HOME & LIVING
B6 — THE OBSERVER & BAKER CITY HERALD
an unidentifi ed mushroom!
Club members Kristen
and Trent Blizzard, authors
of the new “Wild Mush-
rooms: A Cookbook and
Foraging Guide” (Sky-
horse, $20), understand for-
aging can be a scary thing
for newbies. But as with
any hobby, if you invest
in a good local or regional
identifi cation book and do
your research, it can be less
so.
“This community is full
of wonderful people who
are willing to share their
knowledge, and have so
much enthusiasm,” says
Blizzard.
The Blizzards, who
live and forage in Colo-
rado, started their mush-
room adventure as bloggers
on Modern Forager. They
quickly built a tribe by
off ering “burn maps” that
detail where to fi nd morel
mushrooms that carpet
charred forest fl oors.
Full of gorgeous photo-
graphs, their cookbook is a
go-to guide for anyone who
loves to hunt or cook with
wild mushrooms. Along
with tips on harvesting eti-
quette and kitchen tricks, it
includes chapters on pres-
ervation and cooking tech-
niques. (Did you know you
can candy chanterelles or
infuse mushrooms with
alcohol?) Then it’s on to
recipes from 25 skilled for-
agers around the country.
There are 115 in all,
covering 15 diff erent vari-
eties of culinary fungi —
everything from jams and
soups to jerky and pasta
dishes, using favorites such
FUNGI
Continued from Page B2
one of the most recogniz-
able genera among mycol-
ogists and mushroom col-
lectors. He also points out
Lactarius, also known
as milk cap mushrooms
because their fruitbodies
ooze a sticky, milky latex
when sliced with a knife.
While mushrooms often
serve as decomposers by
digesting dead organic
matter, some are actu-
ally parasites that attack a
living host and live on it,
sometimes killing it. Many
more, he says, are inti-
mately linked to trees by
symbiosis.
That’s what Lieder found
so fascinating when she
watched the Netfl ix docu-
mentary “Fantastic Fungi”
during the pandemic. She
sought out the Real Fungi
stand at the Bloomfi eld Sat-
urday Market. Her many
fun conversations with its
owner led her to not only
grow shiitakes and oyster
mushrooms in her base-
ment, but go on her fi rst
foray with WPMC.
“They are connected
with living things in ways I
hadn’t ever thought about,”
she says.
The September foray,
which netted more than 150
species, including a rare
pouzarella, drove the point
home.
“It was so delightful
to really know how many
living things that are
all around you that you
don’t see,” she says. “And
Gretchen McKay/Pittsburgh Post-
Gazette-TNS
Chicken of the Woods mush-
rooms stand in for shredded
chicken in this curry.
everyone was so generous
with their knowledge.”
Still, fear persists for
many would-be foragers,
what with toxic beauties
such as the milky-white
Destroying Angel mush-
room — a single bite can
kill you — sprouting on
the forest fl oor along with
edible morels, oyster mush-
rooms and chanterelles.
And with book titles such
as the soon-to-be-released
“How to Forage for Mush-
rooms without Dying” by
Frank Hyman, who can
blame us?
It doesn’t help that
many mushrooms can
only be identifi ed under a
microscope.
“The popular miscon-
ception is that we know
what all the mushrooms
are,” says mycologist
Michael Kuo, who was
one of the foray’s guest
speakers and the expert
voice behind Mushroom-
Expert.com. “But we don’t,
and that’s why [foraging]
can be dangerous.”
That’s why joining a
club like WPMC is smart.
They follow the mycolo-
gist’s golden rule: Never eat
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inch round tart pan. Press dough
evenly into pan with your fi ngers,
making sure the bottom of the
crust isn’t too thick. Use a fork to
prick dough all over.
Press a double-folded piece
of foil down into the pan. Bake
pastry for 12 minutes, then reduce
heat to 350 degrees. Remove foil
and continue baking for about 10
more minutes or until crust is a
light golden brown. Cool.
Toss squash with 1 tablespoon
oil, then season with salt, pepper,
nutmeg and cumin. Spread out
on a parchment-lined rimmed
baking sheet. Repeat with
mushrooms on a second baking
sheet. Roast for about 25 minutes
or until tender, then cool for 5
minutes.
Sprinkle 3/4 cup cheese in the
bottom of pastry crust. Arrange
squash and mushrooms on top,
sprinkle with remaining 1/2 cup
cheese and bake until cheese is
melted, about 10 minutes. Sprin-
kle with herbs and onions.
Serve tart warm or at room
temperature, cut into slices.
Serves 6.
