Weather Bomb Incoming

Mushrooming with Shaggy

Sat Oct 23rd

All the Maple varieties are also becoming more colourful

Heat Domes, Atmospheric Rivers and now Weather Bomb/Bomb Cyclone.  Descriptions of weather phenomena seem to be getting increasingly more colourful.  The latter is the latest due to arrive on these shores.

Reports are suggesting there could be up to 2ft of rain and 8ft of rain in parts of the west coast North America.    It's being welcomed in parts of Northern California where some forest fires are still burning.

In old speak, a 'low' would have developed mid-pacific followed by rapid drop in pressure of 24 millibars or more which is defined as a 'bomb cyclone'. 

Bring back the stick on felt clouds to the weather forecast I say.  Saturday morning was just drizzle, the bomb had not yet detonated. We are in the black circle on the weather chart.

We are in the circle

The Quins V Bath rugby game was on as I started to write this.  Bath didn't win, but they didn't lose as badly as last week; they at least turned up.  Prize for the oddest haircut must go to Bath's Tom Dunn who has shaved off little hair he had left at the front of his head and left a thatch at the back.  Second prize must go to Quins Joe Mahler for his Mohican.

Edible Pine mushroom

Friday I was out for my mushroom foraging expedition, cancelled last week because of the Atmospheric River downpour we enjoyed Friday and Saturday.  Our course leader was local expert Shaggy Jack and there were six other curious Coasters.  We met up on the B&K forest service road before heading off deeper into Mount Elphinstone Provincial Park.  We were to be foraging close to the Health Trail - though barely walked a trail all morning as we were 'off road' in the thick of the forest.

Shaggy is the bearded white-hatted chap at the beginning of the video.  I wasn't sure if the dreadlocks down his chest were in his hair or beard. Coiffure aside, he knows his mushrooms and after 4+ hours of wandering I came back with just over a kilo.  More importantly, I am reasonably confident I could gather a variety of mushrooms again and live to tell the tale.

The prize of the day was the Pine Mushroom - a firm much sought-after mushroom favoured in Japanese and Far Eastern cooking.  Young ones, as in the top left of the image can sell for £800 a half kilo the older larger ones much less.     

Rosy Spike Mushroom (Gomfidious Roseus)

The young Rosy Spike mushroom, is edible though does not have an obvious flavour and is generally left in the forest.  It's also quite rare.

My haul consisted of the mushrooms below.  Clockwise from top left in the photo: 

Gypsy Mushroom         211g     Tasted OK

Winter Chanterelle       500g     Very tasty

Slippery Jack                   45g     Slimy top - interesting!

Pine Mushroom           240g    Not yet tried

Golden Chanterelle       97g     Very tasty   

Jelly mushroom                4g    Eaten raw, not much taste

Oyster mushroom         49g    Tasty

Nick is here for the weekend and has been warned the menu is going to have a lot of  mushrooms.  

Last night was a mushroom and chicken pasta sauce comprising: the Golden Chanterelle, some of the Winter Chanterelle, Oyster Mushrooms, the Slippery Jack and some of the Gypsy mushrooms.  The good news is that we are still vertical this morning. The Chanterelle gave off a lovely aroma when cooked.

It was a fascinating day out and though we were warned we would be in bear and cougar country, we saw none.  Shaggy Jack, in all his foraging expeditions, has never seen them either!

The deciduous trees are now losing their leaves - the larger Maples are a lovely golden colour and the smaller Acer type, a rich red.

Japanese Acer at the front of the house

Giant Maple against Fred's hand

The Weather Bomb fuse has just been lit. It's started to chuck it down!