I don’t claim to be an expert on the best hot chocolate mix, but cocoa is one of my favorite winter treats. I always seem to have at least two varieties on hand: one I can make with water, like Swiss Miss, and a “fancy” kind, like Ghirardelli, that I make at luxurious moments like when I realize I still have milk that hasn’t gone bad. Read more…
While we’ve all been tossing aside our jackets and admiring blooming trees, maple syrup producers have been cursing this freakishly early spring. Maple trees need cold nights and warm days for the sap to flow, and many in the syrup industry are saying this is the worst season ever. Read more…
Lately it seems like I’ve been seeing “barrel-aged” slapped on everything. You can buy beer aged in apple brandy barrels, cider aged in bourbon barrels, and even your very own home cocktail aging kit. As soon as I heard about maple syrup aged in bourbon barrels though, I thought, “bingo.” That’s like hearing about someone just inventing adding milk to dry cereal. Read more…
