I don’t want to get into a big political discussion about whether government is too big, too small or whatever…but if you want to see a pretty good example of a State government that does a lot of things well, come visit us.
As you may know, Vermont was hit hard by Hurricane Irene — something like 500 miles of roadways, particularly the many mountain roads that follow rivers and streams — were severely damaged. Yet today, only a small stretch of...
We held our “grand opening” celebration yesterday, with food, drink and music for all. The Governor of Vermont — Peter Shumlin, who grew up in Putney and is an old friend of the family — attended and spoke on the bright future of Vermont, especially in light of increased interest in where our food comes from, and how it’s produced. The Brattleboro Reformer has an article (excellent photograph, questionable text) that you can view here (note that...
We in Vermont live close to the natural world, and in general we love it. But there’s no denying that we leave our mark on it — we build roads, walls and sugarhouses for example.
Sometimes the creatures of the natural world do things that we find inconvenient. For several years running a phoebe would build a nest atop a light fixture on our back deck, making it awkward to enjoy it in the warm days of early summer: if we sat out there, she would...
This article in The Atlantic Monthly does a good job of describing, from a connaisseur’s perspective, the differences between the lighter and darker syrup grades.
From our perspective, though, it has one significant error: it states that the lighter syrup grades are generally more expensive, the darker grades cheaper. This may have been true at one time but today — at least at Hidden Springs Maple — this price differential has largely disappeared...
Even in Vermont, ground-covering snowfall in October is a rare event; we were unpleasantly surprised last Friday when we got 2-3 inches overnight and had to spend some time clearing off the car in the morning. But that was all gone by that afternoon.
But now this: at least a foot of wet snow overnight.
All this rainy, rainy summer I’ve been wondering if this trend will continue into the winter. Let’s hope not.
The Hidden Springs Maple Farm Store is almost ready to open. On November 25th (“Black Friday”, the day after Thanksgiving) we will be hosting an Open House and Reception at the Farm Store in Putney. Here is the flyer that we’ve come up with; we’ll be printing these and posting them around town shortly (click on the image for a larger view):
Like most of Vermont, especially southern and central regions, at the Hidden Springs sugarbush we experienced mild winds, and incredible quantities of rain over much of Sunday. Catherine and I went out with Fraser in the middle of it (early Sunday afternoon) to see what we could see. I regret that we only got a few pictures (it was difficult to keep the camera dry and our old digital gets temperamental when it’s damp.)
Total Time: 1 hr 10 mins, plus seasoning time
Makes: 6 to 8 servings
INGREDIENTS
1 tablespoon kosher salt
1 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
1/8 teaspoon cayenne pepper
3 pounds chicken wings, separated into drumettes and midsections (or flats), wing tips discarded
1/3 cup Hidden Springs Maple maple syrup (we recommend grade B which has the strongest maple flavor)
1/4 cup Dijon mustard
2 tablespoons whole-grain mustard...
