hummingbirdkiss

I think I made this one up but am not sure if I am wrong correct me ..but it is my version I guess of a watermellon blended margarita! toss in the blender 2 cups of ice cold red ripe seedless watermellon handful of ice juice of 1 lime 3 shots of good tequilla tble of sugar pinch of fine salt any fine salt mixed a little New Mexican chile with some grated zest of a lime blend away heavily rim your glasses with lime juice and lime salt chile combo and fill the glasses ...sweet hot and salty YUMMMM!!!! I should not be thinking about this drink at this time of the morning you know!

perfectly soaked fruits here you go I ate that plate full if you look closely you can see that there are some old soaked fruits (my starter per se and some newer ones ..thet difference of saving some for the next batch is what makes this so good)

where did my pic go leave them whole in the jar and then grind them when you are ready to make the cake I will replace the pic I am sorry!!! I dont know about the fresh plums to be honest I have always used dried fruits since the water is out and the brandy and rum can get into them they may be too mushy I will post a pic of my cake as well later it was a HUGE hit!!! the best ever!!! (we say that every year!!!)

check this website out it might help http://www.namyco.org/

I agree with Majictofu find elder folks who hunt mushrooms in your area...the older they are the better...really if they are old, alive and still picking they know what they are doing!!!! I grew up with older folks teaching me to hunt ...now I am almost the older folk!!!

my absolute favorite real breakfasty breakfast in Portland ..if you want a real good breakfast with people from Portland not pretentious not upscale ..just very local and great food!!! go here ... I do ..every time I go there ..and that is a lot... Fat Albert’s Breakfast Cafe 6668 SE Milwaukie Portland, Oregon 503-872-9822 open 7 days

yes I sprinkled a bunch on top of home made marshmallows!!!(Nightscotsman's strawberry Marshmallow recipe in the RG) it was hysterical to see people's faces when they ate them!!! edited because I have never actually tried to make them and just realized you wanted to make the pop rocks not use them ..sorry

oh one more thing I do as far as people bringing gifts ... when they ask "what should I bring" ...I say "we all have so much would you like to just bring a small donation for the local food bank" ? I label a jar as to what food bank we are supporting for this party...put it by the door and as they leave they can donate no pressure ... it is such a nice way to share the wealth so to speak I have made as much as $300/for one party to donate and people just love the idea and always want to know "how much did we raise" or "you know I am going to do that next time I have a party!"

I always have buffet style and people can flop with food where ever I have beautiful rugs/wood floors so what I do is if it is people who are not familiar with me and the whole no shoes thing 1. if it is a small casual group I have fuzzy socks of all colors ...to give as welcome gifts... they are greeted at the door and given a pair to wear at the party and keep very polite "make yourself at home and enjoy being comfortable sort of way" you can buy them in bunches at Costco the nice soft fleecey ones and they are a lovely gift I think! 2 with a larger group that would be too expensive to buy all those socks I put in the invite .."bring your comfy slippers so we can kick our shoes off and sprawl" or something like that .. most folks when they see a shoes at the door and you with out them will do the same it is the rare occasion people don't ... seating ..our dining table seats 8 comfortable 10 in a pinch...so to expand our table sitting and bare in mind we are very casual entertainers.....I had my husband cut down the pedistal and revamp a craigslist free score of a dining table but cutting down and making the pedistal work then I painted it in heavy black enamel ...now I have a beautiful Korean style sit on the floor dining table that with comfy cushions will seat 8 people in front of the fireplace ...it is so popular with my friends that they will argue over who gets it like kids would! clean up well one good clean up before people come ..then a load in the dishwasher and take the potentially smelly trash out (clam, crab shells that type of thing) out..other than that I do nothing after the party but sit with a glass of wine and enjoy the moment of feeling like I did something very nice for my friends... one of my annual traditions is to have a spring brunch/plant swap ...usually 50 people show for this I stagger my food and my people naturally seem to stagger themselves into an all day event of non stop buffet..my garage is utilized for the plant swap (everyone who gardens brings a plant from their garden and takes a plant home to add to their garden it is really fun and I end up with the bulk to fill my own garden) ... I usually never ask people to bring food if they want to bring something I have them only bring a bottle of wine or whatever they enjoy drinking or perhaps a very non perishable dessert (you can never have to many of those!) we usually do a lot of London broil for crowds everyone loves it served fajita style with roasted/grilled veggies and the..the prep/cooking/clean up is as easy as going to buy a huge top round cutting the London broils out of it ...make a huge batch of marinade and putting them into zippy bags...roasted veggies in the oven and flat bread I try very hard for large crowds to have the flow both inside and outside ..even if it means some tarpatecture (creative tarping ) during this rainy time of year OH MY BEST TIP FOR PEOPLE WHO GET TOO DRUNK TO DRIVE...my kids are a Godsend ..we have this drill of scoping for drunks and if one person appears to be too drunk to drive ...and not open to us providing a ride ...my son will say "so and so needs to get out may I please move your car" no one ever says no ..then he keeps the keys and the option when they want to leave is to either sober up and not leave until they are ..or to let my son and friends drive them home...most people are so grateful for this and trust me I am all about drinking and do a bit of it myself .....but I will not have that on my head ...I am not going to have a dead friend or them kill someone ... because they leave my house drunk!