— “Untamed Mushrooms:
From Field to Table” by Michael
Karns, Dennis Becker and Lisa
Golden Schroeder (Minnesota
Historical Press Society Press,
$25)
white cheddar or Swiss
cheese, divided
1/2 teaspoon fi ne salt
1/2 cup cold butter, cut
into chunks
2 egg yolks
3 tablespoons ice water
1/2 pound peeled butternut
squash or unpeeled delicata
squash, cut into 1/2-inch slices
Olive oil
Coarse salt and freshly
ground black pepper
Freshly grated nutmeg and
toasted ground cumin, to taste
3/4 pound mixed fresh
wild mushrooms,
trimmed and sliced
Fresh sage leaves and sliced
green onions, for garnish
as chicken of the woods,
oyster, morels and porcini
mushrooms. There also are
profi les of some of the for-
agers sprinkled throughout
“because they’re so awe-
some and the world needs
to know about them,” says
Ms. Blizzard.
The recipes had to be
simple, and dishes the
cooks actually ate on a reg-
ular basis.
As a result, “a lot of fl a-
vors came into play that
were very exciting,” Bliz-
zard says, with Eastern
European, Thai and Cal-
ifornia infl uences. “We
learned mushrooms can be
delicious prepared in a dif-
ferent way.”
What makes foraging
such a great hobby, she
says, is that it never gets
old. It’s also sustainable
and gets people outside,
surrounded by nature.
“It grows with you, and
it’s thrilling,” she says.
Preheat oven to 450 degrees.
Make pastry crust: Place fl our,
1 cup cheese and salt in bowl of
a food processor fi t with a metal
blade. Process for a few seconds
to blend, then add butter. Process
for 10-20 seconds or until mixture
is like fi ne crumbs.
Beat yolks and water together
with a fork. With motor running,
pour into food processor. Process
for about 5 seconds or until the
dough just comes together.
Crumble dough into an 11-by-
7-inch rectangle fl uted tart pan
with a removable bottom, or a 12-
AUTUMN
MUSHROOM
AND
BUTTERNUT
TART
M ICHAEL
This tart works because the crust
comes together without any
rolling. Any fresh wild mushrooms
work — think chanterelles, hen of
the woods, king boletes or black
trumpets. With the addition of
roasted butternut squash, it’s a
perfect marriage of fall fl avors.
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A C ERTIFIED M ASTER A RBORIST
1 3/4 cups unbleached
all-purpose fl our
2 1/4 cups (9 ounces) shredded
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weather
| Go to AccuWeather.com
AROUND OREGON AND THE REGION
Astoria
Longview
44/57
Kennewick
42/56
St. Helens
43/56
TIllamook
42/56
45/59
45/56
40/56
Condon
Partly cloudy
and cold
Baker City
Showers around Partly sunny and
cool
0
2
Comfort Index™
2
SAT
Partly sunny
Partly sunny
Salem
57 29
61 34
Eugene
3
8
43/59
51 28
58 35
62 36
5
7
8
63 38
2
10
10
0
Florence
TEMPERATURES Baker City La Grande Elgin
NATION (for the 48 contiguous states)
High: 105°
Low: 10°
Wettest: 3.37”
62°
36°
58°
40°
55°
40°
PRECIPITATION (inches)
Sunday
Trace
Month to date
0.04
Normal month to date 0.16
Year to date
3.62
Normal year to date
7.02
0.01
0.03
0.34
7.41
12.34
0.00
Trace
0.46
16.41
17.33
HAY INFORMATION WEDNESDAY
45%
W at 6 to 12 mph
9.8
0.06
RESERVOIR STORAGE (through midnight Monday)
Phillips Reservoir
Unity Reservoir
Owyhee Reservoir
McKay Reservoir
Wallowa Lake
Thief Valley Reservoir
N.A.
9% of capacity
10% of capacity
23% of capacity
2% of capacity
0% of capacity
STREAM FLOWS (through midnight Sunday)
Grande Ronde at Troy
Thief Valley Reservoir near North Powder
Burnt River near Unity
Umatilla River near Gibbon
Minam River at Minam
Powder River near Richland
SUN & MOON
TUE.
7:05 a.m.
6:12 p.m.
2:39 p.m.
11:03 p.m.
WED.
7:06 a.m.
6:10 p.m.
3:27 p.m.
none
MOON PHASES
576 cfs
0 cfs
17 cfs
46 cfs
56 cfs
3 cfs
First
Oct 12
Full
Oct 20
Last
Oct 28
New
Nov 4
45/58
Grants Pass
Brookings
Juntura
25/48
32/52
Boise
35/47
Silver Lake
Jordan Valley
27/43
Paisley
28/48
Frenchglen
31/47
Diamond
Grand View
Arock
30/45
29/50
29/48
Fields
43/57
32/48
Klamath Falls
30/50
Lakeview
25/48
McDermitt
25/45
Shown is Wednesday’s weather. Temperatures are Tuesday night’s lows and Wednesday’s highs.
