Happy Wednesday Folks!

I first found out about chanterelles several years ago when a friend brought a few of these mushrooms as a side dish for our meal. My friend is not a mycologist so I was not at all confident about her mushroom identification skills. I ate a couple but was preoccupied thinking about all the warnings my Dad used to give me about foraging mushrooms. I did not appreciate them at all! Eventually, I did my own research, ate some of these tasty morsels from reputable sources (i.e. restaurants), went mushroom hunting with friends, and now I eagerly look for chanterelles each summer. Chanterelles are not easy to find and can be quite expensive but this year’s weather has been excellent for mushrooms and we have been able to find plenty in the woods around St. John’s. Over the weekend the 3 of us went for a hike and picked about 3.5 kg of chanterelles in a few hours. As soon as we got home we made a superb omelet followed by a few hours of cleaning and preserving the fungi – glad I had a little helper. The apricot aroma that chanterelles emanate was deliciously laced with the butter used to lightly fry them and the house smelled fantastic! In the evening a buttery risotto with chanterelles and beet greens from the Rabittown Community Garden was in our plates. Samuel happily ate his whole portion and he is not even that much into mushrooms. I think having him taking part of the picking and cleaning might have made a difference.

The rest of the week was packed with more sunny family times. First the Regatta, the oldest organized sporting event in North America and the only civic holiday that is dependent on the weather! If it is excessively windy or rainy the holiday is postponed until the weather is suitable for the races. There was no postponing this year and last Wednesday was spent the day lounging on the Quidi Vidi lawns while stuffing our bellies with Indian food. Over the weekend we went to the Folk Fest and a similar lounging/curry-eating afternoon ensued.

Have a wonderful week! Make it count.