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  What does Fall mean? Usually, it means celebration.  Crowding around the table with friends and family, traveling from state to state to get those annual visits in, and the on-ramp to the December holidays and New Years. This year, obviously things are different.       Yet here stands a unique opportunity: To simplify.  Time that was usedContinue reading “Bringing Home the Colors of Fall”

Every so often, the creek floods and uncovers what’s been hidden for years- even decades. Ancient relics have been hidden away under years of gravel and mud. Hidden from the light of day, and elements of the environment, anything that becomes buried by time will likely last- until the next flood rips away the coverContinue reading “Stone in the Rough”

“There was a time when the word from which lady sprang meant a ‘loaf-kneader’. To our own and our families’ distinct profit–and with little effort–we housewives can become ‘ladies’ again” (I. Rombauer, 1962). I grew up in the era of the bread machine. Throw the ingredients in, push a couple buttons, and leave to comeContinue reading “Sourdough Baby”

It’s been hot – has it not?  The summer days are rolling steadily through our little valley, bringing nothing less than the humidity and the heat of a Pennsylvania summer.  Here, we say it like this: “August is coming …”  July and August are no doubt the hottest you can be here, and by theContinue reading “Family Fresh”

Working and living at Castle Valley, you learn to be ever-encroached upon, and encroaching on, nature. In the mill, it’s cave crickets in the basement. Outside, it’s Northern Water Snakes, turtles, Wolf Spiders, and recently, it turns out, a Brown Recluse. The joys certainly balance out the (less joyful) run-ins with things we’d rather leaveContinue reading “Oasis”

As all know, the COVID-19 pandemic has had a resounding effect on the restaurant business and the food industry as a whole.  From food shortages, plant closures, and the complete shut-down of public restaurants country-wide, Castle Valley Mill’s future was uncertain.  Pre-pandemic, our main business flourished among large-scale distributors, restaurants, and the distilling industry.  WhenContinue reading “A Castle In A Storm”