Mushrooming...in the front yard?

Mushroom hunting in our front yard - yes, in Wichita, Kansas!

Caution:  don't try this at home unless you are absolutely sure you know what you're doing!

While enjoying a day off from culinary school in Colorado a few years ago, Chris went hiking and came across mushrooms.  A few days earlier, the restaurant he worked for received a shipment of expensive Bolete mushrooms, also known as Porcini.  These fungi he happened upon looked just like the ones received by the kitchen.  He harvested the mushrooms, put them in his pack and went home to identify them, knowing if he ate the wrong type of mushroom it could be a big mistake.  After all, mushrooms can be poisonous, but they can also be a delicacy. 

After arriving home, his research indicated that these mushrooms were edible.  He cooked them up, enjoyed them and is still living to tell the story.

On Sunday I found my precious husband sitting in the middle of the grass in the front yard, with a book on one knee and a mushroom in his hand.  Unfortunately, all of the mushrooms in our yard are poisonous.  It's fun to know that the possible sources of food we find are endless!  Prior to Sunday, front yard mushrooms were not a local food I considered.

While our mushrooms were not safe to eat, we plan to hike in Colorado this summer and Chris is taking his mushroom book along.  Good thing our cabin has a kitchen, I might be eating some local (to the area I'm vising) mushrooms.  Here's to accurate identification of mushrooms, I am not interested in gastrointestinal discomfort or death from any mushroom meal!

Local Foods List Update:  I emailed the most recent updates to the local food producers list out last week.  If you did not receive the list, and would like to receive it and future updates, please email me at pswedel@yahoo.com.

When did perfume become more important than food?

"The Unlikely Lavender Queen" by Jeannie Ralston

Don't get me wrong, I like perfume.  Recently while reading, "The Unlikely Lavender Queen," I came across this thought-provoking quote: 


"Originally brought to [Provence] by the Romans lavender took a liking to the southern slopes of the Alps with their well-drained soil, and began to grow wild in the region.  At the beginning of the twentieth century, farmers cleared out almond orchards, ... and in their place, began cultivating lavender to supply perfumers in Grasse."


This history ignited thoughts about the shift from growing wholesome food (in this case almonds, a great nut both in taste and health benefits) to plant a crop with less nutritional significance, although lavender can be used as a herb in cooking and in marinades.  This reminds me about what I heard someone say once, "we pay good amounts of money for things that we can survive without, like diamonds, but things we can't live without, such as water, are free."  Ironic.

I've become slightly obsessed with lavender, and wanted to attend the lavender festival in Blanco, TX this weekend, where this book is set, but Chris says it's too far to do on a whim.   Recently I was thrilled when I received an email from Local Harvest that there is a lavender festival near Salina at Prairie Lavender Farm in June!  Disappointingly, I have a schedule conflict and won't be able to go - but it's on the calendar in hopes that next year will work.

My beautiful husband, knowing my disappointment in missing two lavender festivals, got me a little lavender of my own.  What a dear man he is :)

"Hi there, can I buy you a (local) drink?"

Our transition to eating locally immediately started with purchasing farmers' market fresh produce and honey, then meat and eggs from a sources within 50 miles, and later local chicken. This year's wheat harvest will provide Kansas wheat (we have a mill), and our search for other local sources of foods will continue.  One I haven't given much consideration to, until I read a recent blog (you should read it), is including drinks in the mix.  Usually it's easy, Chris and I drink only water at home from the good ol' City of Wichita.  Well, I should clarify, I drink mostly water - with a few sips off of Chris's occasional beer.

Have you ever thought about making your own beverages -- or, buying local drinks?

Beer:  Homemade beer is an option, and there's even a brewing store in Wichita where you can find supplies to get started.  Be careful though, too much sugar causes beer bottle explosions (Chris has experience with this!)

Wine:  In a previous post I wrote about dandelion wine, but we can't stop there (or maybe you don't even want to begin there!).  Chris and I are talking about making mulberry wine with the berries we collected earlier this summer.  If you don't feel like making it, you could purchase wine from a local winery (WyldeWood Cellars, Vin Vante).  We purchased apple wine from Vin Vante winery at the Old Town Farmers' Market - 90% of the ingredients were grown in Kansas.  Grapes used to make wine, even wine produced in Kansas, are usually not local (but they sure taste good!).  

Soda:  I'm not sure about making your own soda, but if you like root beer Louisburg Cider Mill makes Lost Trail Root Beer (along with other flavors).  Louisburg is south of Kansas City, 175 miles from Wichita.  Are their ingredients local?  You'll have to ask for specifics, although they also make apple cider and according to their website, they get most of the apples locally.

Juice:  While you probably won't find oranges locally to make orange juice, there are other kinds of juice that can be made.  This is one way to use excess produce from the garden or farmers' market.  A home juicing machine is a great way to make homemade juices from local products - think tomatoes, lettuce or spinach.

"Simply in Season" - a Cookbook Review

A lifesaving cookbook in a season of abundance!

In the journey to becoming locavores, we know that seasons of overwhelming fruitfulness will arrive (think ripe tomato season - Chris counted last night, we have 38 tomato plans in our back yard!). In the midst of those times, what do we do with all the lovely foods? Canning, drying, and freezing are great preservation methods we will use this year.  We hope to utilize much of the fresh produce when we have it, without getting sick of it. A task that requires variety in preparation. Thanks to an experience on an organic farm near Great Bend, I found "Simply in Season," a cookbook that keeps variety alive in a time of abundance.


The cover of the cookbook reads, "Recipes that celebrate fresh, local foods..." - exactly the focus of this blog.  The author focuses on buying locally, eating seasonally, and enjoying the abundance of each season.  Arrangement of "Simply in Season" falls into five sections: Spring, Summer, Autumn, Winter, and All Seasons.  Each section includes the entire spectrum of a meal, from breads and breakfasts to desserts and extras.  The colorful margins highlight the types of produced used in the recipe.  This allows flipping through the cookbook to find an appropriate recipe easy, without taking time to examine each list of ingredients for the specific plentiful produce you have at the time.  The last page of each season's section includes complete menu ideas from the recipes included in that section.  All this, and beautiful, colorful pictures and layout too!

During my visit to the organic farm we ate "Sweet Potato Quesadillas", found on p. 258.  I'd never considered that the possibility of sweet potatoes used in this way.  Pleasantly surprised and very satisfied after dinner, my hosts described a visit they took to another country.  In that country, vegetables were scarce and only provided to guests and adults.  While there, they witnessed children fighting over the leftover vegetables.   Can you imagine children fighting over vegetables?  Definitely not in America, unless it's a French fry!