foraging in the back yard, penne with mushrooms

with all the rain there has been a lot of mushrooms in the back yard at the shack. the other day certain someone got almost hyped about these...







...namely boletus betulicola of the boletus genus. there are over a dozen boletus species growing in finland, this particular species is growing near birch trees (there would be a different boletus growing near pines, oaks, aspen, all of the mentioned are edible).







certain someone picked them up and was delighted to find out that worms had not infested them...







...he cleaned them, that particular part of the cap needs to be cut off.







i then took everything inside...







...chopped them (this was before the surgery)...







...sauteed them first on their own for a few minutes, then added one minced onion...







...cream...







...some herbs (sage, lemon thyme and flat-leaf parsley), some salt (mushrooms do need some salt) and black pepper, and let simmer for 10 mins...







...while i cooked some whole wheat penne.







this would have called for potatoes, but i had none in the fridge. i must admit i was a bit sceptical as to the taste, but these were delicious and i will now look for them in the back yard.







there were also plenty of bearded milk caps / lactarius torminosus in the yard. i left them be as they required a little more than just chopping and sauteeing before you can eat them. and the more i search this mushroom...it could also be a saffrom milk cap...they are both ebidle so no worries...







i bet this funky looking mushroom isn't edible...puffballs, i think they are.

autumn

i like autumn best of all the seasons, i don't even mind the rain ('cause i have proper rain gear from my janitor days...). these pics were taken few days ago, same scene twice...

this at 9.15am







same again 10am







9.15am







10am







almost blindingly yellow leaves.





have a great weekend!

my new wooden splint

yesterday it was time to remove the stitches from my wrist and thigh, and obviously, they had to make a new cast for the wrist. the nurses were discussing the options and they decided to try the latest invention in cast application (by a finnish company i might add) which is made of wood...







...wood? yep, i admit i had my doubts. they told me the cast is made of wood chips and biodegradable plastic, is non-toxic (you can either toss it into the compost heap or burn it) and pliable.

to start the application, a 4mm thick sheet of this OMNICAST is heated (60-65C), it's then pliable and you can cut it with scissors.







lots of hands here...once they got the measures and placement right, the cast was bandaged.







the onmicast website has good pics to show it was done. what i like is the facts that it took no time to harden (5mins with ice-packs, instead of the 30mins with tradiotional cast) and is so thin i can wear a regular jacket, and weights next to nothing.

the nurses seemed to like that this cast doesn't let out any toxic fumes whilst drying, is not messy and wet, and is quick to work with. the cast has been tested at helsinki university töölö hospital, which is probably the busiest trauma center in finland.







i wanted a pink "wrapper", but i guess i can live with this blue for 2 weeks...







i did take pics of the metal stitches in my thigh, but decided to save you from such an ungodly sight.

my skinny elvis

for some strange reason i had been graving for an elvis sandwich for days. my skinny version didn't have bacon in it, but the more i think about it...it might actually work (not very heart healthy, though...)







i have always been partial to crunchy peanut butter, but use what you like.







smush the banana (think baby food) and smear one slice of bread with the banana, the other slice with peanut butter (obviously...)







melt a comfortable amount of butter (you have to use butter, seriously), i used 1 tsp per side. place the sandwich on pan on medium-low heat until golden brown.







we shared this one, and it was plenty to satisfy my graving.







the dog loves peanut butter, but got to work for it a bit...







...he managed to lick the jar quite clean.

picking life up, slowly

9 days later...i have yet to finish the first book i started in the hospital (cornwell's port mortuary). it's not that the book is bad, i have had hard trying to pile pillows so i can read longer than 15 mins without...well, see for yourselves...







...and that is just for internet. luckily i only had to stay one night in the hospital (had hard time waking up...) it was kinda nice buzz, so i really didn't mind, and i wasn't sick at all, and i had that huge room all to myself for the night.

the good doctor ended up doing a re-hemiresectioarthroplastia et interpositio cum fascia lata DRUJ carpi l. sin. there will be a cast for total of 6 weeks, and i will have a 15cm scar on my left thigh (maybe it needs ink on it?)

the dog seems little baffled that i'm home all the time but don't take him on walks.







certain someone, well, he gets a bit confused at times but he's been cooking (will post about that later) and putting my hair on ponytails (i still have some hair left...) he actually went out today like this. complains that i give too many orders for him to be able to pay attention to everything!