Trumpet Fan Fare

It doesn't look like much of an indulgence, 

but these Black Trumpet mushrooms 

dried and mixed with course salt give everything from scrambled eggs to your 

bloody Mary glass rim the flourish to take them from ordinary to extraordinary.

When this is gone we'll have to wait for quite awhile until we can make more.

 Trumpet salt definitely gives added incentive to next fall's foraging!

Fall Fungi Foray

Through the Cable Natural History Museum organized by Emily Stone 

and under the leadership of Tavis Lynch

of Tavis's Wild and Exotic Mushrooms of Cumberland, Wisconsin.

This is some of what we found. 

Chanterelle, Black Trumpet, Wolf Fart puffballs, Oyster, Shrimp of the Woods, 

and Bear's Head Tooth.

A participant who is already an experienced forager brought Lobster and 

Chicken of the Woods for us to try. Both were excellent.

We sorted and IDed them.

And then we cooked them up.

The Black Trumpet mushroom is easy to identify and has a very interesting, truffle-like taste.

The group found enough of these that we each got to take some home. After sautéing some for breakfast I made this. It was great.

Wild Foraged Black Trumpet Mushroom Spread

1 tablespoon ghee or butter

2 tablespoons finely chopped garlic scapes or shallots

1⁄2 cup coarsely chopped black trumpet mushrooms(cleaned)

8 ounce cultured cream-cheese

1 pinch sea salt (real salt) to taste

1 pinch white pepper to taste

Instructions:

In a skillet over medium/low heat, sauté garlic scapes in ghee until soft.

Add in black trumpet mushrooms continue sautéing until mushrooms are cooked through and any liquid is evaporated.

Reduce heat to low, add cream cheese (cut or scooped into roughly 1 tablespoon sized chunks). Stirring constantly until the cream cheese is melted and mixed thoroughly.

Transfer to an air tight jar or container and chill in the refrigerator for at least 2 hours prior to allow the flavors to come together.

Remove dip from at the refrigerator roughly 30 minutes prior to serving to allow it to warm to room temperature. Serve with crackers, toasted bread or raw vegetables.

Recipe Notes:

Use 1 ounce dried black trumpets that have been reconstituted in warm water in place of the fresh.

This recipe makes 16 servings

Northern Hospitality

RCMP mug recently added to the stable of coffee cups. A fine new specimen for our Mountie collection as well. Thank you, Niece.

We may have been drinking from it when we recently read this book. 

The Day the World Came to Town: 9/11 in Gander, Newfoundland

We were afraid a book about 9/11 would be very sad, and it was, but the overwhelming feeling was amazement at the hospitality of an entire community towards the thousands of people stranded on their island when the events of the day caused the grounding of dozens of planes at their airport. 

So many acts of kindness! A beautiful result from a horrible act of violence.

A synopsis from Amazon:

When 38 jetliners bound for the United States were forced to land at Gander International Airport in Canada by the closing of U.S. airspace on September 11, the population of this small town on Newfoundland Island swelled from 10,300 to nearly 17,000. The citizens of Gander met the stranded passengers with an overwhelming display of friendship and goodwill.

As the passengers stepped from the airplanes, exhausted, hungry and distraught after being held on board for nearly 24 hours while security checked all of the baggage, they were greeted with a feast prepared by the townspeople. Local bus drivers who had been on strike came off the picket lines to transport the passengers to the various shelters set up in local schools and churches. Linens and toiletries were bought and donated. A middle school provided showers, as well as access to computers, email, and televisions, allowing the passengers to stay in touch with family and follow the news.

Over the course of those four days, many of the passengers developed friendships with Gander residents that they expect to last a lifetime. As a show of thanks, scholarship funds for the children of Gander have been formed and donations have been made to provide new computers for the schools. This book recounts the inspiring story of the residents of Gander, Canada, whose acts of kindness have touched the lives of thousands of people and been an example of humanity and goodwill.

A recommended by NDL read. And the inspiration for the Broadway play Come from Away.

Pretty as a Peacock

And proud as one too.

The fanciest resident of the petting zoo we frequent. And yes, the ladies were definitely impressed.

