Memorial Day is just around the corner and it should be a great weekend to throw some lamb on the grill.
In celebration of the holiday, our delicious lamb loin chops are 25% off for a limited time only!
This is the filet mignon of lamb. Our 100% Grass-Fed lamb chops are perfect for grilling or broiling –
They’re cut to 1 ½” thickness, so it’s easy to cook them to any desired degree of doneness.
photo by the American Lamb Board
Order by Sunday for delivery in time for Memorial Day Weekend!
In Huaraz, Peru, I had soup that matched my shirt. It was extremely green and extremely delicious. I may have been hungry and cold, but that soup really made an impression on me.
photo by Jack Nelson
On a recent “spring” day in Idaho, I was feeling similarly hungry and cold, and yearned for some of that Peruvian green goodness. I quickly put together this cilantro, spinach and quinoa soup, sliced up a few lamb sausages and became happy.
Green Soup with Quinoa and Lamb Sausage
Ingredients
Procedure:
1) Boil water and prepare cup of quinoa according to package instructions.
2) While quinoa is cooking, add oil to a large pot over medium heat. Once oil is shimmering, add onions and sauté for about 7 minutes. Add garlic and sauté for an additional minute. Pour in chicken stock and bring to a simmer.
3) Heat a skillet or grill over medium-high heat. Cook lamb sausages, turning to ensure even cooking on all sides. Slice into pieces.
4) Add cilantro (stems and leaves) and spinach and allow to simmer for 5 minutes. Use an immersion blender (or pour into a blender, being careful with hot liquid) to blend all together.
5) Add cooked quinoa and sausage to soup. If desired, you can add a bit of cream or milk to thicken up the soup. Dish up in bowls and top with pumpkin seeds.
Warming temperatures and thawing snow have now made a few trips out to the Pioneers possible. Here are a few photos showcasing the arrival of spring, as evidenced by strutting sage grouse, migrating pronghorn, greenery,and flowers.
What’s in the distance up the Little Wood?
Strutting sage grouse (video to come, I promise).
Green fields, snowy Pioneers. And a few dots representing pronghorn in the distance.
Barn Canyon Pond
The ultimate spring evidence.
Balsamroot looking back towards the Lava Lake.
May view of the home ranch.
Lava Lake is thrilled to announce that two new conservation easements that will protect 4533 acres of ranchlands in the Pioneer Mountains have been established. The Nature Conservancy will hold the easements. Conservation easements are legal agreements that ensure traditional uses of the land can continue while protecting the property from subdivision forever.
The two properties protected by easements are located in the West Fork of Fish Creek drainage in the Pioneer Mountains, an area identified as important for wildlife in Idaho’s Comprehensive Wildlife Conservation Strategy. The properties are particularly important for sage grouse populations in the Pioneers, and also provide habitat for pronghorn, elk, mule deer, moose, sage thrasher and rare plants.
“Lava Lake is delighted to have completed conservation easements on 4500 acres in the West Fork of Fish Creek, which build on the existing 7500 acre conservation easement on Lava Lake Main Ranch,” says landowner Brian Bean. “These lands are an important part of the forage base for our sheep operation and they support significant cultural and natural values, including Native American sites and sage grouse. We are honored to be able to protect these lands in perpetuity.” Brian and Kathleen Bean previously completed a 7500-acre conservation easement with the Conservancy in 2001.
“The Pioneer Mountains are teeming with wildlife and benefit from excellent ranch stewardship,” says Susanna Danner, director of protection for the Conservancy in Idaho. “Conservation easements like these will ensure that this region remains a special place, for people and nature.”
Funding for the two easements was made possible by the Natural Resources Conservation Service Farm and Ranch Lands Protection Program and from the Doris Duke Charitable Foundation, through the Northwest Wildlife Conservation Initiative, an initiative to support protection for ecologically important lands identified in state conservation plans. The landowner contributed 25 percent of the value of each easement through bargain sales.
“We are extremely grateful for the support and hard work of the Natural Resources Conservation Service and The Nature Conservancy in Idaho,” says Bean. “These two organizations have been important partners in our ranch’s conservation efforts, and are playing a leadership role in efforts to protect other working lands and wildlife habitat in the larger Pioneer Mountains-Craters of the Moon region. We look forward to continuing our work together.”
Learn more about Lava Lake’s partnership with The Nature Conservancy in this video.
Read more about the easement in this Idaho Statesmen piece by Rocky Barker.
