The Trailing of the Sheep festival is a great time to experience Lava Lake Lamb prepared by the best chefs in the Wood River Valley.  Here is a list of everywhere you can find our lamb during the festival.

Enjoy Lava Lake Lamb at the following restaurants:

The Cellar Pub (Lava Lake Lamb sliders)

CK’s Real Food (Lava Lake Lamb ribs with smoked chili glaze and apple blue cheese coleslaw, Lava Lake Lamb ragu with house made gnocchi, eggplant & Peccorino, rack of Lava Lake Lamb with lavender-tarragon sauce)

Dashi (Malaysian crusted rack of Lava Lake Lamb with truffled gratin and syrah reduction, Braised Lava Lake Lamb Shank Ramen, local root vegetables and traditional garnishes, Steamed Buns with Braised Lava Lake Lamb, Hoisen and pickled cucumber)

Desperado’s (Lava Lake Lamb tacos served street style)

Globus (Lava Lake Lamb steamed dumplings with soy dipping sauce, Lava Lake Lamb special entree)

il Naso (Lava Lake Lamb shank served with a farro, asparagus, eggplant and pistachio mint pesto salad)

Ketchum Grill (Braised Lava Lake Lamb shank, Lava Lake Lamb meatballs, other special Lava Lake Lamb entrees

Perry’s (1/3lb grilled Lava Lake Lamb burger topped with caramelized onions and a red wine reduction sauce, Lava Lake Lamb stew served in a red wine tomato gravy with Yukon Gold garlic mashed potatoes and sauteed golden corn, Lava Lake Lamb chili served with an Idaho baker)

Powerhouse (Lava Lake Lamb carnitas with a small green salad)

Rickshaw (Special Lava Lake Lamb dish)

Sawtooth Club (Special Lava Lake Lamb Shank dish)

Sushi on Second (Asian Lava Lake Lamb skewers)

Vintage (Special Leg of Lava Lake Lamb dish)

If you would like to be your own chef, contact us or come by our booth at the Folklife Fair on Saturday, October 8th to buy the best Lava Lake Lamb cuts.

Last weekend we harvested crabapples at Lava Lake.

Fall is a time of contrasts for me. Summer is such a busy time at the ranch, but the days are so long they can handle all the busyness. In fall it seems like the pace actually picks up, if that’s possible, yet everything around us – the shortening days, something indefinable but palpable in the air itself — is clearly trying to slow us down, ease us into winter. In our cold country, animals and people alike harvest what crops remain. Bears gorge on choke cherries, rodents store up grain, folks cover their gardens at night in the hopes of protecting them from frost and gaining just a few more warm growing days.  And I pick crabapples.

Our trees are only about 12 feet tall so we can climb up on short ladders and get the fruit easily. Crabapples hang on stems in little clusters. I like to hold a cluster in my hand and carefully bend the stem just at the top of the fruit so that I don’t have much work to do before making them into jelly – I don’t want a bunch of stems and leaves in my bowl. This means I have to pick slowly and carefully, and I found myself enjoying every minute of that task. I didn’t want it to end; I wished it could take all afternoon. The pleasure was in standing outside in the sun, feeling the cool breeze, noticing all the shades of red as the crabapples plopped into my bowl and imagining the beautiful little jars of ruby-colored jelly I would make with them.

Sometimes we hurry through our chores, rushing to get to the next thing. Sometimes that’s necessary in our busy lives. But more and more I am trying to enjoy each task in my day, whether sitting at my computer to do some writing, organizing the storage shed or harvesting fruit.  I’m not giving up efficiency – I can’t afford to. But being in the moment, being grateful for whatever task is before me, seems to reduce the stress of busyness.  Maybe it’s a fall thing.

Next weekend I’m going to make jelly. I’ll let you know how it turns out.

Oinkari Basque Dancers – Trailing of the Sheep Festival

Craters of the Moon National Monument & Preserve

Last Thursday, Jen Douglas and I traveled up to Murdock Creek to join our Congressman Mike Simpson for the ribbon cutting ceremony for the recently completed primitive access trail into the Murdock drainage.  A primitive access trail provides enhanced backcountry/wilderness access for individuals with mobility limitations, including wheelchairs.  These are backcountry trails with normal trail tread, but designed with truly everyone in mind.

Congressman Simpson was instrumental in shaping the original vision for the trail and securing funding for its construction.  Along with local outdoor enthusiasts, including Eric Shultz of the Arthur B. Shultz Foundation, they identified Murdock Creek as a prime candidate for an access trail.  Another trail in the White Could Mountains, the Phyllis Lake Trail has also been upgraded to a primitive access trail.  Together, these two trails add real backcountry access for individuals with mobility limitations to the Boulder-White Clouds, an area under consideration for federal wilderness designation.

We were joined on the tour by board members and staff from Idaho Conservation League and Sun Valley Adaptive Sports.  Idaho Conservation League has been a long-time partner of Lava Lake’s and a leader in the wilderness bill for the Boulder-White Clouds.   Sun Valley Adaptive Sports has been helping people with mobility challenges get out and enjoy all that our area has to offer since 1999.  The Murdock trail represents a great accomplishment for both of these great local organizations.

Eric Shultz shares what the trail means to him.

Congressman Mike Simpson officially opens the trail.

The Murdock Creek Primitive Access Trail is now open.

As many of you know, the Blaine County Fair was this past week. Although the biggest attraction is always the livestock sale on Saturday, a lot of other events occur over the four days such as three different rodeos, horse showing and livestock judging. The Bennett kids both participated in the 4H horse program and Bodie raised and sold a lamb as well. Payson and my sister, Fiona, rode in the junior rodeo on Friday night on their horses, Hoolie and Mustang.

Bodie and Payson showing off their horses and award ribbons

Bodie and ‘Lamb Loin’

Fiona on Mustang and Payson on Hoolie ready for the Junior Rodeo