Mushroom Season
Various types of mushrooms grow from early spring to late fall if the weather is favorable and a person knows what to hunt. Morel mushrooms pop up in early spring when the ground starts to warm and is by far the most well-known foraged mushroom. After the spring flush of morels, a wide variety of delicious fungi usually becomes available when the temperature and moisture are ideal. This year, with the entire summer being unusually dry, finding wild mushrooms was very difficult. With a couple of rains, the soughtafter mushrooms are making up for lost time.
Last week, we finally had over an inch of rain. The next day, my wife and I went out to check some of our favorite mushroom spots. There were mushrooms everywhere. We picked a bunch of white oysters, golden oysters, and a
chicken of the woods. We left wood ear and turkey tail for another day.
When we got back to the house, I fried up the chicken of the woods with a little garlic and butter. It really does have the taste and texture of chicken. I put most of the oyster mushrooms in the dehydrator, leaving out enough for one meal. The next day, we prepared the oyster mushrooms much like a person cooks morels. The oyster mushrooms have a mild flavor much like a morel. I used some of the dried mushrooms in a saffron rice dish that turned out very well. Oyster mushrooms are also called for in recipes for steak Diane and risotto. I think I will use the rest of my dehydrated mushrooms in a risotto dish to spotlight the flavor of the golden oysters.
I thought we had a large supply of mushrooms from our one foraging trip but soon found out, we were using them all up. A couple of days after that one rain, I went out to stock up on some more. Two days after a rain was too late. All the oysters were too mature to use. It does not take long for them to wilt and start to become infested with bugs. Apparently, bugs
enjoy them as much as we do. I was quite disappointed and since we have had only that one rain in the last three months, I was afraid mushroom season was over. To my surprise, a few days later, it rained again. It was not much, but enough to turn the mushroom growth on again. My wife and I decided to stock up this time. We picked a bunch of white oysters to fill the dehydrator. There were fresh turkey tail, but we again left them. The only thing I know to do with a turkey tail mushroom is to make miso soup. Since my wife does not care for seaweed or tofu, we do not make much miso soup. On the way back to the house, my wife spotted some small puffball mushrooms. We left them to grow bigger. Giant puffballs are easy to spot, some as large as basketballs, standing out against the green of open pastures. Hopefully some of these will get that large. They make a good mushroom soup and can be used to replace the crust on a pizza. I am anxious to try that. There are many types of mushrooms that grow in our area. Most of them are edible but some are not. It is important to know for sure what you
are harvesting before you eat it. Some will make a person sick for a day or two but some will kill you. It does not take much education to find out what is good and safe. The effort
put into this gaining this knowledge is well worth the effort in being able to enjoy really good food growing all around us.
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Melissa and I wanted to visit Scotland for our annual honeymoon/fall trip. Unfortunately, Scotland wasn’t going to work out this year. So, we opted to visit her parents in South Carolina. Since Nova Mae and Edgar Allan travel with us, we planned to pull our Scamp (camper) behind the van. The Scamp is fantastic, especially when traveling with pets.
With the Scamp, we always have a place for Edgar and Nova to stay while exploring, no matter what the weather is doing. It eliminates the disappointment of “petfriendly” motels that don’t allow cats. Plus, we can sleep comfortably in the Scamp at any rest area, doing away with overnight motels. Melissa reserved campsites for most of the trip. But… (why does there always have to be a ‘but?’)
But our van was in the shop, and the part needed had not arrived. Unfortunately, our tow vehicle van was not ready by Friday.
Melissa canceled campsites and began looking for pet-friendly accommodations that would allow Edgar. Thanks to my wife, our trip was delayed by only one day. We set out Saturday, stopping in Indiana.
After driving over seven hundred miles, we were tired. The room ‘looked’ okay, so we got ready and went straight to bed. However, in the morning, we took another look.
The room ‘looked okay,’ but….
Melissa rated the room within the top five worst places we have ever stayed – I put it in the top two. We both agreed it was gross; it’s no wonder neither of us slept very well. The motel offered a “light breakfast” of juice and coffee, but the orange juice was brown, so we passed. Instead, we gave Edgar and Nova a good cleaning with wet wipes before allowing them in the car.
