Sunday, October 26, 2014

Fall...Mushrooms and Poetry






The colours have peaked and the frost has already been thick on the pumpkin, as the autumnal finery starts its slow descent to the multi-browns of November. Piles of leaves for the kids to shuffle through, as Halloween approaches!

Hoping to get out to the Dunbar Bridge for one last photo day before all the leaves are gone.

Looking forward to Halloween. Found the best book yesterday for the Grands!


A wonderful parody of the classic "Goodnight Moon" which I must have read to my three, a thousand or so times over their younger years.




Delving deeper into the whole mushroom thing...it is quite interesting...but seriously:





The first mushroom cultivated must have been by Howard Hughes. I can only assume this because of the emphasis on STERILIZATION of...well pretty much everything, as you go along.  With instructions to build a "Glove Box"  (...think Homer Simpson handling radiactive materials here)





And no..I am not making this up. And sterilizing the multitude of available substrates...and collecting you own spore patterns to eventually create your own inoculation syringes.

Let's get back to sterilizing the substrate for a moment. You mean the same fungi that grows on Cow-Flop and rotting trees suddenly gets overly picky when domesticated? I don't know...

But, I am willing to learn.

Completely immersed in all things MUSHROOM this week and my transit driver is bringing me several hardwood logs to inoculate with Shittake pegs soon. The morel area is already spored from last year...and hopefully the Spring rains will be kind next season. And yes...I am going to try the Oyster Mushrooms both on the toilet paper rolls and Kleenex box...because not only do I LOVE Oyster `shrooms...and I am excruciatingly curious...but also that (according to the guide) they are pretty much fool proof. Will grow on anything cellulose based including books.  We shall see.  ~laughing~




So for anyone who wants to try it yourself:
This is the book

 Is it wrong to want to buy a copy and grow Oyster Mushrooms on it...just for a photograph?



Also found an interesting selection of Poetry bound in three thin volumes.

From the: Let's Write About project.
Edited by Brien O'Neill

The Indiana Experience
The Indiana Experience Volume II
and
New Voices

All three were the plain-spoken voices of everyday Hoosiers. Nice to sit on the patio in the crisp Fall air with a cup of spiced tea and enjoy a slow read.

Worth a Look!

And my Go-To Fall Food Recipe

Fried Red Potatoes with Bacon and Onions

(...I think I could eat these every morning.)


Put a 1 inch square chunk of butter in a shallow skillet.

Slice Red Potatoes into 1/4 inch slices. Figure one large red potato for each person.

Cut Bacon strip into 1 inch pieces. Use one strip of bacon for each person. Do not use pre-cooked bacon.

Sprinkle top with salt, pepper and chopped dried onions.

Cover skillet with lid and cook on medium heat until the potatoes are cooked through and easy to cut with a fork. If you want them browned increase heat and turn once before plating.

And calorically not the nightmare you would imagine.

A single serving (one whole red potato and slice of bacon) is only

1 Red Potato =  108 calories
Butter 1 tablespoon= 102 calories
Bacon 1 strip= 46 calories
Dried Onion  1 tablespoon= 17 calories
Salt and Pepper (negligible)

So the whole skillet full is only around 273 calories.  Amazingly filling.
And outrageously delicious.