July 18, 2010
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In the forest today

I found lots of these boletes with the red pores. I don’ t know a great deal about boletes, but I do know the rule that says, “don’t eat the ones with the red pores.”

Aren’t these chanterelles beautiful? There are some days when it seems chanterelles don’t get to this size because the bugs and the slugs demolish them first. Today, many of the chanterelles I found were good size like this and in great condition.

I’ve seen these before. They grow on dead conifer wood. I’m pretty sure this mushroom is the Velvet-footed Pax, or Paxillus atrotomentosus. It’s poisonous, so don’t be eating these.

July 18, 2010
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Lobster Mushrooms

Some people I know won’t eat lobster mushrooms. These fungi are Hypomyces lactifluorum, basically a red-orange cup fungus that has attacked a host. The host is usually considered to be either Russula brevipes or Lactarius piperatus. The problem is that the host often gets distorted and so cannot be so easily identified and some people are worried that the Hypomyces can attack a poisonous host.

The following is from Tom Volk’s pages: So I know you’re going to ask “Is it edible?” well that’s a complicated question. The Hypomyces part is known to be edible, but what about the host? Could the Hypomyces parasitize a poisonous mushroom? Apparently Hypomyces is a pretty good taxonomist, only parasitizing Russula or Lactarius species. According to Clark Rogerson and Gary Samuels, “In large populations of Hypomyces lactifluorum where the host can be determined with some confidence, the host has proven to be Russula brevipes; but associated nonparasitized hosts often belong to the Lactarius piperatus complex.” Russula brevipes is a known edible, so it’s not too surprising that the complex of these two species is edible. However Lactarius piperatus has an exceedingly hot flavor that renders it inedible for most people– but that hotness is neutralized by the parasite Hypomyces, making it very delicious. It is conceivable that Hypomyces lactifluorum could parasitize a poisonous mushroom and cause problems for the mushroom eater. However, the lobster mushroom has been eaten for hundred of years without any known problems. If you eat this mushroom you’re taking a very, very slim chance of there being a problem, in my opinion.

I eat these all the time, and I consider them to be excellent for the table. One of the features I like about them is that they retain a nice firm texture after cooking.

These mushrooms can be a little difficult to clean. Sometimes slugs get in them, and they get very dirty, and parts of them may have wormholes or otherwise not look so appetizing. The first thing to note is that there is no problem cleaning these under a jet of water, so that’s the first thing I do. After that, simply slice them into thin slices, and cut away anything that isn’t red-orange, white or firm. Anything that has turned deep red will also have turned spongy. The phot shows a basket of lobsters that has been prepared for drying.

July 18, 2010
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Hedgehogs

We call them hedgehogs, but in fact they are the mushrooms known as Hydnum repandum. They are easy to identify, as they are the only tan coloured mushroom you’re going to find in the woods with teeth rather than pores or gills. The ones I found today were smallish, less than two inches in height, but I have found them a full inch better.

Hedgehogs taste rather like a chanterelle, meaning they are a choice edible. I only know of one spot where I can dependably find them. I’ve been checking it just about every week, as it is on the way to other spots I frequent. Today was the first day I saw them, and they were in the very same spot I found them last year. I’ve roamed a good piece of this forest a number of times, but the hedgehogs always seem to be with in 5 metre circle, steps from where I park the car. I have a chanterelle spot in the same forest that never yields many mushrooms but often provides enough for a dinner or two. Another part of the same woods sometimes yields lobster mushrooms, but not in the quantities I find elsewhere. So when I stop here, I check for hedgehogs, take the three minute walk needed to check the chanterelle spot, then backtrack over to where the lobsters appear. The dogs and I can be in and out of that forest in less than half an hour with all the mushrooms we’re likely to get. This has taught me the lesson that it is worthwhile going back to the same forests again and again, learning what appears where and when. Later, you can hop from spot to spot.

As the photo shows, I didn’t get a huge number of hedgehogs, but certainly enough to make the stop. One of the things I really like about this mushroom is that slugs and bugs don’t seem to like them nearly as much as they like chanterelles. I cooked these up tonight and added them to an omelette. When you chop them up, many of the teeth simply fall off. It isn’t necessary to remove them, but I understand some people like to do so.

There are other toothed mushrooms around as well. I have found two different ones, both not edible, in a hemlock forest I like to visit. There are also large white toothed fungi that are reputed to be tasty edibles. I hope to find one this year.

July 18, 2010
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Garden Update

The back garden has been growing and filling in nicely. I’m really enjoying what’s going on there. I planted several catnip plants in this garden, courtesy of Salvelinas, and they have taken root and started growing like mad before the cats could do much damage to them. The cats like to hide in the garden tucked in among the catnip. This garden is going to get a little more sun now that I’ve taken out a Manitoba Maple or Box Elder or whatever name  you want to give to this fast growing weed tree. Fortunately, it was still much smaller than the 30 cm diameter that triggers a need for a permit from the city to remove it.

