April 22, 2011
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Paska Time

Each Easter we make paska, or Easter bread. We don’t get too fancy about all the decorative braiding that some people do, but we make some rockin’ good bread every year. We bake the loaves in coffee cans and we make plenty so we can give paska to our friends. This year we’re making two batches. The first batch is rising up by the woodstove right now.

Our paska is a slightly sweet egg loaf enhanced with plenty of lemon zest. We use different sizes of coffee cans. The loaves in the smaller cans are tall and look like silos. Later, I’ll post some pictures.

April 20, 2011
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At the Comfort Food Diner

The salad is romaine with slivers of red onion, seedless clementines, cut into pieces, and toasted walnuts. The dressing is walnut oil, lime juice, a half-teaspoon of an exotic lime mustard and a pinch of sugar. The omelettes are made with two eggs and filled with a mixture of shallots and cremini mushrooms sauteed with a splash of red wine and a hint of Worcestershire sauce. On the side, slices of Polish sausage and fresh half-sour dill pickles.

April 19, 2011
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Wahoo?

I received an email today from Henry Giovanni Pinilla Rodriguez and this is what it said:

£750,000.00 Pounds was given to you In The BPO Lottory

I’m not sure what I should do first, consult my new financial advisor, (the exiled prince of Nigeria), or simply send these folks all my personal information and passwords and sit back and wait for the money to come rolling in. Oh, it’s going to be nice to be rich. Don’t worry, though, I’ll still talk to you all…

April 19, 2011
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bugs and mushrooms

We’ve been experiencing unseasonably cool temperatures here in Southern Ontario. I wonder how much that will affect the timing of the fruiting of morels this season. I wish I had a better understanding of the triggers that cause various mushrooms to appear. Is the primary driver temperature? Or perhaps it has more to do with hours of available daylight? Moisture content is clearly important but how do all the factors fit together? I have some understanding of some of the relationships between certain mushrooms and certain trees, but as far as mushrooms go, I haven’t been at it long enough to really have a good feel for the timing.

In my little brain, I associate the fruiting of morels with the emergence of a mayfly called Ephemerella subvaria, the famous Hendrickson. But that’s merely a casual observation and I don’t know if it really holds true. It would be very interesting to document those relationships over time. I know that some people have studied the relationship between mayfly emergences and the seasonal blooming of various plants. That’s what Bob Scammel’s The Phenological Fly is all about. I don’t know if anyone has studied the relationship between fruiting of fungi and mayfly emergence. Both mayflies and mushrooms have an order if not a precise schedule. I think it would be a lot of fun to spend a few hours every day for a season in the forests and on the streams, observing, photographing, documenting. I think my dogs would enjoy that too!

April 18, 2011
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Engine 143

Now I’m back on track. Here’s the train song of the day, Engine 143 by the Carter Family.

Here’s another favourite here on 27th Street, Ramblin’ Jack Elliott, covering the same tune…

Murdered upon a railroad and laid in a lonesome grave…that’s one hurtin’ train song for you today