July 17, 2012
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Bangor

Tuffy and I are going to take a little road trip in late August to Bangor Maine, of all places. I’ve never been to Maine. It only occured to us to go there after Tuffy discovered the 2012 American Folk Festival which takes place on the Bangor waterfront. What better excuse than folk music to take a road trip?

The list of performers looks great, featuring a wide range of folk music – from Cape Breton and French fiddle music to Cajun – DL Maynard!!!! – to blues, bluegrass, sacred steel guitar, western swing, Lakota hoop dancing, Buck dancing, Columbian, Malian and more.

Today I talked to the Michelle the awesome CAA travel rep, who set us up with a perfect hotel and an handful of maps. It’s been a while since we’ve taken a trip to anywhere. I haven’t even managed to sneak away for some camping and fly fishing. Both of us are excited to take off for a few days.

It looks like there are basically three routes. One goes through Canada quite a way on the 401 then dekes down. Another crosses into the States at Buffalo and comes at it from underneath. The third route is the one on the map and right now that’s the one I’m thinking about. It follows the 404 to Prescott and then crosses into Ogdensburg and continues east through the States. A week before we go, Michelle the awesome CAA travel rep will put together a route map for us taking into account construction along the way.  I have to say that I’m used to doing travel arrangements on the computer, but this time I decided to see if the folks at CAA could help me out, since I am a member, and I have to say dealing with a friendly human is the way to go. It takes 12-14 hours to get to Bangor from Toronto no matter which route you take. We’re planning on taking two days to do that.

There was a time when I did long road trips to the mountain west with my buddy East Texas Red. We would just power through to our destination. I recall one year we made it out to Cody Wyoming in 36 hours. By the time we got there I was in a haze. I can’t do that kind of road trip anymore. These days I’m good with 6-8 hours on the road with plenty of stops and side-trips along the way. I had actually hoped to get out west this season, but by plane this time, but it just hasn’t been possible this year. I think the last road trip Tuffy and I took was with Candy and Stagg – it must be 5 years ago now – when we met up at the International Accordion Festival in San Antonio and drove through east Texas and across Louisiana to New Orleans. That was a lot of fun!!

So as I said, we’re both really excited to get away. We have someone staying at the house looking after the dogs and cats while we’re gone, which is a great arrangement. The dogs look after the house, and T keeps them fed and watered and walked. The cats of course will run the joint as usual.

DL Menard is 80 now. It’s great to see he’s still getting out to play! Here’s a taste of his music from YouTube.

July 16, 2012
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More music from South Texas…

There are three accordionists in this next video, and they’re all fine players, but Esteban “Steve” Jordan (the player with the eye patch) really stands out in this performance.

And here’s an old favourite – Mingo Saldivar performing Rueda de Fuego – Ring of Fire

And one more…Steve Jordan, on record this time, performing Yakety Yak. This tune was written by Leiber and Stoller for the Coasters back in ’58. Mr. Jordan turned it upside down on this killer recording. I hope you enjoy this one as much as I do.

 

July 15, 2012
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Los Texmaniacs

Today’s Daily Dose takes us down to Texas for a heaping helping of Conjunto music by Los Texmaniacs. This first video has some interview bits worked in and gives some good insight into the music. We saw this band at the International Accordion Festival down in San Antonio a few years ago. It’s just about impossible not to dance to their music.  This reminds me that the International Accordion Festival is not going to happen this year. I’m not certain why, but I did read an article about funding cuts, so maybe they just don’t have the money to make it happen. That’s too bad because it’s a top drawer music festival in a great location. But I digress….enjoy Los Texmaniacs.

And here they are with Cesar Rosas performing a tune popularized by The Sir Douglas Quintet many years ago, She’s Abour a Mover.

July 15, 2012
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Puffballs?

A surfer landed on this blog today after making a search for where to find puffball mushrooms in Ontario. There are a number of varieties of puffballs but I normally come across three kinds, the giant puffball, Calvatia gigantea, the gem-studded puffball, Lycoperdon perlatum or the pear-shaped puffball, Lycoperdon pyriforme. Puffballs are have a pleasant mild taste and a texture that reminds me of firm tofu.

A few notes on identification. As regular readers know, I never recommend anyone eat wild mushrooms, and to those who insist on doing so, I suggest being very very careful what you eat because there are some deadly mushrooms in Ontario, and plenty more that may not kill you but will make you very sick. The giant puffball is an easy to identify mushroom, as they go. It’s likely the only mushroom you’re going to find that grows the size of a soccer ball, and looks like a dirty-white blob. If you cut one in half, it should be pure smooth solid whiteness inside. Until last year, I had only ever seen these growing in fields. However, last season I collected a few beautiful specimens from a deciduous forest.  One of the most popular ways to eat giant puffballs is to cut them into steaks, batter them and fry them up, I think you’ll enjoy these cooked up anyway you like mushrooms. In Southern Ontario, giant puffballs appear around the end of August.

Pear shaped puffballs grow on wood, and typically, when you find some, you will find plenty. If you do identify these mushrooms and pick them for the table, only pick them when they are young and still firm and pure white when you cut them in half. Some nasty amanitas in their young form look kind of like a puffball, but if you cut one open, you’ll see a mushroom-shape developing inside. Anytime I collect puffballs with the intention of eating them, I cut every one of them in half to be extra sure each of them is a puffball. I try not to make assumptions, even when they are obvious assumptions.

Gem-studded puffballs have a similar shape to pear-shaped puffballs but they are covered in little bumps or “gems” and they grow in the ground rather than on wood. The same deal applies with these – cut each one open and only eat puffballs that are pure solid white inside. I normally find the gem-studded and pear shaped puffballs in September in our area.

The photo shows some giant puffballs I collected last season along with a bunch of Lactarius deliciosus (Saffron milk caps) I gathered from different parts of the same forest.

A lot of mushrooms are good for drying but puffballs don’t reconstitute well. Some people dry them and then crush them into puffball powder and add that to soups and stews and whatever else. Personally, I don’t bother drying them.