Archive for the 'out-of-doors' Category

nasty bits

Published by Daniel on 10/10/2006 in life and out-of-doors. 8 Comments

Just a warning: This post contains earthy subjects that range from phalic imagry to canine genitalia references. You have been warned.

Now, I like fungi. I like mushrooms, and all sorts of squishy or hard alien growths that can be found in the woods, or in your flower pot. They are just too strange not to like. But sometimes my relationship with fungi is a little strained. This year at the end of summer we had a growth in the mulch around our flowers that tempted me to make an exception. The name is *Mutinus caninus*, and is also known as Dog Stinkhorn. These stink horns generally look like a horn, growing right out of the ground, and have a sticky bit at the top that contains spores, and attracts bugs. Well, the Dog Stinkhorn looks rather like the name would imply and bears a strinking resemblance to a dog penis. Have a look:

Don't stare!

While that is gross enough, the smell that it emits is like strong.. hmm, how do I put this.. prostatic, or maybe seminal fluid. So not only do we have these little dog penises sticking out of the ground around our flowers, it *smells* like we have little penises sticking out of the ground around our flowers. Oddly enough, nothing seemed to be attracted to the spore slime…

So, what do I do? The obvious…

No! He isn't!

Yes, I pick one up. I pick everything up, my brothers can tell you that. I even smelled it, and it smelled just as bad close up. The “fruiting body” as it is called in the reference books, is hollow, and is usually this bright pinky-orange color. The brown slime at the tip attracts flies in this species, and usually only lasts a few hours because the flies eat it. No flies this time. Eventually the nasty things shriveled up, and the smell went away, but the scar on our idilic view of nature will always remain.

That was my first run-in with stinkhorns, and I quickly read up on them. They are a very odd bunch. Others have blogged about them, and a few others have dedicated whole pages to them.

A more scientific approach can be found here.

My apologies if you did not heed the warning.

Eating dangerously

Published by Daniel on 9/5/2006 in D-lish, InOurHouse, home kitchen, life and out-of-doors. 9 Comments

After Brother Nathan’s recent mushroom movie, the first touches of fall-like weather, and frequent rain, I decided to go in search of edible mushrooms. Last year we saw many types growing in the yard, and in the park nearby. I really like mushrooms, both to eat, and just the odd apeal of an otherworldly shape, smell, and general biology.

Promising beauty

We had a nice rain today, which brought rainbows, and when it was done, I headed out in search of fungus, specifically puffballs. In the fungus world, everything is strange. There are slimes, hard shelf fungus, the destroying angel and death-cap, both of which will destroy your liver, ultimately killing you, and then there is the giant puffball, which can grow to be a meter wide. That is OVER THREE FEET of white fungus flesh! And that is all flesh that can be cooked and eaten, if you can find one that is still young. Well, I did. It was not as big as some, but it was still an awful lot of fungus.

Edible softball

I know of a few places to look, and the first pile of rotting vegitation was host to this nice growth.

My slice

I cut it in half, and it sliced with a feel of rubber butter.

Sliced moon

And then I sliced some more.

Fried fungus!

It was after dinner, so I was not actually hungry for a large portion, but I cooked some in an olive oil and wine sauce, and the rest I dipped in egg, rolled in breadcrumbs, and fried. The flavor was slightly sweet, and although it still tasted like mushroom, it was very mild. It has a light fennel or licorice scent and flavor, but it was not at all unpleasant.

I did save half to cook with the kids tomorrow, but I wanted to eat some ahead of time, in case it brought on some discomfort, or worse. So far so good! I am looking forward to hunting for more with Brother Peter, now that I know they are safe, and tasty.

