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 Come Check Out Our New Location & New Menu! TUESDAY, OCTOBER 12, 2021 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. 541-786-8463 M. Curtiss PN-7077A CCB# 183649 A C ERTIFIED M ASTER A RBORIST 1 3/4 cups unbleached all-purpose fl our 2 1/4 cups (9 ounces) shredded New Family Friendly Location! New Menu! Bar Bites, Wood Stone Pizza and More! MON-TUES CLOSED WED-SAT 11-9 • SUN 11-7 1106 Adams Avenue Suite 100 • 541 663-9010 • tapthatgrowlers.com 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 - B O Y R E C L I N E R S Fall Kickoff! PINNACLE CHAISE ROCKER RECLINER only $ PINNACLE CHAISE ROCKER RECLINER SAVE ON GENUINE LA-Z-BOY RECLINERS 699 • Free Delivery • In-Store Credit • 70 Store Buying Power • Decorating Assistance VAIL 1520 ADAMS AVENUE La GRANDE, OREGON 97850 (541) 963-4144 • 888-449-2704 599 699 MORRISON 649 HOURS: Mon. - Fri. 9:30 am-6:30 pm. Sat. 9:30 am-5:30 pm. Sun. 12 noon-4 pm