Dandelion wine is great. My girlfriend's father in Oregon also used to make rhubarb wine, which was wonderful. Who'd ever think to make anything good out of rhubarb?
I don't ever recall eating it. I've heard of rhubarb pie, but do not think I've ever had a single bite of it. On a tangential note (that's city-speak for "off topic")...I've often wanted to make sauerkraut, but like homemade wine, I'd be afraid to consume anything I fermented at home. It's like picking wild mushrooms...the good stuff and the poison look an awful lot alike.
Pretty sure that we have a sauerkraut thread here somewhere, either in food or health. I love making my own sauerkraut, and it is easy to do, @John Brunner . It helps to get some of those little glass weights, but before I had those, I used a clean rock and weighted down the outer cabbage leaf, just like the directions said. I have some sauerkraut sitting on the Back of the kitchen counter right now, as a matter of fact. One thing that I really like about making my own, is that you can taste it and see when it is fermented enough for your taste. I have also made kimchi, but I like sauerkraut much better. http://www.seniorsonly.club/threads/the-great-sauerkraut-experiment-has-begun.4637/ http://www.seniorsonly.club/threads/gut-heath.12769/
You're funny, John. I used to take a fully colored illustrated mushroom guide with me in the hills above La Grande, OR. It's a worthwhile endeavor. One mushroom I brought home and ate looked like a half-sized human brain decked out with surface convolutions. Quick fried in butter, it was delicious.. I agree about the sauerkraut. I've accidentally fermented things in my fridge that I wasn't tempted to eat.
Interesting. We used to hunt mushrooms when I was a kid in Indiana, but just one specific variety. They looked like sponges. I think we called them "goosenecks," but they were likely morels. My mother would submerge them with some liquid in canning jars and put them in the fridge. I have no idea if it was water or a pickle of some sort. I never ate them. So how confident were you when picking wild fungi to eat? I can't imagine.
With the book in hand I was confident.enough. Understand that it carried cautions when an edible looked like a poison one. I avoided those out of an excess of caution. It was a very good guide, come to think of it. ....wish I had it now.
This is a morel according to the all-knowing internet. I thought we might be talking about the same mushroom but I guess not. My 'brain' mushrooms were not on a stalk but lay flat close to a tree. Also, can't gauge size by this picture but I've an idea mine were bigger.
Yup. That's what I'm talking about. We would walk along the railroad tracks and find them underneath large leaved plants growing alongside the rails (as I recall from 1962.) Have you seen this guy's website? He's a mushroom hunter and does forays. Lots of info on his website. Attending one of his hunts is on my "maybe someday" list.
That sounds like tremendous fun. The site has a whole lot of information, you're right. Only, are you sure you want to be seen with a guy who wears a hat like this? It sort of makes him look like a mushroom, so it might be on purpose. It reminds me of the stupid chef's hats Abby's Pizza made us wear when I managed there. Abby was Shakey's partner until they split in the 60s. Shakey went on to start a chain with a gazillion restaurants. Abbey had about a dozen... just thought you all needed to know these things.
If he was wearing that hat to impress some female, I might forgive him...'cause who hasn't, right? Actually, not all that long ago (maybe 6-8 months) he ran into some weird financial problems. He is one of those jack-of-all-trades kinda guy, and something happened with his main revenue stream. He was about to be evicted, had no money to buy food, was gonna shut down this business, the whole 9 yards. He sent out a handful of tearful, pleading emails to those of us on his list. Enough folks sent him money to tide him over. Regarding Shakey's...I believe that the Shakey's in my neck of the woods (Tysons Corner VA) would have live music in there every once in a while. Dixieland bands, I think, back in the 70s. One of my brothers played there every once in a while. It was more like entertainment + family restaurant than a fast food place. Didn't they have all-you-can-drink draught beer on Friday nights? Most likely Schaefer's.
And I see that Abby's still has stores in Washington state and Oregon. The logo does not look familiar to this east coast boy.
I don't remember Abby's having an 'all the beer you can drink' night. I had my own 'all you can drink' night after work most nights. I was a wastrel back then. We do the best we can, I guess.
Yeh, we could share stories. Lots and lots of stories. I just hit my 30th anniversary of being boring clean & sober this spring. We are funny little animals. As you said, we do the best we can.