You can see it’s much more open behind the little lean-to. The Manitoba Maple basically reached up and blocked the canopy. I’ve thinned some of the shrubs off to the left as well. I’m going to make a mulch path back through the trees and out the other side, and I’m going to add some new shrubs and woodland plants along the way as well. All in good time.

July 16, 2010
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Ontario Place extreme make-over

There is a plan afoot to do an extreme make-over on tired old Ontario Place. I’ve hardly been there in recent years, but I used to go regularly back when the old Forum was there with the revolving stage. The last time I was there was for a Van Morrison concert at the Molson Amphitheatre. I saw a Bob Dylan show there as well a few years back.

My experience at the Van Morrison show was that I was sitting so far away from the stage that Mr. Morrison looked like an ant. Anticipating this problem, the good folks at the Amphitheatre had television monitors set up so we could watch the show on TV. So there we were, a mile from the stage watching a TV screen. That was the moment at which I realized that I would never again pay big dollars to go to a concert in a big venue like that. I can handle Massey Hall, in spite of the uncomfortable seats and the pillars, but I never went back to the Amphitheatre or to any of the other “big” venues. Fortunately most of the music I like isn’t so popular so I get to see those performers in more intimate settings. For instance, in August, Tuffy P and I have tickets to see Ramblin Jack Elliott at Hugh’s Room. We’ll have a reserved table waiting for us. We’ll enjoy dinner and a cold beer (for me…Tuffy doens’t like beer), and we’ll see this legendary performer in a great setting.

I do have great memories of the old Ontario Place Forum. I never really understood what the rest of it was all about. I saw Catch the Sun in the big dome IMax theatre like everyone else and that was fun, but it seemed anytime I was there, I spent too much time walking up and down ramps and stairs. What were those silo things all about? I don’t even remember.

In 1975, I was a teenaged blues fan. Imagine how excited I was when Muddy Waters came to the Forum. Also on the bill was the James Cotton Band, which at the time was quite a force of nature. At the end, Mr. Cotton came on stage and stepped back to an earlier time, playing harmonica for Muddy Waters. It was fantastic.

Then there was the day Pete Seeger and Arlo Guthrie came to the Forum. We went down early to grab excellent seats. Pete and Arlo were there early too, and they did a long rehearsal set. I remember Pete Seeger walking to the back, to the hill where the fans would be sitting on blankets on the grass, while Arlo played, and calling out to Arlo, saying the sound was fine. I also recall Arlo commenting that as a kid he used to like to go into echo-y hallways with his 12-string guitar and pretend he was the Byrds. I don’t remember which of the Byrds tunes he played then. It might have been Mr. Tambourine Man (really a Dylan tune of course) or perhaps Eight Mile High.

I even saw Sonny Terry and Brownie McGhee play there. I had seen them a couple years earlier at the El Mocombo (they still seemed to like each other back then), but by the time they played the Forum it was more like The Sonny Terry Show and The Brownie McGhee show. They hardly interacted at all. Maybe that’s what happens when you play with the same musicians that long.

After the Forum disappeared, with the exception of a couple trips to the Molson Amphitheatre, the rest of Ontario Place’s history is a mystery to me. They had beer gardens there, I recall, and that admission was free with admission to the CNE (I just couldn’t figure out why I ought to go there.   I know I have some Ontario readers. I’d be interested in hearing your memories of Ontario Place. I wonder how they’ll transform it?

July 15, 2010
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Home-made Jam

I had an opportunity today to do three music sessions with some kids at an early learning centre. I brought along a button accordion and a harmonica and a gut-bucket bass and some shakers and a frog and a couple scrub-boards and a jug and a triangle and a tambourine and a pair of clacking sticks and spoons and two guiros. I got the kids and the teachers to volunteer to play different percussion instruments while I played accordion. I also played a little harmonica, showing how to make a train on harmonica and then on accordion.

We all had such a great time.  I don’t know who had more fun, me or the kids. I played music from all kinds of different places. The kids who weren’t playing an instrument were all clapping along. And I think we sounded pretty good together too, making home-made jam. It’s the tastiest kind of jam and I think everyone should try some every now and then. It’s a refreshing change from the factory-made jam.

A big thank you goes out to my friend Radmila for setting this up.

Speaking of home-made jam, here’s Michelle Shocked, playing an old favourite here at Anchovy World Headquarters.

July 14, 2010
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Fiddlesticks

I’ve posted this video before and I’ll likely post it again at some point down the road. I think Dewey Balfa was such a wonderful player and fiddlesticks is really something special to witness. I hope you enjoy watching this again as much as I did.

July 13, 2010
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Asger Jorn Painting

Here is the late Asger Jorn Painting.

I’ve long felt a strange affinity for Mr. Jorn’s work, as if we were long lost cousins or something. I can’t explain it. Sometimes I look at his paintings and I know how he felt making them. It’s a disconcerting feeling. Mr. Jorn was apparently also a strong Go player. I too love that game. Odd.

And here is his one-time associate in CoBrA, Karel Appel at work:

Filed under: Art