Easter is nearly here, and spring is in the air. We’ll see if Wisconsin decides to spring any more snowstorms on us, but for now here are two more sweet recipes as we move out of the Lenten season.

Chocolate brownie cake is my new favorite chocolate cake. I had some leftover yogurt that I needed to use up, so I surfed the internet looking for a baking recipe that used a good amount of yogurt. I stumbled upon this recipe.

Bob Bucher had watched enough people tapping their maple trees and bottling syrup that one year he decided to do it himself.

“I saw a few people doing it and thought it would be interesting,” the Town of Richmond man said in mid-March. “Like they say, once you start it, you’re hooked.”

He and his wife, Cindy, have been making maple syrup the past seven years. Last month, they tapped 54 trees.

Boho Belle Boutique hearkens as a small-town boutique with a big heart, featuring cozy, inspired, everyday pieces. In fact, owner Amber Beechy claims there’s something for everyone there.

Launching her storefront shop last November at 217 N. Main St. in Shawano, Beechy features clothing she herself would feel comfortable in.

I take Merlin with me on my walks these days to help me identify the early spring migrants that are finding their way back to Wisconsin. Merlin, a free birding app available from the Cornell Lab of Ornithology, like the magician of old, works its magic by helping to identify birds you are seeing or hearing.