It's true, though I have never seen them before—soft, milky icicles falling off the old maple tree by the driveway, the one that keeps my car well sapped. I picked one off the grass and tasted it, just to make sure, and it did have a faintly sweet and slightly maple taste. I think.

Pork shoulder, slow roasted on the Green Egg (mabe slightly overdone) following the recipe in Michael Pollans' Cooked, first step in the process of making West Virginia style whole hog barbeque, which will be served Thursday at our mini three-household neignborhood circle supper.