The night before last we were rudely shaken awake by a rolling clap of thunder. It felt like an earthquake, and we could feel the house shudder. Within one second our bed was taken over by three large, panting, nervous dogs. It was pouring rain—at last. This pattern of heavy rain mixed with sporadic bursts of thunder and lightening that happened only when we had drifted back off to sleep, continued through the wee hours of the morning. We got over an inch and half of rain; but not much sleep. You won’t find me complaining though since our thirst-parched grass and trees really needed a big drink of water. I just wish it would do it during non-sleeping hours.

It feels a bit as if we’ve hurtled through space at warp speed to land somewhere completely different. This morning finds it 38 degrees F outside and we had to turn on the heat. Last week we had the air conditioning on. Can we finally call it Autumn? Has summer finally released her firm, hot grip?

The trees are slower to change this year by at least a week. Last year our trees were in their full glory by the 17th of October, but they won’t be there by then this year. The squirrels and bears are really foraging for acorns. I’ve noticed that we have an awful lot of acorn caps, but the acorns appear to have been “squirreled” away somewhere. Odd. Last year we had tons of acorns left all over the ground. Do they know something that we don’t?

I will be glad to finally put away my summer clothes and bring out my cute little cropped jackets I’ve been waiting to wear. I’m working on a new pair of fingerless mitts  that I hope to have completed soon. They are from a free pattern that Clara at Knitter’s Review graciously gave out in her newsletter to introduce her new book, The Knitters Book of Yarn, which I have ordered.

But, photos of trees changing and finishing my mitts will have to be put on hold for a week. Tomorrow we are off to Sin City: Las Vegas for a week. Rick will mostly be working at a trade show while I have the difficult job of seeing how the Botanical Garden at the Bellagio has been transformed for Fall, lounging by the the 13 flamingo-inhabited acres of pool at our hotel, window shopping, and well ... you get the idea. I’m really looking forward to this little vacation. I plan to at least post a photo per day, so I won’t really be gone; just warped into the land of adult make-believe. I need it. I’ll meet you on the flip side of reality.

Sunday morning found us not mushroom hunting, but paddling our canoe. The morning was pleasant and not too humid or warm, like it would become in the afternoon. As we rounded the bend to one of the little coves, we saw a mother swan with her nearly-grown cygnets. I’ve said it before and I’ll say it again: who in the world came up with the word cygnet for a baby swan? It doesn’t fit at all! Let’s paddle a bit closer, shall we?

The youngsters are an interesting color at this age. Not quite white, but losing the brownish color they’ve worn for so long. I think they are quite lovely! I love the long reflections of their necks.

The woodsy reflections were lovely, too.

We disturbed a double-crested cormorant trying to fish.

All in all, a lovely fowl-filled paddle around the pond.

After our big mushroom find of the morning, we set off for our foray in the afternoon to Two Pond Farm. Even though it was hot and sunny, we had been told to wear long pants since we’d be walking in the forest through lots of brambles. Oh joy: more rose thorns, probably.

We were charmed the moment we turned into the driveway of Two Pond Farm. A rambling, old farmhouse stood proudly between two large ponds along with a barn and outbuildings scattered behind it. Allison came to greet us, and since we were the first to arrive and she wasn’t sure how many other people would be joining us, we sat down on the steps of her front porch to wait. She showed us a basket of mushrooms that she had just gathered earlier that day. This was our goal for today: delicious honey mushrooms! She explained how to identify them and we talked a bit about how to prepare them. She told us that there were not nearly as many as there usually are due to the weather, but hoped we’d find some we could take away with us.

We turned out to be the only ones that showed up for the foray. Before starting, Allison brought out a jar of honey mushrooms that she had pickled herself and some bread so we could sample their taste. They were delicious! We asked her how she made them and vowed to prepare them that way if we were lucky enough to find some. Knowing how good they were made us all the more excited to get started.

Past the turkey coop and up through the pasture we went. We started seeing older mushrooms right away, but they weren’t good for picking. Not ten minutes into our adventure and we were finding smaller, fresher mushrooms that found their way into our bag. Oh boy! We went through areas of blueberry bushes scattered with old oaks and the shrooms really seemed to like this environment. I had to be careful where I walked since they were hard to see through the scrubby bushes. I was glad for my jeans even though the sun was hot. Before long we had entered the forest.

Here are a group of honey mushrooms growing on an oak. Allison explained to us that the mycelium for the honey mushrooms usually takes over dead oak trees and spreads throughout the tree, so you find them growing on the tree itself or anywhere along the root system. When the tree can no longer feed the mycelium, it dies.

Somewhere along the way I met up with my buddies—the thorns—and they snagged my arm. ouch! It bled profusely (those thorns are so sharp!) and I had to grab a few green leaves to staunch the flow. I swear, those bushes just do not like me!

The mushrooms weren’t plentiful, but we found enough to suit our needs. We didn’t want to be too greedy and help ourselves to all the mushrooms we saw; after all it was her property we were searching for them on.

Back at the farm we explored her small organic shop operated on the “honor system.” People come by to purchase her home-grown organic veggies, eggs, and homemade marmalades, leaving the money in a lock box. We couldn’t resist a winter squash, some red onions and a jar of her Tomato-Peach-Ginger Marmalade. They also raise turkeys, lambs, and pigs for people. You make your purchase a year in advance and they raise it and butcher it for you. She has her own flock of sheep from which she spins her own yarn. I asked her if she would be willing to give me a few lessons as I would like to learn to spin and she said she would. How wonderful is that?! I plan to follow up on this before too long.

