Hey now, only the high quality ore has been depleted! We’re still the big iron mining area of the country.

But also, if you ever make a trip up this way (beautiful Lake Superior and the North Shore aren’t far from “da range”) make sure to hit up the small town butchers who put together a porketta to dream about.

Or if you’re the outgoing sort, call your congressperson and use the form as a template for what you tell the staffer that answers the phone.

Halloween is my jam and I’m sad that I won’t get to hand out candy and comment on the costumes all of the trick-or-treaters wear (as well as have kids oooh and ahh over the cat that sits on the stairs and watches their every move) but it really is for the best to NOT encourage trick-or-treating this year.

Good catch.  The same products can be obtained through another retailer that does have a license to sell in the US.  The Spirit Co. sells the calendar and ships to the US.

OR check out the Scotch Advent calendars from Drinks by the Dram! We got one last year and will be doing the same again this year.  It was a great way to taste a bunch of Scotch that you can’t find in the US and some you can.

Same here! Super easy to turn that into sauce/soup later and no worry of spoilage.

I’ve made mini pies with no sugar, just a bit of maple syrup and a heavy spice hand.  They were good, but the consistency was, as you could assume, not quite right.

Hard cider works too!

Came here to say this. Stout floats are a regular early-fall occurrence ‘round the fire here.

We haven’t had any problems with our two cideries and three breweries (not counting brew pubs) with their patios. I figure if you keep barrels/hightops and a few tables out with teh same summer patio rules it wouldn’t be a problem. But that’s the difference I’m guessing.

Fellow Minnesotan here, and this is HUGE for the southwestern area of the state. Having grown up in a farming community, this is the kind of community-based corporate giving that hasn’t been seen for a couple generations.

We’ve been talking to our local breweries and cider shops and pushing for outdoor spaces that embrace winter (this is Minnesota) with “ice bars” and snow activities. People are going to go stir crazy cooped up inside their houses, and being hearty folk, will take advantage of these spaces.  Not exactly the same for…

Crack a cider and pour one out.  You did good Old Apple Tree, you did good.

The scents idea resonates with what I see from the cat on my household.  He likes to take my seat at the WFH station whenever I leave it and REALLY loves sleeping on my worn clothes.  Like damn cat, that shirt is sweaty  but sure, you can nest in it.

IT took some getting used to but that was a very nice element to traveling around Scotland.  It was weird not tipping on every drink we ordered though at the pubs...

Part of the appeal of the Great Minnesota Get Together aka Great Minnesota Taste Together is eating this stuff fresh, on a stick, while jostling around with a 100,000 of your long-vowel enunciating neighbors.

Good choice of lunch beer.

Hearing from the very small community breweries will be interesting. Anecdotally, where I live, our four breweries in town (not counting brewpubs) have all done very well, at least since they were able to shift gears to more production being canned and less being sold in their taprooms. The greatest concern that they…

Mulled wine is exactly it :)

Mind blown! That is a great use. I agree, basically useless for actual tea, but I’ve found it useful for adding additional flavor component to drinks.