Berries with a Chance of Bears

The Up North young people discovered a beautiful blueberry patch. Easily accessible, and bordering a lovely woods with just the right amount of potential for bears to come out and join in the picking. A hint of danger makes one pick faster so a pail was filled in no time at all. Let the baking commence!

 

We heard once that the average number of recipes that people use from a cookbook is three. Seems low, but realistic given that there is only one recipe we consistently use from The Berry Cookbook. T'would be a shame to tear out just that page, so here it is in our digital recipe record for when that cookbook finally winds up in the thrift sale pile. We give you:

Bessie’s Brown Sugar Blueberry Muffins

From The Berry Cookbook - Carol Katz

Makes one dozen

1 ½ c. sifted flour

¼ t. salt

1 T. baking powder

1 egg, well beaten

¾ c. loosely packed light brown sugar

½ c. milk

1 T. melted butter or margarine

1 ½ c. blueberries, well drained after washing and dredged in a little flour

Preheat the oven to 425F. Grease a muffin tin.Sift together the flour, salt, and baking powder. Combine the egg, brown sugar, milk, and butter, then mix into the dry ingredients.  

Stir with a fork until the mixture is moist but still lumpy. Fold in the blueberries.

Fill the greased muffin tins two-thirds full and bake for 15 minutes, or until done.

Please note:

Very little fat is used. 

We have substituted orange juice for the milk with good results. 

If you do not have a blueberry patch nearby, grocery store berries work just fine too.

Enjoy!

Secret Society

Found in The Bottom Line monthly publication Up North.

We want to join, but who are they and where do they meet?

It reminds us of another group we once belonged to. The Rainbow Ladies back in the day could put a similar announcement in the Fish Wrapper with only the date and "The Rainbow ladies will meet. Call for information." If you were one of us no more needed to be said. 

For those who were dying to join us it must have been very frustrating. 

So now we know how it feels. If you are reading this and belong to the Moral Social and Uplift Society please contact us. We have both refreshments and stories to contribute and are in desperate need of both social and moral uplifting.

Thank you. We await the call.

Duluth

We are so thrilled that the non quilter in the household "got" the concept of this quilt we have adopted his name for the idea. The "Suburbs" pattern from Cluck, Cluck, Sew, in this iteration is henceforth to be known as "Duluth".

Top finished!

The first version of this pattern was Little Cabins in the Woods.

Hunt and Gather

Awhile back we heard author Sam Thayer  speak on foraging. Up until then we had no idea that many, maybe even most, of the plants, nuts, and berries that we see every time we go out in our Northern woods and waters are edible. We bought one of Sam's books and have checked out his website, Forager's Harvest. Now we are starting to see nature as one big pantry. 

Look at these:

They are American Hazelnuts. 

After realizing that the odd shaped clusters hanging on the ubiquitous, previously not even noticed shrubs are not mutant plant deformations one can recognize them as food. This is the kind of opportunity that hunter gathers like NDL delight in.

  

The nuts require husking, which can be a rather pleasant, even addicting activity that draws others in. It is a perfect pastime for chatting on a sunny screen porch or at the kitchen table.

  

Once husked the nuts are cracked and the nutmeats extracted. Taking a hammer to a handful of nuts is a surprisingly satisfying part of the process. 

Toasting brings out the flavor. 

Pretty, eh?

And now we can make our own Nutella, top a dish of ice cream, roll a cheese ball in them, use them in baked goods, or pop a fistful into our mouths as a snack if we are willing to give up an hour's work for one delicious moment.

From our first batch we made these previously featured Hazelnut Krinkle cookies.

Never did we think we would be making them some day with our very own harvest of hazelnuts.

So gratifying! So good!

Chlorociboria aeruginascens

Chlorociboria aeruginascens (say that five times fast) AKA Green Elf Cups.

Spotted by a keen-eyed nature lover while on a blackberry picking foray.

The rainy summer has brought out some amazing fungi, but this one is particularly charming. 

 9 out of 10 elves agree.

Portable Poutine

Poutine potato chips. No knife, fork, or napkin required, and perhaps minus a few hundred calories and the ensuing stomach ache one might receive from eating real poutine. 

