Secret Nest & Maggie's Farm Rum

I thought the chickens were taking a winter break from laying until I moved some things around in their coop and found a pile of 17 eggs.  They had been squeezing behind the straw bales that I store in there until needed as bedding, and laying eggs in a secret hidden spot.  Fine by me; now I know to look there!

Secret Nest

On another note, a group of friends and I visited Maggie's Farm Rum, Pittsburgh's very own rum distillery.  After a tasting, owner Tim Russell gave us a tour and explained the process.  Distilling alcohol is an area where my knowledge base is down near zero, so I just sat back and admired the lovely copper pot still and (kind of) absorbed how it all works.  This I gathered: rum is made from sugar, methanol is bad alcohol and ethanol is good alcohol as far as drinking, and different things come from the distillation process called "heads", "hearts" and "tails".  Maggie's farm re-uses the "tails" and redistills them to get "the heads of the tails" which they use in their signature Queen's Share rums, inspired by rum distillers of days gone by.  Interesting stuff, and good rum!