RECREATION FORECAST WEDNESDAY
REGIONAL CITIES
City
Astoria
Bend
Boise
Brookings
Burns
Coos Bay
Corvallis
Council
Elgin
Eugene
Hermiston
Hood River
Imnaha
John Day
Joseph
Kennewick
Klamath Falls
Lakeview
Ontario
33/54
26/47
30/46
Medford
47/61
Huntington
37/50
Burns
43/57
Ontario
Lakeview
Seaside
On Oct. 12, 1979, the world’s lowest sea
level barometric pressure, 25.69 inches,
was in the center of Typhoon Tip, 520
miles northwest of Guam. A U.S. Air Force
plane recorded the surface pressure.
Sunrise
Sunset
Moonrise
Moonset
Beaver Marsh
Chiloquin
OREGON
WEATHER HISTORY
AGRICULTURAL INFO.
Lowest relative humidity
Afternoon wind
Hours of sunshine
Evapotranspiration
46/56
Brothers
32/49
27/43
28/48
26/45
35/52
Oakridge
Roseburg
Powers
Zapata, Texas
Bodie State Park, Calif.
Mc Gregor, Minn.
High: 70°
Low: 18°
Wettest: 0.65”
33/48
Seneca
40/50
46/59
SUNDAY EXTREMES
High Sunday
Low Sunday
33/51
Bend
Elkton
Coos Bay
Comfort Index takes into account how the weather will feel based on a combination of factors. A rating of 10 feels
very comfortable while a rating of 0 feels very uncomfortable.
ALMANAC
Sisters
Council
26/48
John Day
33/51
46/58
58 36
27/50
Baker City
Redmond
47/58
Halfway
Granite
26/41
39/48
45/55
48 26
36/52
40/57
Newport
Enterprise
24/44
32/49
Monument
40/56
Idanha
44/58
Corvallis
2
1
24 44 23
FRI
51 26
0
32 49 31
Comfort Index™
Enterprise
THU
26 48 28
Comfort Index™
La Grande
WED
Elgin
30/47
La Grande
38/51
Maupin
TONIGHT
41/52
Pendleton
The Dalles
Portland
Newberg
38/50
Hood River
39/54
43/57
Lewiston
Walla Walla
46/58
Vancouver
41/57
Forecasts and graphics provided
by AccuWeather, Inc. ©2021
WED.
THU.
Hi/Lo/W
57/45/pc
52/32/c
47/31/c
61/43/c
48/18/i
59/41/pc
57/38/pc
48/29/c
47/29/sh
59/41/sh
59/36/c
56/42/c
49/33/c
48/29/r
43/23/c
58/34/r
50/19/pc
48/15/c
Hi/Lo/W
59/47/c
56/31/s
52/33/s
65/45/s
54/21/s
62/39/s
61/38/pc
52/27/s
49/26/pc
62/41/pc
63/37/s
59/42/pc
51/33/pc
51/30/s
46/29/pc
63/37/s
56/22/s
54/20/s
City
Lewiston
Longview
Meacham
Medford
Newport
Olympia
Ontario
Pasco
Pendleton
Portland
Powers
Redmond
Roseburg
Salem
Spokane
The Dalles
Ukiah
Walla Walla
WED.
THU.
Hi/Lo/W
50/38/c
56/41/sh
46/29/sh
57/36/c
55/45/sh
56/40/pc
54/30/c
59/33/r
54/36/r
56/45/sh
56/40/pc
51/27/c
58/40/c
58/42/sh
46/32/r
59/43/c
44/29/sn
52/39/sh
Hi/Lo/W
57/37/pc
56/41/c
48/26/pc
64/37/s
57/44/c
55/46/c
59/28/s
63/40/s
57/37/s
59/46/c
63/41/s
59/28/s
64/39/s
62/41/c
50/37/c
62/42/pc
48/27/pc
59/42/s
Weather(W): s-sunny, pc-partly cloudy, c-cloudy, sh-showers, t-thunderstorms, r-rain,
sf-snow fl urries, sn-snow, i-ice
ANTHONY LAKES
PHILLIPS LAKE
Morning fl urries
A wintry mix
25
18
44
28
MT. EMILY REC.
BROWNLEE RES.
A little icy mix
Cloudy and chilly
35
25
50
31
EAGLE CAP WILD.
EMIGRANT ST. PARK
A.M. snow showers
Rain and snow
31
13
40
27
WALLOWA LAKE
MCKAY RESERVOIR
Cloudy, a shower
Rain and drizzle
43
23
52
35
THIEF VALLEY RES.
RED BRIDGE ST. PARK
Showers around
Showers around
48
28
49
31
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