Rusty Ring

( Boletus edulis. Part of a generous outbreak that burst up not far from my house during the record rains of last month. Some of them w...

Like a lot of old people, I've come to find myself adrift at Christmas. Family mostly gone. Friends busy with their own. I nev...

(Feral apples are almost always the best-tasting, and you can't beat the price. With all the former farmland around here, the scrumpi...

( Malus fusca . Native to the North Coast, in my home county it's a common understory tree, flourishing on the margins and in clear...

(This 20-odd year apple met its end last week, a victim of its own success. In the late 20th century, varieties such as these, bearing he...

(As I recently pointed out , at high summer you can often raise bread dough outdoors in the shade. An 80 to 95-degree day ought to do it...

'Way back in the first weeks of this blog I posted on the sourdough bread that's been part of my monastic practice since b...

(Still Pleurotus ostreatus . I've posted on these before , but it never ceases to amaze me how attached this species is to the ...

(Fruit of the hawthorn [Crataegus] , these often persist into winter, where they add needed colour to the soggy North Coast landscape. Aft...

( Ribes sanguineum. Common native food here on the North Coast. Eponymous flower here .) Appearing also on My Corner of the World...

(Both sourdough recipes.) Appearing also on My Corner of the World .

(Last of a traditional Scottish bachelor cake that I baked for Christmas. First time in 30 years. Still just as good.) Appearing al...

(This is Dacrymyces chrysospermus, the orange jelly mushroom. It grows on deadwood in moist forests – two things we have aplenty here ...

"Within darkness there is light, do not be against the light." Shítóu Xīqiān (Sekitō Kisen) Best of thoughts to my Jewis...

(Fried eggs from real chickens, barbecued cheese curds, and salsa over steamed vegetables and brown rice. Why envy the immortal gods?) A...

Appearing also on My Corner of the World .

This Sunday, 29 October, is National Hermit Day. (I have no idea which nation declared this. The day commemorates an Irish saint, so I...

(Typical on the North Coast this time of year, where you can often fill a 5 gallon bucket with large boletes in a matter of minutes. Su...

(This is the fruit of the Japanese cherry tree [Prunus spp.; Cerasus spp.] , whose blossoms bring world-famous glowing colour to the no...

(Квас из овса. Made from toasted rolled oats. Very good; light and dry when well-chilled, with a honey-like perfume. Will be most welco...