 Hope the relatives leave room in their luggage for a bag or two of these when they come to WI this week for Christmas in July.

Warning: Santa has been sited in a red, Princecraft fishing boat powered by a 50 horsepower outboard motor named Rudolph. Last chance to make sure your name is on the "Nice" list.

Smokey Sez

Remember. Only you can prevent wildfires.

He's got a hip new look and a cool website. Smokeybear.com

Yesterday fire danger was "very high" today it is raining and snowing up North.  

Tomorrow? Who knows? Keep an eye on DNR signs for moment to moment status.

Camping and campfire season is almost here. Let's be careful out there.

Jelly Jewels

Fortunately, right on the heels of learning there would be no wild rice to harvest this year we received a windfall in the form of free grapes to ease our disappointment and give us an up North project.

The free grapes were not just any grapes. 

They were beautiful, blemish-free, perfectly ripe Concord grapes that made wonderful juice and jelly.

The jars full of the sugary, violet concoction glisten in the sun like gems. So pretty.

And the flavor is not to be beat. Jelly on  toast is the best.

But the PBJ is a close second. Hadn't had one in years. Now we are eating them everyday.

And here, according to the Concord Grape Association is the story of how the famous partnership of PB and J was formed:

Three products came together in World War II to create the lunch classic, the peanut butter and jelly sandwich.  

Welch’s invented Grapelade in 1918.

  

The next major product improvement was bagged, pre-sliced bread, created in 1928.   

The last product came from the need to get U.S. soldiers more protein during World War II.  Inexpensive but nutritious, peanuts were ground into a smooth, buttery consistency, canned, and put into soldier’s rations.  

Somewhere, someone mixed his rations in a very new way, and so we have been eating peanut butter and jelly sandwiches for sixty years now.

Cordially Yours

If you come around this upcoming holiday season you might be offered a small glass of blackberry cordial made from our very own up North blackberries.

The recipe came from an octogenarian church lady with whom we have served many funeral dinners.

The recipe is simple: 4 cups berries, 4 cups sugar, 2 cups vodka. 

Stir once-a-week for several months. Strain. Enjoy.

Do you remember the sisters on the Waltons? They often offered their guests refreshment of "the recipe". We like to think we are helping to carry on a lovely tradition of making food and drink from local ingredients that stretches way back past our church lady friend.  In fact she may have gotten the recipe from her famous relative who might have picked blackberries from the same bramble patches that she does now.

Perhaps it was handed down from the wife of her great Grandfather who is remembered for having sold the eagle named Old Abe to a Civil War Regiment to be their mascot. It's a great story and you can read about it here.

See you in November for a cordial visit!

What We DIYed on Our Summer Vacation

 We needed a new screen door at the lake. The door itself was super inexpensive. 

Until we paid the painter to stain and hang it. Doh!

And then we determined that the screen would not last the summer without a sturdy surface for pushing it open so we devised this DIY plan.

Which worked beautifully and was a fun collaboration.

However, between coming up with the plan and executing it we found we may need further reinforcing on a much lower level.

Do you see a little hole left of the bottom center? 

I guess we will have to make a wee flap so the mice can let themselves in and out without having to eat their way in each time.

And then next the mosquitoes will be wanting accommodations made for them too. 

Sheesh! Where will it end?

And while we are on the topic here is a favorite poem:

How Many, How Much

How many slams in an old screen door?

Depends how loud you shut it.
How many slices in a bread?
Depends how thin you cut it.
How much good inside a day?
Depends how good you live em.
How much love inside a friend?
Depends how much you give em.

 Shel Silverstein

What We Preserved on Our Summer Vacation

Got a new recipe from our Canadian connection. Peach Rum Jam. It's as pretty as it is tasty.

The 20 pounds of peaches we bought off a truck did not cooperate completely by ripening at just the most convenient time. So they got to go on a trip even farther from Georgia than the Lake Hallie Farm and Fleet parking lot to end up a stone's throw from Lake Superior where they ripened nicely in their own sweet time.

