Here’s a sneak peak into the top secret cave hidden deep beneath Anchovy World Headquarters. The larger painting in progress is called Sunday Afternoon in the Forest of No Return.
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eyes the colour of #drankitlikewine
Drinking song #47 features Tom Russell and Nanci Griffith – Canadian Whiskey
I think I’m going to bring this list to a close at 50 tunes. That leaves three more to go. If I’ve missed any that should be there, mea culpa. Let me know.
A few thoughts on preparing wild mushrooms
Most of my friends know that I like to forage for edible wild mushrooms, and from time to time I’m asked about the best ways to cook them. There’s no short answer to that question, and really it depends on what kind of mushrooms you have and if they’re fresh or dried.
For really choice mushrooms, like chanterelles or hedgehogs, sometimes I like to keep it simple. Try frying them up in a little olive oil or butter, season simply with salt and pepper and serve them on a bed of toast. Or, fry them up and fold them into an omelet. Keep it simple and let the taste of your wild bounty carry the day.
There are many other ways to prepare your wild mushrooms. Last weekend the forest was generous and I came home with a full basket containing a variety of specimens. Here’s what I made.
Heat up a large cast iron pan with some olive oil and add in a small onion chopped up and some shallots from the garden and a clove of garlic and let it cook for a few minutes. Chop up lots of fresh wild mushrooms – I used a mixture of chanterelles, hedgehogs, lobster mushrooms and a couple ornate boletes. Add in the mushrooms and stir them around for another few minutes. Then add in some chick peas. I used canned ones, and I think they’re fine. I think you could use just about any bean you like and it would be great. I happened to have some dried porcini in the cupboard, so I reconstituted a bunch of them in water, and when soft, added them in with the chick peas. While the mixture cooks, chop up a few plum tomatoes and toss them in, and finally, roughly grate a handful of sharp cheese. Add the cheese, stir the whole business around quickly and enjoy.
Mardi Gras in August sort of #Long Branch
Each year in August there is a weekend festival down the street in Colonel Sam Smith Park, called Lakeshore Mardi Gras. Although we’ve been living in Long Branch for three years now, today marks the first time we’ve ventured out to the festival.
I confess I’m not thrilled with the odd appropriation of the term Mardi Gras for this festival. After all, Mardi Gras means Fat Tuesday and refers to the celebration right before Lent. I think we all commonly use the term to describe the over-the-top pre-Lent festivities in New Orleans. However, I quickly got over that.
The Lakeshore festival is fun though, regardless of what it’s called. When we arrived with the dogs, a Zydeco combo called Loco Zydeco was on stage, complete with accordionist and frattoir player, and they sounded very good. We wandered around a bit. There was a dog rescue booth and an Etobicoke Humane Society booth, and we heard that earlier in the day, there were three other Newfie dogs there. The dogs were stars at the event. Lots of kids and adults too approached us and asked if they could pat the dogs, who were happy to enjoy the attention.
We stopped at the Baba Ali stand where I couldn’t resist a shawarma. Baba Ali is a falafel/shawarma place located on Lakeshore between 27th and 28th streets. I was happy to see their booth at the festival doing well, because not only do they make excellent food, they’re really nice people too. Past the food stands, there were rides for the kids set up, and it looked like everyone was having a good time.
Lakeshore Mardi Gras is a very worthwhile community event, and I’m glad we walked over there with the dogs. It was great to hear some live music and enjoy a snack and talk to a bunch of people too. Having two giant dogs is a great conversation starter.
We didn’t stay for the feature performers tonight as there was another place we had to be. It was the Five Man Electrical Band. Remember them? I hadn’t heard their name in years, but I sure remembered their hits, Signs and Absolutely Right and Werewolf. Friday night the festival featured another blast from the past, Chilliwack.
Sometime today… #noregrets
Sometime today, somebody typed “I should have said I am sorry” into a search engine, and landed here. Feature that.
A Cowboy Way to Go
While posting selections for our little list of drinking songs, I’ve failed to consider that cowboys drink too. Drinking Song #44 features Ian Tyson – Alcohol in the Bloodstream.
#45 is another Ian Tyson song. “All the beer parlours all down along Main Street” Here’s Steve Earle performing Summer Wages.
Here’s another version (#46) – Ian Tyson with Sylvia and Emmy-Lou. Tuffy and I were at this show. It was the Ian and Sylvia reunion show way back in the day.
I could listen to Summer Wages 100 times in a row. It’s only the line about beer parlours that lets this song sneak into the list, but that’s ok. My dad used to love this one too. He like to sing bits of song around the house, and I often heard him singing, “Never hit 17 when you play against the dealer…”
Magic Font?
Is it possible for an individual with dyslexia to read better by using a special font? A Dutch design studio called studio studio has come up with one.
It sounds like a great idea. I wonder how extensively it has been tested? It would be great if a simple shift in font could help people with dyslexia read more easily and with fewer errors. For dyslexics, some thought has also been given to considerations in web design as well.
I wonder if font design can also improve reading speed and comprehension among readers who do not have dyslexia as well? For instance, is it better to have a novel published in serif or sans serif fonts? This is an argument that appears to be far from settled. It would be interesting to have this discussion with people in the advertising business, where success or failure of a campaign means money in the bank or empty coffers. I’d like to understand how much font choice can influence behaviour and the mechanics of all that.
Don’t eat the poison ones, silly #badmushrooms
Hospitals in SW France are reportedly seeing an increase of mushroom poisoning cases. The culprit is the Satan’s Bolete, Boletus satanas. It’s a blue-stainer that apparently has the smell of carrion, that increases as it matures. Now that doesn’t sound appetizing at all. This mushroom is a sickener, and patients reportedly recover after a couple uncomfortable days. The article suggests that most of the people poisoned were tourists who thought the Satan’s Bolete were Porcini.
The moral of this story is that should need to be very careful identifying mushrooms in the wild and you should only eat the ones you are certain are safe. There are plenty of nasty mushrooms out there. I believe the saying is that there are old mushroom pickers and there are bold mushroom pickers but there are no old bold mushroom pickers.
Hey Brother #youknowwhattodo
Drinking Song #43 is Hey Brother Pour the Wine performed by Dean Martin
Where’s the King?
Yesterday, someone landed on this little chunk of paradise after entering “King Bolete Ontario Map” in a search engine. King Boletes are Boletus edulis. They have a number of common names, but you may know them best as Porcini – the little pig mushrooms. These mushrooms are available commercially in dried form, and are very delicious with strong earthy flavour once reconstituted. I read somewhere that many of the porcini available commercially are imported from China. Who knew?
It is wishful thinking to expect a King Bolete Ontario Map to exist, but given how tasty they are, I can’t blame the searcher for searching. Let me assure you all that I don’t have any such map. In fact, I’ve yet to stumble into a King Bolete spot. One day I will, and when I do, I will surely go to great length to disguise its location. Sorry about that friends.
However, if you happen to be the proud owner of what you believe to be a King Bolete Ontario Map, I know you will need help authenticating it. Just send it over here and I’ll check out all the spots marked on it this fall and let you know if it is a quality map or not. This is a service I’m willing to provide out of the goodness of my heart.
27th Street 