Mushroom Monday_Chanterelles

Our first find of Cantharellus cibarius!

Have we just missed these in the six years we've been looking for mushrooms? More than likely we just haven't been in the right place at the right time. Now we know where to look and about when.

Clean and uncleaned Chanterelles. Your tolerance for grit will change after you've cleaned a few pounds of these.

We've tried these highly regarded mushrooms in a cream of mushroom soup, sauteed with herbs and a little wine for a pizza, and sauteed in butter. I am just not as wowed as I thought I would be... it could be the terroir or type of Chanterelle (since the Splitters might not yet have a name for the ones that grow in the northern part of our state), or maybe I'm just spoiled by the Boletus barrowsii, B. edulis, and Sparassis crispa we find.    

Sparassis crispa or Cauliflower Mushroom. One of our favorites.

Chanterelles might be a second-tier mushroom for me, the jury is still out. We have some frozen as duxelles and I look forward to trying them in a few different recipes, maybe a risotto this winter, as a stuffing for flounder, who knows? Don't get me wrong, we'll definitely pick Chanterelles when we are lucky enough to find them, we'll just have to keep looking for that perfect application to show us why they are so highly touted in the world of mycophagy. Tough job, but we're up for it.

So much for 2012's resolutions...

I have a new appreciation for people who juggle blogging and the rest of life. Obviously, this is the ball I dropped for the last two years while working a part-time gig at USFWS and being back in school half-time. Spare time has been rare and better spent doing than chronicling, but now I have a little breathing room... some highlights from 2013.

We learned how to make pickles...

Cucumbers, dill and currant leaves (their tannins help keep the pickles crisp) from the garden .

and grew, then pickled some Chinese long beans.

recipe from Canning for a New Generation

We foraged mushrooms and had the pleasure of sharing our enthusiasm with good friends.

Next generation mycophile?

 

We made shortbread from spruce tips...

and healing potions from elderberries discovered in our local mountains.

Sambucus cerulea or S. mexicana.

While life in the Seemingly Stochastic world is ever-changing, a few things remain constant:

 I hope you are well and that I'll see you more frequently in the coming year.

Whooooo's wishing you a Happy 2014? (Burrowing Owl on the Refuge.)