s “Squawk Box” and accused Republican mayoral candidate Curtis Sliwa of working with the Mamdani campaign.
With just two weeks left in office, Adams is heading to Mexico – his fourth international trip since October – and the trip is “not taxpayer funded” but it’s not clear who is paying for it or if there’s any specific purpose for it.
In a free-wheeling farewell press conference yesterday, Adams and his top aides waxed nostalgic about his years in charge of the country’s largest city, reminiscing about all the good, bad and ugly that came with it.
In his final days in office, Adams has made it his mission to provide a positive spin on his one-term tenure; to warn that the city will suffer under his successor, Mamdani; and to see as much of the world as he can.
Adams oversaw a slate of reforms he dubbed the “trash revolution,” which centers around getting piles of trash bags off New York City’s sidewalks and into bins. It’s now up to Mamdani to fully realize that vision.
Adams took notable steps toward improving reading instruction in New York. But families and advocates say many students with dyslexia are still struggling.
New York will need about $700 million more to comply with a state law to reduce school class sizes, the city’s Independent Budget Office said.
Mamdani visited the gravesite of the Chabad-Lubavitch movement’s late leader on Monday, one day after the shooting that killed 15 people at an Australian Hanukkah event hosted by Chabad.
A group of Republican lawmakers in Staten Island are talking about seceding from New York City in response to Mamdani’s Nov. 4 election as mayor.
Acting city Health Commissioner Dr. Michelle Morse said she’d be interested in staying on in the Mamdani administration, but first she wants to hear more about his public health priorities.
Good government watchdogs raked City Council members over the coals during a hearing yesterday for trying to sneak in an 11th-hour raise for themselves.
The bill, which would give councilmembers and other elected officials a 16% raise, was introduced in November to get aspects of the legislative process out of the way so it could be re-introduced as a pre-considered motion in the new year.
New York City Council Member Bob Holden is calling for a citywide task force to increase oversight of large party venues, citing ongoing concerns about safety and quality-of-life issues.
Pope Leo XIV is expected to accept Timothy Cardinal Dolan’s resignation this week — and will possibly name a bishop from the pontiff’s Illinois home state to lead the Archdiocese of New York, well-placed sources said.
Pope Leo XIV is expected to appoint Bishop Ronald Hicks of Joliet as the next archbishop of New York to replace Dolan. who reached the mandatory retirement age of 75 this past February, as early as this week.
The widow of Didarul Islam, the detective who was fatally shot when a gunman opened fire in a Midtown Manhattan office building this summer, has sued the building and several of its tenants, accusing them of lax security that allowed the shooting.
A Brooklyn pastor pleaded guilty to embezzling $3 million over seven years from a day care associated with his church.
As flu cases continue to rise in New York, the city health department has launched a new campaign that plays on the endemic condition of FOMO, or fear of missing out, to get New Yorkers to take extra precautions.
Two Bronx men have been arrested and charged with murder in connection with a fatal stabbing near Times Square last month, according to the NYPD.
A Manhattan jury found a former NYPD officer not guilty of assaulting two detainees in Manhattan Central Booking during separate incidents in 2022.
Nearly half — 46% — of students in UAlbany’s new undergraduate program for educators are nonwhite, bucking a national trend.
Rory Fluman might be out as Schenectady County manager, but he doesn’t seem ready to bow out of public sector work altogether just yet.
Emergency medical service gaps in northern Rensselaer County’s most populous town of Brunswick could soon shrink with help from a neighbor.
A Bethlehem couple is suing the state Office for People with Developmental Disabilities, alleging their adult autistic son has been trapped in a vortex of hospitalizations and arrests after New York stopped authorizing his residency at a Massachusetts facility.
A Yates County judge resigned from his position after a state Commission on Judicial Conduct investigation found he engaged in a pattern of “biased and discourteous behavior ” and showed a “significant misunderstanding of legal procedures” in multiple cases.
NY Creates and SCREEN, a Japanese semiconductor company, have agreed to a 10-year, $75 million research partnership at the Albany NanoTech complex on Fuller Road.
Former Bishop Edward B. Scharfenberger filed for personal bankruptcy after he and other defendants were ordered to pay $54.2 million in damages to more than 1,100 employees who lost retirement benefits in the collapse of St. Clare’s Hospital pension fund.
Photo credit: George Fazio.
