I've been under the weather this week, so Adrienne took me on a countryside drive to get me out of the house. It was a very fall weekend in the PacNorWest - rainy rainy and super grey, clouds clinging to the mountain slopes above a forest that is changing colors.
We stopped by our little secret mushroom forest to see what delectables might be mushing up towards the sky. This is a fantastic mushroom year; not only have our collection bags been brimming with chanterelles at the end of each hunt, but the diversity of forest fungi has been through the roof. I love it.
Since we were out in the country, we felt compelled to stop at a pumpkin patch. We found Bob's. Apparently this place is legendary. Pumpkins galore. Hay rides. Tractor pulls. Apple cannons. Jams. Kettle corn. Apple butter. All things autumn were for sale, Visa and Mastercard accepted.
We left with a couple of pumpkins to add to the ones AJ grew in the yard. We also got some apples from some farmers at a side-of-the-road stand. Back at home, AJ made some burgers topped with sauteed forest mushrooms, an apple pie, and I carved up some jack-o-lanterns for the firs time in years. A classic fall day, indeed.
Some of the random mushrooms on the forest floor.
The progression of finding a chanterelle in the forest.
We found about 5 lbs, and a couple lobsters and a cauliflower again!
Bob's.
AJ found her pumpkin!
Gotta get the mud off of that squash!
Jams! Jellies! Kettle Corn! Candy Corn! Corn Corn!
Washington is apple country - look at the size of these honeycrisps we got! 5lbs for $5.
Our loot. AJ grew the small orange ones.
Haven't carved a pumpkin in ages!
Our scary front porch.