Our next stop was a short drive to Edinburgh,
Indiana - Holy Trinity Church. “I figured if we couldn’t go to Scotland, we could still go to mass in Edinburgh,” Melissa said. Very clever. The church was 160 years old and very beautiful.
Keeping with the Scottish theme, we planned to eat at the Edinburgh Diner after church, but they didn’t serve breakfast, and we both craved bacon and eggs. IHOP would do just fine. Our rental cabin in South Carolina wasn’t available until Monday, so we still needed to find a room for Sunday night; Melissa looked while I drove.
“Hampton Inn in Franklin, North Carolina, is pet friendly, including cats,” she said.
“Frankly, my dear, I’ve never heard of Franklin, North Carolina.” I snickered over my play on words; my wife rolled her eyes. “I’m a little skeptical after last night’s room,” I said, “and seriously, I’ve never heard of the town.” Melissa replied, “Well, I work with someone who used to live in Franklin, and she says it’s a really nice town.”
“Well, as long as your friend will vouch for Franklin,” I said, “I guess I could at least think about it.” I glanced at the
(Just the Other Day cont’d from pg 3) beautiful it looked like a painting.
The room was nice and spotless. Hampton Inn offered a hot breakfast bar. We were well rested and ate well. “We can’t check in to the cabin until after three,” Melissa said. “Maybe we could do some exploring around town.” That was a great idea. You never know what to expect in a town of 4,233 people, but it would be worth checking out.
It was a beautiful, cool morning. We parked in the downtown area. Melissa, Nova, and I went walking. I immediately noticed many businesses had water bowls out front. Edgar stayed back and watched the car, which was good. Pet-friendly towns draw many dog people, and Edgar is skittish around strange dogs. The town’s people were preparing for autumn and Halloween.
Each lamp pole on the street was decorated with corn stalks, pumpkins, gourds, various scarecrows, and other characters and autumn themes. The townspeople were very friendly.
While Melissa went into a store, Nova Mae and I ventured across the street where a police car sat in the right lane, marking a couple of city trucks. Nova pulled hard on her leash, excited to greet the people. As the city crews finished decorating the gazebo in the park, the police officer and Nova Mae immediately hit it off. “What would you say to trading your police car for a good dog for fifteen minutes,” I asked. “We’ll both have a good time!”
“Well, I can’t let you take the car,” she said. “But I’ll gladly take the dog.” We had a good laugh about that. Then Nova and I crossed the street to the courthouse.
The Macon County Courthouse bears an inscription over the front door: In God We Trust. Across the street in Rankin Square
stands a tall statue, the Macon County Confederate Monument, honoring fallen local veterans from all wars. The patriotism in Franklin made me proud to be an American. Melissa was leaving a shop, so Nova and I met her. We walked just a few feet, “I want to go in here and check it out,” she said. North Carolina Made was a store featuring gifts and cool stuff, all made by local artists, within the state. In front of the shop was a game table with two chairs on the sidewalk.
While my wife shopped, Nova and I sat down to play checkers. Nova won the first game. In round two, she had jumped nearly all my red checkers. I was thinking about flipping the checkerboard to save face; I would say, ‘The wind did it.’ Just then, Melissa came out of the store with a bag of treasures. Nova insisted on finishing the game – she won. (Where did she learn to play checkers?) We walked on a bit and met a man taking photos on the street.
Bob was the former mayor of Franklin. He recognized Nova’s breed, “I had a border collie for eighteen years,” he said. “Best dogs in the world.” I had to agree.
“Especially when mixed
with blue heelers, they’re really smart dogs,” I added. Nova smiled as I complimented the intelligence of this dog who beat me in two checkers games!
Bob told us he occasionally submits photos and columns to the local paper, The Franklin Press. I wanted to visit the newspaper office, but Melissa wanted to see the Scottish Tartan Museum first. I would not attempt taking Nova into any museum. So, while Melissa went inside, Nova and I ventured across the street to look at a firetruck parked by the town hall.
“I want to drive this firetruck,” Nova said.
“If the police officer wouldn’t let me take her car for a drive, the firemen aren’t going to let you drive their truck. It’s probably a city rule or something,” I explained.
Nova held out her front leg, “Look at those speckles. I’ll tell them I’m a Dalmatian.”
“You’re not a Dalmatian,” I said.
