if it's one thing I know, said El Bo, it's where the chanterelles do grow

Selling last Sunday at the Milwaukie Farmer's Market was really fun. Unfortunately it was absolutely freezing cold and raining. We made about a $90 profit, but everyone else who was working there said that it was by far the worst and slowest day the market had ever had. I could definitely understand that: there's no way I would have been there if I hadn't been selling.

Nevertheless, it was a great way to meet interesting people, despite the icy cold rain and my dazed slow chuchaki head from the dinner-wine-and-hottub party last night (such parties are seemingly slowly but surely becoming a Saturday-night tradition at the Duck Pond house, a good way of hanging out with friends and eating delicious fresh mushrooms collected that same day). I love being part of a new community. The farmer in the stall next to ours gave us a little tin of pesto, which was amazingly delicious and consumed by me that evening in 0.9 seconds. Another guy gave us an ... I can't remember the name of the fruit, you peel it and eat the tips of the leaves, and then the flower in the middle is the best part? I'm not on the top of my game today, apparently. But whatever it's called, we ate it last night with olive oil and butter and DA-HAYM it was good. It's a pretty sweet deal: whatever we don't sell, we trade with others and get amazing farmers' market food. I love sharing with other people and giving them the chance to try amazing new mushrooms, to see the nervous or heisitant expressions on their faces fade away when we tell them all the different things you can do with a chanterelle, a lobster, a matsutake. As I've said before, we always find more mushrooms we can possibly eat ourselves, anyway.

Corey and his mushroom-hunting partner-in-crime Jay went to the coast yesterday and only found a couple of porcini. It's still just a little too early, but it's good to see that a few are popping up! We had porcini on toast with red peppers for dinner last night. Corey also found some meadow mushrooms, which he's saving to cook for my mum tonight, because she once said that she and my grandad used to find and eat them when she was a little girl in England.

Porcini is Corey's favorite mushroom. It is pretty good. I have wonderful memories of my first time eating a porcini, in an omelette in Corey's apartment. Mmm. It was a porcini I had walked right by but that Matt had scooped up immediately afterwards, recognizing it's true, treasured identity. Then because Matt is a great guy he ended up giving it to me and Corey anyway. Anyway, believe it or not, I still haven't decided what my favorite mushroom is yet... I sure like that fried lobster Corey cooked that one time (MMM! better than potato chips!), and the grilled matsutake (so thick and indescribably cinnamony and faintly spicy). And, of course, you can never go wrong with the infallible chanterelle.

Corey an Jay went mushroom hunting today too, in one of their best spots, and found over 40 pounds of chanterelles, and 10-20 pounds of lobsters. Hopefully tomorrow we'll go get some more matsutake, and maybe even take my little brother along, to baptize him in the ways of the Hardcore Mushroom Hunting (wear boots, rain pants, and be ready to get soaking wet and freezing cold anyway). Crazy! Get ready, Milwaukie! I sure hope it's sunny on Sunday!