I find even when I think it is "a perfect" year the best years are the ones that surprise me I am curious ...what books do you guys carry? I have a HUGE collection of mushroom books but my tabbed frayed, muddy and most favorite Bible of fungus is Mushrooms Demystified by David Arora and second to that the pocket guide by him as well All The Rain Promises, and More if you have not used them ...they are the best I think!

I just rehydrated them and used them as I would regular boletes (I love fresh boletes but when you dry and rehydrate them the flavor is so much more intense!) ..in sauces, stews, soups, and the best ever pasta sauce!!! Omg when I rehydrated them the smell of the woods and the mushrooms gave me such a wonderful feeling!!! I live for the next big score in the woods I can not imagine a more wonderful thing to do than hunt wild mushrooms!!! I have been known to leap out of my car on the way to work and grab an arm full of mushrooms I spy ....growing off the side of the road (way off so they are not exposed to exaust or pee) ..then in our break room (there is actually a stove in one of the clinics I work in) saute them up in some butter I always have on hand.. and scarf them for lunch...I am a nurse and my coworkers freak out waiting for me to die of some horrbile mushroom poisoning....some will taste them ..but usually they watch me waiting for me go gasp my last breath! let's see today is Monday I began my work binge yesterday that means I have 9 more days until I can go morel hunting!!!! you guys I am stoked!!! even if I find nothing it is all good out there!!! Smoked boletes... this sounds very interesting. How did you used them? I guess we are lucky not to have limits around here... mushroom picking is not a very popular activity in this part of Canada so I guess there is no need for such limits. Right now we still have a few flurries so my guess is that the morel season will start a bit late. ←

my son went to South Seattle CC ...loved it ..did very well ..it was a very good school and when he was done he was hooked up with a duel degree (business and culinary arts) that translated to a direct transfer to WSU ..no questions asked... it gave him the perfect option and what he says is the best education for the money in this area...not to mention even though he is not currenty cooking he is making over 100k a year now 2 years out of college because of his culinary education and experience .. bottom line my son is very proud of his SSCC education and I hear him brag that he made it through there more often than he talks about WSU!

we have limits here as well and private land makes it hard to get to the primo places for picking...we had a 10 lb limit each and there were five of us hunting it was not just one person getting 50lbs but the 50lbs were used by one family! mine ...we were camping so we sliced and dried them over the alder smokey camp fire right away so they would not get all maggoty ....those were the best dried mushrooms ever...nice subtle smokey flavor...we have lots of boletes here ..all types ...but you have to drive quite a way to get to them and the public land to hunt on..

I am sorry I did not see this ..my entire menu changed except the use of tons of herbs and the black cake! to make orange rolls you add 1/4 cup of orange juice and heaping tsp of finely grated fresh orange rind 1/3 cup sugar ...to any good butter/egg yeast dinner roll recipe ..then before the final rise I roll them out into fat snakes cut them in about 6 inch sections and tie them in a knot ..let them rise ..brush with milk before and once during baking ...these make the house smell wonderful!!! This menu is so nice, hummingbirdkiss. I like the idea of the seafood appetizer and the main course fish. Instead of the fava bean/manchego cheese/salami appetizer I was thinking of making a poached salmon salad that I've made before. It's dressed with cucumber/wine vinegar vinaigrette and also includes fava beans, asparagus tips, peas, green onions, etc. The other appetizer won out this time because I haven't tried it yet and the flavors sound interesting to me. I've always wanted to make a homemade Green Goddess dressing (Chez Panisse Menu Cookbook has what looks like a great version). Fresh wonderful herbs are also a great harbinger of spring and renewal. Also how wonderful to have the rolls! I was thinking of making buttery, tender Parker House rolls this Easter but I don't think I'll be able to fit them in. Have you made the orange rolls before? What are they like and how is the orange flavor incorporated? The Caribbean Black Cake is the most interesting; I wouldn't think of it at Easter but I think you mentioned in another thread that it's a family tradition; pretty cool. ←

I love taco trucks !!! ..they are quick ..close to work or home ..very cheap and really really greasy/salty good!!!