“You don’t know that I might be part Dalmatian,” my dog insisted.
I rolled my eyes. “I do know,” I said, “and you are not part Dalmatian.” Fortunately, Melissa came across the street to join us before Nova talked me into doing something I’d regret, like borrowing a firetruck to go joyriding through downtown Franklin, so Nova could pretend to be a Dalmatian.” Melissa took our photo with the firetruck, then we visited the newspaper.
On the way to the newspaper office, Melissa and I were treated to a performance by the Franklin Panther’s high school marching band as we passed the practice field.
I picked up the paper’s latest edition and met the editor, Mia. I told her I write weekly stories and asked if she would consider running my column next week, titled Franklin. We shared a brief conversation, and I was on my way. But there was one more stop we’d make before leaving town. We stopped at Lazy Hiker Brewing.
The tap room was busy for a Monday mid-afternoon. Melissa had the
Oktoberfest Lager, and I enjoyed the Flack Pack IPA; both were refreshingly delicious! We opted to grab a six-pack of the lager to take to South Carolina. I envisioned us getting caught transporting Lazy Hiker beer across state lines. Suddenly, I felt like the Bandit and Smokey Bear was hot on our tail.
The brewery stop wrapped up our visit. We had a great time and decided Franklin, North Carolina, would make our list of places to visit again, although we didn’t realize how soon that would happen.
After spending six days in South Carolina, we packed up to start the long trek back to Minnesota’s north shore. We stopped at Melissa’s parent’s house to say farewell. I told her mom that I’d forgotten to bring the rest of our breakfast sausage to them. Melissa was concerned not far out of town, “Did you grab our Lazy Hiker Oktoberfest from the fridge?”
“It will be a nice tip for the person who cleans the cabin,” I said. In the final sweep of the cabin, we (meaning I) forgot to check the refrigerator. Although it wasn’t exactly on our way back, the GPS was set for Lazy Hiker Brewing, Franklin, North Carolina. Hmm.
After we replaced our stash of Oktoberfest Lager, we settled into our motel room, then went to Nani’s Pizza for a large Supremo. It was delicious with plenty of black olives and the house-made Italian sausage!
Sunday morning started with mass at Saint Francis of Assisi, then breakfast at the Franklin Café on Main Street. The standalone building didn’t look very big, but inside was seating for ninety-nine guests. The interior was simple. The counter was lined with pedestal stools; each had red vinyl sides with black or white tops. I had to run back to the car. “Get two seats at the counter,” I said. But when I came back to the café, she had a booth by the window.
“The waitress said they were holding the counter for a group of six coming in,” Melissa said. I’m
not sure I believed her, but I sat down and looked at the menu. Soon, the waitress came to take our order. I had the Texas Stampede Scrambler with a side of grits; Melissa had sausage, eggs, and French toast.
The wait staff was fun to watch; they were busy and worked together like a well-oiled machine. I loved the cafe’s hometown atmosphere, with various mismatched coffee mugs. My mug read, ‘I’m a dad. What’s your superpower?’” Exactly!
The food and service were outstanding and reasonably priced. We will eat at the Franklin Café again. I never did see the group of six come to the counter. “Maybe I misunderstood the waitress,” Melissa said. After breakfast, we went downtown; it was as charming as when we were there the week before, and the people were so friendly.
We got a cup of coffee from Main Street Coffee. Nice people! As we walked, we met Daniel. “I’ve lived here for thirty-two years,” he told us. “I’ve seen a lot of changes in Franklin, but the friendly people – that never changes.” Next, we met Pete sitting on a bench, taking in the beautiful weather. Pete said he served twenty-one years in the army, then became a Fayette County Sheriff’s Department pilot. We shared some great flying stories.
Many downtown businesses were closed on Sunday. I can appreciate that. It was time to head back to the motel, but not before making another stop at Bryant’s Antique Mall. It’s always fun going to antique shops. I looked through baskets of old vinyl record albums. “Hey! What is the music I listened to in high school, doing in an antique shop?” I guess times are changing.
It was fun to visit a small town that keeps up with the times while maintaining its traditional integrity. Finding a town where I could imagine myself living is a special feeling. Then I remembered North Carolina can get hot in the summer. I think we’ll stay put in northern Minnesota, but Franklin made our list of places to visit again.