September Resolutions ~ One Bed a Day

In some ways, September is more the start of a New Year than is January. So it is not without logic that I feel a renewed sense of commitment to the garden.The weeds in my garden got OUT OF CONTROL this summer. But now the weather is cooler and I feel as though I can take this task on. My commitment is one bed a day. Yesterday I only took an AFTER picture of my pitiful shallot bed. So this morning I wised up and took aBEFOREand AFTER pictureincluding a basket full of treasures I found in that tangled mess.

Chicken of the Woods

"Look, I have this HUGE Chicken of the Woods. We ate as much as we could for dinner last night, and we're going off island tomorrow, do you want it?"

"I'll be at your house in 15 minutes."

So I had a big round of it last night. Sauteed it with some shallots and garlic and thyme from the garden. I started using butter ... but it is a thirsty little mushroom, so after half a stick of butter I switched to chicken stock. YUM !!!Had I known I would be so lucky, I would not have bought a bag of shitakes yesterday at a roadside stand. So this morning I had fried egg over shitakes with a side of Chicken of the Woods.Note: In my original, pre-edited post, I had used the term Hen of the Woods ( Latin name: Grifola frondosa) to describe this mushroom. It is, most likely a Laetiporus cincinnatus often referred to as a chicken of the woods. It is a reminder that mushroom hunting is not to be done lightly or in an uninformed manner. Thanks to comments from Andrea for that reminder.

Tomato High Season

Imagine a tomato big enough and succulent enough to fill an entire tart pan. This was the glorious final act of my blue ribbon tomato. I have take to keeping some bacon in the fridge on the grounds that there is nothing more glorious than the BLT during tomato high season.