I live in a college town and football is often a main topic of conversation. Passion and tradition run deep – the excitement of game day, the proud display of colors, students and alum gathering for pep rallies and pre-game festivities. Yet, the best is spending time with friends at tailgate parties with the smell of steaks grilling, and then cheering the home team onto victory. It doesn’t get much better than that.

The college season is now over and the Super Bowl is right around the corner. Enjoy these highlights from the 2011 season. It has been quite the year in collegiate sports.

Big Ten

# 11 Nebraska v. Minnesota – The Cornhuskers rushed for 346 yards in a 41-14 win against the Gophers.

No. 21 Illinois v. Purdue – Caleb TerBush passed for 178 yards and two touchdowns to help Purdue upset No. 21 Illinois 21-14.

No. 22 Penn State v. Northwestern – Silas Redd and Matt McGloin combined for three touchdowns as the Nittany Lions beat the Wildcats 34-24.

Indiana at Iowa – Marvin McNutt caught six passes for 184 yards and three touchdowns, as Iowa romped over Indiana 45-24.

Big 12

No. 6 Oklahoma State v. Missouri – Running back Joseph Randle had four touchdowns in the Cowboys’ 45-24 win.

No. 16 Kansas State v. Kansas – The Wildcats moved to 7-0 for the first time since 1999 with a 59-21 win over the Jayhawks.

No. 18 Texas A&M v. Iowa State – Quarterback Ryan Tannehill threw for 263 yards and two touchdowns in the Aggies’ 33-17 win against the Cyclones.

Pac-12

No. 8 Oregon v. Colorado- Running back Kenjon Barner gained 115 yards on 10 carries as the Ducks defeated the Tigers 45-2.

UCLA at Arizona (Thursday) – Arizona rolled up a 42-7 halftime lead and coasted past UCLA 48-12.

SEC

No. 2 LSU v. No. 23 Auburn – Running back Michael Ford had 82 yards on 12 carries to lead the Tigers to a 45-10 victory.

No. 3 Alabama v. Tennessee – Quarterback AJ McCarron threw for 284 yards and a touchdown and ran for another while leading
No. 3 Crimson Tide to 37-6 win over the Volunteers.

No. 10 Arkansas v. Mississippi -The Razorbacks rallied from 17 down to defeat the Rebels 29-24.

Mountain West Conference

No. 7 Boise State v. Air Force – Quarterback Kellen Moore threw for 265 yards and three touchdowns in the Broncos’ 37-26 win.

New Mexico at TCU — The Horned Frogs outgained the Lobos 515-85 in a 69-0 rout.

ACC

Wake Forest at Duke – Tanner Price connected with Chris Givens on a 66-yard TD pass with 6:52 remaining to give Wake Forest a 24-23 win over Duke.

Non-conference

Army at Vanderbilt – Zac Stacy rushed for 198 yards and three TDs in Vanderbilt’s 44-21 win over Army.

Jacksonville State at Kentucky – CoShik Williams carried 22 times for 148 yards to help Kentucky crush Jacksonville State 38-14.

On December 18th Dan Purpura of Bozeman, MT won our Half Lamb for the Holidays Giveaway. Here’s a note from Dan.

Our family rang out 2011 with a rack of lamb from a package we were lucky enough to win as part of a Ranchline promotion. Having no experience cooking lamb I kept it simple. Using a marinade consisting of minced garlic, olive oil and rosemary and thyme from my wife’s garden it took only about 25 minutes at 350 degrees and came out a very nice medium rare. Though I’m no wine expert, the Malbec served with it was a great compliment. We look forward to more culinary adventures with the rest of the package.

Living in Montana we have access to excellent grass fed beef which we enjoy throughout the year. Ranchline’s natural lamb is a welcome addition to the high quality meat in our freezer that will provide top of the line meals at our home for a long time. A big tip of the hat to Ranchline for their generosity and great product. The toughest decision is which cut to try next for our next celebration. Lots of good eating for 2012.

Christmas. Decorations, family gatherings, gifts and holiday cheer. A wonderful and sometimes difficult time of year. In the past, I have found the hustle and bustle to be exhausting and well, to be honest, empty. So, I’ve worked on making Christmas meaningful. I love to sing, so I go caroling and attend a Christmas Eve service. I kidnap my friend’s kids and drive around looking at Christmas lights while listening to Christmas music. I invite friends over for Ugly Christmas Sweater parties and read them the Christmas story of Mary, Joseph and baby Jesus.