I made them and they are really good!!! I have to confess I more than doubled the pepper ...and sprinkled some coarse salt on top ... salt and pepper brownies!!! very yummy!

you can yank and rip and tug and cut and pull at oregano and I think it just makes it more happy in the garden!!! I agree with folks who say dry it ..fresh oregano tastes kind of bland but taking a few bunches tie them up and hang it in a cool dry spot with airflow until they are dried out completely then just mash it all up remove the stems ..put it in an air tight container ...dried oregano whenever you want!!! this seems to really bring the flavor out ..it is one of the few herbs I do prefer dried vs fresh enjoy your bounty!!!

We don't have the prince around here but we do have other nice mushrooms... here's a few pictures in anticipation of the next season (sorry no morels)... the problem with the prince here is they are usually found in public areas where people walk their dogs ...when I do find a patch of them away from public traffic and not infested with maggots ...they are one of my favorites to cook Mostly Yellow Chanterelles and Black Trumpets I am loving your pictures!!! we get lots of the both white and yellow chanterelles here but I have yet to find and taste any black trumpets!!! Lobster mushrooms Beautiful I do find these sometimes here!!! Hedgehogs these are so cute to find in the woods ..we have them here as well!! King boletes Ok I do have a "secret" spot where I go every fall and pick these king boletes! they are fantastic here ..we get tons and they grown HUGE!!! one year my kids and I picked 50lbs of them in a day! And a mix of sauteed mushrooms, including hedgehogs, chanterelles, oyster mushrooms and lobster mushrooms. YUM!!!! thanks for these wonderful pics...there is something so insanely and wonderfully addictive about finding and picking mushrooms ...they are just amazing!!!

wow that just solved my appetizer issue!!! ...a fava dip Greg ..absolutely wonderful!!! thanks so much for the recipe!!! I am starting my lavash dough and making the syrup for the cherry rice today ...finding all my table clothes and more spring like dishes ..picking flowers.....I love cooking/planning and sprucing things up for anything and after all this rain we have had a spring holiday is the best!!! ..we do kind of an Easter/Passover/bunny day thing ..we are just too mixed up in my family to settle for any one holiday!!!

Thanks so much to the person who got me addicted to this thread!!! What an amazing amt of info and I am so excited about this...I ordered the book and just checked it should be here Monday YAY!!! ...I have a question.. how long are casings good for? the butcher I bought these from said "forever if you keep them packed in salt" but is forever like a year in the fridg because that is how long mine have been in there..they are packed in salt and there is no slime or off smell to them ..but a year is a long time and as cheap as they are maybe I should replace them now? what do you think ..I can not believe how many you get when you buy a pound of those things!!! I made a lot of Italian and chorice last year and did not make a dent in my casing supply! thanks

sadly I have to postpone my trip east of the mt's for another week..we are short staffed at work and I have to work extra instead of having fun...but the following week I will go ...it should still be good..if not a couple of days wandering around in the pine forests is very therapeutic I think!!!

I love grilled Matsutake!! that is the most wonderuf textured mushroom!!! and that smell of them like cinamon red hots!!! I posted my morel basket above...I have more pics of mushrooms I have found someplace ..but this is the only morel pic I have currently..I have never found huge reliable patches of them as I said on this side of our mountains ..I do however find them in burned out areas ..one time I had a giant morel in my yard after dumping charred wood in the back of my garden the following spring it popped up and it was about 9 inches high!!! I could not believe my eyes when I saw it there!!! ...right now here we can pick morels if we can find them ...sometimes we can find a patch of shaggy manes..oyster mushrooms in the woods (I need to go and check the usual spot now actually) this time of year.....and in a month or so the prince will appear for a short visit..yummy almondy smelling mushroom.....then the giant puff balls ..those are great!!!..pretty much in my area if you are prudent you can find some kind of mushroom to eat or just to look at all times of the year!!!

I dont fold anything..ever ..not even my clothing... so a drawer is out for me ..unless I can just shove the towels in there but then they stick out looking bad ..and I have no wall space in my current kitchen (but will in my new one!) so hanging them up is out ...I have two rattan baskets one for clean and one for dirty and just pull one out when I need a clean one and then when it is gross just it in the dirty one ...where the baskets are kept is always a problem if they are on the floor they get kicked around ...if they are on a counter they take up space..this is not an ideal solution but it is what I am doing now until I find a better one! like my new kitchen!!!!

I want to try these!!!

I have no shame ...I love these mushrooms very much!!!