Mad about Mushrooms . . .

We, like the seasons, are transitioning.

As are the seasons, we’re in transition.

We began our mushrooming careers in the late 1970's, using our tiny cabin near Brightwood on the slopes of Oregon's Mt. Hood as our base of operations.  While Steven fished the beautiful Salmon River for the then-plentiful Summer Steelhead (now virtually unknown, thanks to the ODFW), I began researching the mushrooms I encountered while hiking the multitude of trails on the mountain.  Steven got interested, too, and soon was taking time out from his fishing to join me in my forays, and we gradually expanded our network of "spots."

When we moved to the southern Oregon coast, our mushroom careers blossomed, and we continued mushrooming on trips to our cabin as well as other places we happened to visit in Canada and the USA.  It's been a marvelous hobby and adventure, and we've enjoyed every minute.

Now in our "Golden Years," we concluded some time ago that we needed to consolidate and do a bit of downsizing.  For several years, Steven has needed regular medical care at Oregon Health Sciences University (OHSU), and we've essentially commuted at least three trips a month to the Portland area from Port Orford, an eleven-hour round trip.  We came to the difficult decision to sell our beloved home and property on the southern Oregon coast, and to purchase a smaller - but still woodsy and rustic - home on the Sandy River, just about a mile from our Brightwood cabin.  The cabin was regretfully sold, too, since it didn't make much sense to have a cabin a mile away from our new home.  Both sales have now been finalized, and our move to Brightwood will be "official" in July.  We’ve loved it here, but are transitioning to our new home - in an area with which we are so familiar that it hardly seems like moving at all.  There, our mushrooming careers will be sustained by visiting spots we've found over the years and exploring, looking for new ones.  And, of course, there will be trips back to Port Orford to visit friends and mushroom territories.

Revelations of our new life come swiftly as we explore and examine the landscape of our new surroundings. While the elevation is not far from the same, the weather, and consequently the flora and fauna, appear to be somewhat unique to each location.  Still, the two areas will have a lot in common, and lessons learned one place will assuredly translate to the other.

 

 Surely this is a very special "Welcome Wagon" gift
from the mushroom gods! 

Tradition in the Mushroom Fields

TRADITION- it counts for a lot in our family.

There are holiday traditions, such as a Christmas tree festooned with golden garlands and keepsake ornaments, or our annual hosting of neighbors for a traditional Thanksgiving dinner with a generous assortment of fixings.

There are weekend morning traditions made noteworthy by steaming coffee poured into fish-themed mugs, and by homemade biscuits topped with mushroom and sausage gravy.

Then there are traditions such as Steven serving as chef at the annual Hilaire's Wild Game Banquet for charity in Portland, which typically ushers in our traditional spring trek to Mt. Hood for Warted Giant Puffballs (Calbovista subsculpta) in late April or early May.

It's risky to break with tradition, and I am sure that history and myth are full of stories of those unfortunate creatures who have made such a choice. But that is never our choice when it comes to our first-of-the-year foray.

Therefore, after the Wild Game Banquet where Steven laboriously prepared tens of pounds of razor clams for 250 hungry diners, we packed a cooler bag, donned our mushroom hunting gear and headed up the slopes of this ancient (and active!) volcano known as Mt. Hood, full of anticipation of yet another adventure.

 

 Be vigilant.  Be observant.  Sometimes puffballs disguise
themselves as rocks or other debris.

May 2018's Recipe of the Month: Chef Nick Thiers' Mushroom Rockefeller

We've hosted our recipe contest for 11 years, and continue to be humbled every year by the innovative submissions that we receive.  We don't envy the judges.  They taste and savor, ring their hands, dither and debate - which recipe should be designated the winner?  After much thoughtful consideration, they narrow the choice down to one, and leave the others behind.  But not this year. 

We've requested and been given permission to print three recipes (one each in the months of April, May and June) that caused such a delicious quandary for the judges.  Should one of them have been the top-rated recipe in this year's contest?  The judges' decision remains firm and unchanged.  See for yourself whether you think the judges were right or wrong.  The decision is yours to make.  Whatever your thoughts, we know that you'll find yourself in complete agreement that these 3 months display extraordinary recipes.

Chef Nick Thiers is the second recipe in our 3-part recipe series.  He sent us the following information:  "I have been in love with food ever since I can remember, I wrote my first recipe in the second grade. I hold two degrees from Le Cordon Bleu and over 20 certifications in the culinary field. I got the food competition bug a few years back and I try to do as many competitions as possible.    In 2016 I won World Chef Champion and from 2017 to today I am currently World Ranked #1 through the World Food Championships out of 377 Chefs."

Thanks for enriching our contest with your entry, Chef! 

Lovely to look at, and 
heavenly to taste!