Who knew that BBQ sauce could be wholesome, right? Andy couldn’t quite believe his eyes when he saw the maple BBQ chicken planned for dinner. (Let's just say that BBQ isn't a big theme in our household.)

I felt good serving it because, other than the ketchup as a little shortcut, this sauce was made from scratch and I knew every ingredient going in to it (the color comes from ground paprika). The maple syrup gives it a sweet, caramelized taste.

There’s something about roots and maple that is a mouthwatering combination. But you don’t have to go through all the work of peeling and dicing and roasting root vegetables in the oven to get these flavors.

Maple-glazed carrots

There are many reasons to love maple. Here are two of them:

The front pie is the maple pie (first recipe); the rear pie is the maple walnut pie (second recipe) below.