With Easter past it is now time to look forward to spring and summer is on  it's way. I love this time of year, the dead look of winter is officially behind us and now comes the blossoms and leaves of spring! The casseroles are behind me and here comes the grill! Ron and I used to use a propane grill exclusiviely, and believe me we still have one, but I convinced Ron to get us a Webber Kettle Grill and both of us couldn't be happier. Using cowboy charcoal (wood) makes our food taste totally wonderful, smoky and crispy all at the same time! We are carrying a new cut of meat this year that is meant for the grill, it's called the "Flanken Style" short rib and boy is it a great cut for quick grilling! It's from the short rib section (which I certainly love to slow cook in the winter) on the cow however it is cut across the bone instead of with it. They're fairly thin so they are quick cooking, but the cut makes them tender. All they need is to be marinated then slap them on the grill for a quick sear and you are off to your dinner plate. We carry "Cherryaki Marinade" that is a perfect blend of cherries and spices to make the meat sing in your mouth! Or........ we carry Grampa G's Horseradish Ranch that is the tastiest combination dipping meat, and he makes it without any chemicals!

 
Well that was interesting! This year was the earliest start to maple syrup season in my memory and with all the warm weather, and occasional freeze up, we finished making syrup last week. The mild winter brought the initial sap sugar content down, so the amount of boiling per gallon of syrup went up. All in all we had a average syrup production season with a lot of darker syrup due to the extra boiling time.
​
​The high wind storm provided us with a lot of extra firewood (that we needed) for burning in the syrup arch. The ash trees burn fast and hot, which makes syrup faster. If only it fall to the ground in 16" pieces. lol. The clean-up from the wind storm continues and will provide plenty of wood for the next season. The large tree in the picture is a 3' diameter maple tree, an unfortunate victim of the storm, no more maple sap from this one :-(

We will have plenty of maple syrup available throughout the year and a variety of maple goodies. Maple sugar candy is almost always available, besides that we will have maple caramel crispy treats, maple glazed pecans, maple bbq sauce, maple almond fudge, maple cinnamon rolls, and more new things to come.