One of the most meaningful traditions I’ve taken on is Advent Conspiracy – an organization that encourages spending less on gifts and giving more to the poor. “Worship Fully, Spend Less, Give More, Love All.” It helps me avoid getting caught up in the consumerism surrounding the holiday in order to celebrate Christmas more fully. To learn more about Advent Conspiracy go to http://www.adventconspiracy.org/

We at Ranchline All Natural hope you truly have a meaningful Christmas. And we are proud of the fact that sheep played an important role in the first Christmas. After all, it was Shepherds that the angels chose to tell about the special baby born in Bethlehem. I’m sure the sheep were close at hand during this momentous event. Maybe a few were even in the stable where he lay!

Merry Christmas!
Tracie Jenkins
Sales Manager
Ranchline All Natural

Ranchline All Natural would like to take the opportunity, over this festive season of gratitude, joy, and caring to thank our loyal client base.  We’ve made great strides over the past two years and we continue to listen to what you have to say.

Many of you have asked us to supplement our outstanding and well-received line of lamb products.  So, in listening to your requests and with the desire to grow our product lines and business, we are proud to announce the addition of our newest lines of meats and our new business affiliate.

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In honor of rapidly approaching Halloween; we tried desperately to find a Halloween-themed recipe.  Unfortunately, lamb flavored candy recipes are hard to find… until we found this delicious recipe from The American Lamb Board!  Now, We’re not entirely sure how the neighborhood would react to Lamb Lollipops in the trick or treat bag, (personally, I’d come back for seconds!) so this should probably just be a fun dish to eat while handing out candy to the little trick or treaters at the door.  Enjoy!

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Recipe from the American Lamb Board (www.americanlamb.com)

Feta Lamburgers with Spinach Slaw

# Servings: 4 servings

3 tablespoons quick-cooking rolled oats
1 egg white
1/4 teaspoon pepper
1/4 teaspoon salt
3/4 pound ground American Lamb
1/4 cup crumbled feta cheese
2 green onions, finely chopped
2 tablespoons red wine vinegar
1 teaspoon Dijon-style mustard
1 teaspoon granulated sugar
1-1/2 cups fresh spinach, leaves and stems removed, chopped
4 English muffins, split and lightly toasted

Preparation time: 15 minutes
Cook time: 12 minutes

In a bowl, combine oats, egg white, pepper and salt. Add lamb; mix well. Form into eight 1/4-inch patties. In a small bowl, toss together the feta cheese and green onion. Place one-fourth of the cheese mixture on each of four patties. Top with remaining four patties and seal edges to hold filling inside.

In bowl, combine vinegar, mustard and sugar; mix well. Pour over chopped spinach; toss to mix. Set aside.

Grill burger over medium-hot coals for 5 to 6 minutes per side until no longer pink inside. Place each burger on a muffin half; top with spinach mixture and second half of the muffin.

Father’s day is just around the corner and there is no better gift for that special man in your life than what he loves the most – meat! The All Natural Club is a fabulous way to give him his favorite all natural lamb cuts, delivered right to his doorstep on a quarterly basis, hassle-free.

Click here for more information and to sign up. We promise you will not be disappointed with this gift choice, after all, we do all the work for you!

Look no further than the Ranchline All Natural Club. The special mother in your life will receive quarterly shipments right to her doorstep – hassle free!

Sign up today, and the gift recipient will receive a special email detailing everything they can expect from being members of the All Natural Club – just in time for Mother’s Day.

Want more information or just want to sign up? Click here.

So go on – show that special mother how much ‘ewe’ love her this Mother’s Day.

Dedicated lamb lovers,

We want to hear from you! At Ranchline All Natural, it is important for us to hear what our customers think. So, we are asking each of you to go to our www.yelp.com profile and give us a review. It’s a great way for us to know exactly what you are thinking.

Thank you so much! We look forward to all of the reviews.

Ranchline All Natural

Photo by The American Lamb Board

Limited Inventory! At Ranchline All Natural, we always accumulate a large inventory of boneless legs of lamb specifically for the Easter holiday. With lamb prices sky rocketing, we are concerned we won’t be able to do this again. Now is your chance to save – quite possibly for the last time – on our existing leg inventory! We are marking them down 50% for use in your Easter celebration. The supply will not last – and once it’s gone, it’s gone – so order yours today!

50% off boneless leg of lamb – use promo code EASTER2011