Wild Garlic in Flower

Wild Garlic in perfect bloom. The flower heads are good for adding into a dish like Risotto, sprinkled onto a Salad or crushed with New Season Potatoes and lots of butter.
There's still time to get some!

Dandelion Lemonade; HERE COMES THE SUMMER

Dandelion Lemonade; HERE COMES THE SUMMER
‘Time to discover what fun is about’, 1.42 mins of perfect pop by the Undertones, there’s no guarantee of long legs lying in the sun in this quest but dandelion heads always appear, their florets clocking and disappearing in a breeze, they’re out now, grab some! Have a bit of fun making  pure ‘pop’ that’s good for you.

Dandelion Lemonade
Recipe.
30-40 dandelion flower heads
1.5 l / 3 pts water
1 Lemon, cut into quarters
50g Sugar
1tbspn Spoon of Honey
Method
Place the heads in a suitable sized bowl or bucket, first squeeze  the juice of lemon quarters into it then just chuck the skins and all in, add the sugar honey and stir in the water, leave to stand in a warm place uncovered/ or covered with muslin for 24hrs. Strain, taste adjust the sweetness with a little more honey if you like. Chill the ‘pop’ before drinking!

Here's a link to The Undertones, Here Comes the Summer, enjoy and for aural treats have a forage and listen to some of their other stuff while your there.

www.youtube.com/watch?v=31Dza1L8daA

Ceps,Porcini, bragging rights.

Boletus edulis, aka; Ceps, Porcini,Borowik, Steinpilz or in plain English 'pennybuns' are top of the list on forays and a good find always earns bragging rights amongst foragers much in the the way a fish does amongst fishermen and in fungi land there's also 'the one that got away!' deemed as too old or over munched by slugs and others in the woods, recounted with dismay.

A Cep in it's prime is a worthy prize or reward for the eager hunter, when you find one that is perfect in condition, no bites, no slugs lurking under the cap,it feels good, dense with a powerful mushroom aroma. this is the mushroom that is sought after most for commercial picking, dried it's flavour is intense yet refined yielding up extra 'umami' lifting the taste taste of soups,stews and sauces throughout winter. Check the ingredient listing on a packet of mushroom soup in the supermarket it usually gets a percentage mention.

Some years are better than others for mushrooms and mushrooms appear in different areas at different times, it means patrolling your spots and getting to know when they produce best, because 'it rained yesterday after a few warm days' doesn't necessarily mean your going to get a mushroom, they're a bit too moody for convention.

What to observe.

the cap. Brown

the tubes/gills. White, creamy, yellow turning olive green with age.

the stem/stipe. Thick,rotund, Light brown white with a reticulate{mesh like ridges} surface on the lower half.

the flesh. Firm and white.

the smell. Mushroom.

the habitat. Spruce ,pine, larch forest, Beech woods and with Oak.

after they've been growing in a dry spell and get a good soaking they explode!

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always nice to weigh them in  '44gms and perfect shape' 

'hung out to dry'