We came home and Rick started blanching the mushrooms before I even had a chance to photograph them! Oh, well. You can see the results of our foray; two jars of delicious pickled mushrooms, resting in their bath of olive oil and herbs.

The honey mushrooms are probably done for the year, but we’ll be going back to Two Pond Farm before too long I should think. If for no other reason than to get another jar of that wonderful marmalade. They also run a cut-it-yourself Christmas tree lot, and I can certainly see that activity coming up in our not-too-distant future!

We had signed up for a mushroom foray weeks ago, but due to dry, hot weather, the mushrooms refused to show their faces. Finally, we got a call this week that the honey mushrooms were out and our foray was rescheduled for Saturday.

But before we could go on our foray, we took the dogs for a walk in the morning before it got too hot. We took the short route to the pond along the road. It was nice because from our street out to the main road, the road is closed due to major road construction. This morning walk was probably the only good thing about the road being closed, as we have to detour quite a long way out of our way to get to town. I happened to glance over and saw something on a tree by the side of the road. A huge group ofmushrooms! But what kind? Rick got excited and thought it was a Hen-in-the-Woods; very choicely edible!

It was in perfect condition to eat (not too old) but we wanted to make sure of what it was before we took it home with us. After delving into our numerous mushroom books, we found it was not a Hen-in-the-Woods as we had thought, but a Chicken-of-the-Woods or Chicken Mushroom; also highly recommended for eating, although there were instances where it had caused gastric discomfort, but only when growing on certain kinds of wood. [Note: the name “chicken” mushroom because it has the texture and flavor of eating a chicken.] It had no poisonous look-alikes like some mushrooms do, and all the books said you could not confuse it with anything else. We were confident that we were making the right choice.

Rick went back with his knife and we harvested it. The thorny bush protecting it did not want to give it up. I have a scratch on my back that is over five inches long that I got while trying to hold the branches aside for him. What some people won’t do for wild mushrooms!

Look how gorgeous it is! Over two pounds of edible mushrooms!

Rick started searching online for Chicken Mushroom recipes and we decided to make a risotto with some of it. The rest of the mushrooms were cleaned and washed, then vacuum sealed and frozen.

First we chopped the mushrooms, then lightly sautèd them in a little butter and set it aside. They had a lot of fragrance, but in a good way. We nibbled on a few to make sure we were going to like the taste. YUM, no problems there—they was delicious!

Next, I started the risotto. I use generous amounts of Vermouth when I’m in charge—just call me Julia!

When the risotto was more than halfway done, I added the sautèd mushroom pieces. I didn’t add them sooner because I didn’t want the flavor of the mushrooms to overpower the dish.

mmmm ... looking good!

Nothing left now but to eat it. Bon Appétit!

I know what is uppermost in all of your minds right now. Are Rick and Lynne alright? Are they still alive after eating wild mushrooms? Well, I’m typing this, aren’t I? No gastric complaints, no hallucinations; just fond memories of a wonderfully flavorful risotto.

Stay tuned for Part two of Adventures in Mushrooming: The Foray coming tomorrow.

Living on the wild side here in New Jersey.

[Note: do not eat any mushroom you are unsure of and take a few classes in identification before you start becoming fungally obsessed.]

The calendar says one thing; the weather says another. Bottom line: autumn is now a “myth only” here on the East Coast. Record high temps and scant rainfall have made a mecca out of the Eastern U.S for those who thought us a grey-rain-soaked part of the country. What’s next? Will those Californians that have taken over Colorado soon move Eastward? Gads! The thought is enough to make me cringe in my bed. Mother Nature is being particularly cruel and not waving her magic wand at all. Dry, hot, and sticky would just about sum up our weather of late.

Unlike most folks in Colorado, we don’t have an in-ground sprinkler system here in NJ. Nor do any of our neighbors. They rely on the stuff that falls from the sky called rain to water their lawns. Since moving here one year and a half ago, we’ve only pulled out our hose with attached watering device only a handful of times. Right now our grass is crispy. I think that might be okay since it’s at the end of its life cycle for the year. But then again, maybe not.

The leaves are changing but not in the same exuberant way that they did last year. They turn color, then drop off. Poor things. My neighbor came home the day after last to find Mr. Bear lying smack-dab in the middle of her driveway, panting like a giant, black dog. She felt so sorry for him that she told her husband she wanted to buy a kiddie pool and fill it up with water so he could slake his thirst. Her husband didn’t agree. He visited our yard too that day, but the only reason I know this was by finding a large pile of poo that was decidedly not from my dogs. Sigh. Who says bears do it in the woods? This bear prefers my grass.

I think we might be in for some cooler days and maybe even some rain this week. One thing I know is that you can’t predict or change the weather. If I could, I surely would. Maybe I have jinxed the whole weather system by moving East last year. I certainly hope not. I don’t really buy into the blaming all our weather woes on global warming either. We’ve only begun to measure the weather since we could, over the past few centuries or so. How do we know what transpired before? We don’t; not really. Anyway, global warming is too deep a subject for me tonight, and I didn’t really mean to jump off that particular cliff tonight.

We did some mushroom foray-ing today which was great fun. More to follow!