just another walk, guest post by the dog

hi, it's the dog. bossy woman has been coming and going a lot, but she took me for a walk the other evening. i hear she's been busy, again. i still don't know what busy means. this is me sniffing in the barley field. i can smell those tiny rodents are somewhere close... 

this is a wheat field.

this is my favorite hobby, the grass feels so good on my back.

one moment i could see that bossy woman wasn't paying attention so i charged into the ditch. the water was nice an cool. she didn't like, said i will smell bad. hmpr.

this is another wheat field. they bought a new flexi-leash for me, now i can venture wider.

this big thing makes bad noises sometimes. this time it sat all quiet.

bossy woman was telling me that those machines are ok and not be afraid of them. i am not, i just think that it's wise to be alert when that kind of things are concerned. they do make big noise.

i think the farmer man has still a lot to do.

i want to go there but they never let me. there are some interesting smells coming from there.

those two are nacho and his brother who i haven't officially met. when nacho was younger he used to find his way out of the yard and then follow us on the road. bossy woman had to go backwards so that nacho would follow us to his home and his people pick him up. i think we could have such fun with nacho. the brother could come too, if he wanted.

i bet you can't see me now.

when we are at this point i know it's not far from home.

the stubble of the cut grasses feels good on my back too...

wait....there is something interesting...

i bet you can't see them but i could certainly smell them. there are 3 brown 4-legged fast ones on the right side of the upper field. them buggers sometimes come to the yard and eat bossy woman's veggies. not that i have any idea why they would do such a thing.

this is me eating my usual dinner, kibble and buttermilk. the other evening i got a juicy piece of gristle, for some reason they make me eat that on the grass. bye for now!

yellowfoot soup

few posts ago i was foraging, this soup was made of the mushrooms we got. i cooked in my tiny new kitchen at the apt i've been moving into for the last few months...this really isn't a recipe, more sort of guidelines, here's what i used:

yellowfoot mushrooms (any kind will do)
onion
parsnip
stock cubes
cooking cream
all purpose flour

eww! not the kind of protein i want in my soup! he was humanely taken care of and is now a city spider.

sweated out the mushrooms on medium high heat for a few mins, then transferred them into a 3 liter pot. i like my mushrooms in chunks, but it's ok to chop them smaller.

chopped the onion and parsnip into ½ cm cubes and toasted them in a spoonful of butter on medium high heat until the onion was well translucent. meanwhile...

...added a veggie stock cube into the pot with the mushrooms...

...after the onion/parsnip mixture had been toasting for 4 or so mins, i added 2 tbsp of all purpose flour, mixed well and let flour cook for a few mins before gradually adding approx 2.5 dl of boiling water while mixing well to avoid lumps. then transferred the mixture into the pot with the mushrooms.

mixed everything well together, added another 2.5 dl of boiling water and approx 2 dl of cream and let the soup simmer for 15 mins. i don't like to cook my veggies into mush, but here the purpose was to get the parsnips really soft, to the point of them falling apart and thickening the soup.

ta-daa! this made two portions, one for my dinner, another for my lunch at work the following day. no salt you ask? yep, no added salt. there is some (tiny amount) in the stock cube, but i like my veggies as they are. feel free to add some to your taste.

no post without the dog...here having a sip at the cottage.

little foraging

hmpr, i knew all along that my computer problems were caused by a tiny tack someplace, a wrong place. and what do you know, it ended up being stupidly simple, frustrating!

anyways, spent the weekend before last at the cottage, little niece came along. first order was to go and admire the scenery...although very autumnal and stormy.

when the rain halted, mom, little niece and i headed into the forest to look for some mushrooms, which are abundant from all the rain we've been getting.

i've always wondered what kind of gremlins and goblins live under the fallen trees...little niece wondered the exact same thing!

love the shade of green in the moss.

mushroom! hmm, a chanterelle (cantharellus cibarius) past its prime. a very nice mushroom, but we were after something else...

...these! cantharellus tubaeformis, oops, it's now called craterellus tubaeformis, also known as yellowfoot, winter mushroom, or funnel chanterelle.

we were out for half an hour and got all this. there's plenty left...

wood being the major form of heating, piles and piles of firewood are needed during the winter.

the fall colors of aronia mitschurinii at my brother's house are blinding. the berries make great cordial packed with vitamins.

the crab apple is shedding leaves and the apples.

back at the shack we decided to dry the mushrooms for longer "shelf life". spread them an even layer on newspaper / paper towel in a dry place, covered loosely with a single layer of news paper and left to dry for a week. there are plenty other methods, we do this 'cause it's easy, and i'm all about easy...

...after a week the mushroom were all crackly and wrinkled.

they ended up in a jar and will be used in stews, sauces and risottos.

and for you fans of the dog. here's one instagrammed pic of him chilling with his smelly rat...