It was kind of fun to have a project to do in the Northwoods in between sessions of porch sitting. And as it is usually 5 to 10 degrees cooler there it is not such a hardship to be steaming up the kitchen.

As always you are welcome to stop over for toast and jam anytime. The pantry is stocked. But if you are going to have seconds please walk over or bring a designated driver. We have plain peach jam for her.

What We Foraged on our Summer Vacation

Every now and then when we are at the lake doing the thing we most love to do of a summer day, we do occasionally get up out of our deck chair. Usually it is just to refill a drink or make room for the next one, and then right back down we plunk into our spot. On one occasion however, we noticed, out of the corner of our eye, something brilliant orange in the woods just below our perch.

The warm, damp weather had made so many unusual fungi appear could these be chanterelle mushrooms? We knew they grow in Wisconsin.

We took some into the local museum naturalist who also thought they were chanterelle. But to be on the safe side she offered to send a photo to her Mushroom Guy.

He gave this reply: "Beauties! That's the "rainbow chanterelle," Cantharellus roseocanus. I can

even tell you where the visitor picked them, roughly, as they grow with

conifers only. Definitely safe and choice edible!" Bingo!

Well who can you believe if not the editor of Fungi Magazine? So we picked some more.

Fried them up in butter and ate them!

And did so four or five more times before the end of August. And no one asked to share them. We did offer. 

Not really surprising as some family members have been know to remove with surgical precision an errant mushroom on the pepperoni side of a pizza and treat it as if it were biohazard. 

So sad. 

More for us!

Wonderful Wisconsin

What an interesting summer with real Wisconsin weather. Rain, sun, humidity, wind, and repeat.

Enjoy!

Rootbeer Remembrance

A couple of years ago at the small town 4th of July celebration we love to attend, an extended family had their own parade entry.

They walked alongside a truck that held kegs of homemade rootbeer made from their mother's recipe and gave out samples to the crowd. The mother is departed, but the tradition of their lake time rootbeer making and spending time together lives on.

What a wonderful legacy.

And we think Hazel would be very proud and pleased. We would be.

Go Get 'Em

Lots of happy fishermen this weekend.

Not so sure about the fish. The ones above look a bit 

feisty. "Go ahead, catch us if you can."

Fascinating fishing FAQs here.

(Peach Pit) Loon Magic

There was a period of time when one could find in every discount retail store a kiosk with a motion activated device that would play clips of the CDs on offer from a certain easy-listening music/relaxation sounds genre label. We blame the regrettable '90s and George Winston in particular.

You would be walking down the aisle headed for the Rubbermaid bins, potting soil, or printer paper and all of a sudden you might hear waves rolling in and out of the ocean onto a beach, the rustling of aspen leaves in a gentle breeze, or frogs peeping in a pond at twilight. After realizing you were not crazy you would go way out of your way to avoid that aisle on all future trips, but if you forgot, as we usually did, and passed by it again you might be surprised by one of  those aforementioned sounds or, perhaps one of the many, varied, haunting calls of a loon. Our memory is that that particular CD was titled Loon Magic. 

Here at NDL studio we have created, with a little help and enabling, er, encouraging from a Canada-connected friend a little loon magic of our own.

 To do so we revived a craft first seen in Canadian Living magazine two decades ago to make a new flock, or as some sources call it, a raft, of peach pit loons. Yes indeed, these little cuties are at their core humble, naked, peach pits. 

Ta dah! Incredible, eh?

And, since the original instructions are lost somewhere in our archives of pages torn from magazines we have had a devil of a time finding any guidance for round two of peach pit loon making. So, to get this almost lost art on the Google radar (personified new technology meets old technology in this wording), in other words make it Googleable here is a visual of what is needed to turn a peach pit into a loon. And just to make sure a Google search can find it. Peach pit loon. Peachpit loon. Peachpitloon. (Google may appreciate this effort, but Spellcheck is having a fit.)

  

And why would one want to make peach pit loons? Well, can you think of even one reason why not?

Thank you to the relatives both American and Canadian for consuming a half bushel of peaches during Canadian American Friendship Days 2015. 

Loons are pretty magical. We never fail to be enchanted when we hear them.