Water/Pepper-mint

Published by Daniel on 9/5/2006 in D-lish, InOurHouse, home kitchen, life and out-of-doors. 0 Comments

Recently a unidentified fresh smell was noticed in the general shore area. I quick perusal of a Field Guide to Edible Plants from Nathan, indicated that there was a wild mint variety called water mint that, believe it or not, grows near or in the water. So I looked closely at the plant. And then I looked online. It did not quite match. Water mint is supposed to be a more course, and quite hairy. Ok, maybe it was some other variety, so I kept looking. The variety in our yard is growing in water, has purplish stems, rather smooth leaves, and few, if any hairs. The flavor is also very minty, without much of the usual odd flavors you get with garden mints. Based on descriptions, it looked like my variety may be peppermint, or “chocolate” mint. The problem is that peppermint is a (usually sterile) hybrid between spearmint and watermint. It could have drifted to our shores, I suppose, or it could just be the chocolate variety.

In any case, I did a final harvest of the spearmint in the garden that I did not care much for, and installed a cutting from the wild variety, placing it in a pot in the ground to ensure it does not acquire world domination. The old mint is now drying in the kitchen, awaiting it’s final destination at the bottom of a teacup.

Observance

Published by Daniel on 5/21/2006 in D-lish, life and out-of-doors. 7 Comments

Today we observed the Sabbath (I know, that was yesterday), by going hiking at the Waterloo Recreation Area, and then having a little mini feast of flavors for dinner. I packed a bag with the makings for PB&J + water and some handy snack stuffs. I made sandwiches in the car, and B brought her own salad, since she is not a PB fan. Half-way in, B went back to the car to take a nap, while the kids and I visited The Bog, and went on another side hike. The Bog is an interesting place. We could see the obvious change from deciduous woods and swamp to acidic sphagnum peat bog in a matter of steps. The wood cover opened, and the ground was covered in fuzzy moss, pitcher plants, and shrubs. We also noticed orchids, which I have never seen growing naturally in North America before.

Pitcher Plant

Smiley & Cute

Lush swamp

Kids resting and waiting for photo-dad

The kids loved it all, and were pretty worn out. B had a nice nap, and it was a leasurely afternoon. When we arrived home I set about digging up something for dinner. I did not feel like cooking anything, but we had some baby portabellas, and a variety of cheeses and toppings. I marinated the mushrooms in a burgandy sauce, and then sauted them in the same with rosemary and whole cloves of garlic. I prepared a dish of tasties, consisting of gorgonzola, feta, and asiago cheeses, capers, marinated olives, and smoked ham, and brought out the toppings of hummus, mixed olive bruschetta, and what was left of our roasted red pepper and artichoke tapenade. With the 7 grain crackers for yum-holders, and some organic oranges for dessert, we were ready for our mini-feast.

Mini feast

Today I was amazed by the sheer variety of pleasures available to us through nature. Our needs are met, and even our desires for space, flavor, and recreation are satisfied. I am blessed, and I know it.

Sunday

Published by Daniel on 5/8/2006 in life and out-of-doors. 4 Comments

On Sunday we worshiped at the Dahlem Center. It was a nice change to be out as a family, doing something we all enjoy. When we pulled up to the entrance, there was a big sign that announced that there would be a “Prairie Burning”. Ethan was immediately excited about the burning part, never mind that he did not know what a prairie was. We packed some tuna sandwiches, and ate in the car before we hiked. We really should have brought water bottles. The hike was beautiful, the kids were good (we will overlook the six-year-old fingers poking at the camera lens, and the blubbering that resulted). The burning started a little late, and we had already been out for two and a half hours. It may have been a little anticlimactic; about 20 minutes in, Ethan asked if we could leave.

As we hiked back to the car, the sun was filtering through the green leaves, and making the forest look full of the possibility of magic. The kids were tired out, and we arrived home with enough time to eat tortilla soup before the kids went to bed. I blended some coffee, and roasted a large batch with the heat gun and dog bowl. It is a wonderful blend of Columbian/Ethiopian Harrar/Zambian, and I decided that it was worth keeping a larger blended batch around. I am letting it rest for a few days, and it is smelling awful good.

Thank you nature!

Published by Daniel on 3/8/2006 in life and out-of-doors. 1 Comment

A few years ago, back when we lived in the *dry* land of sunshine (as opposed to one of the wet ones), our little hiking troupe faced a fierce offensive from the animal world. It started out kind of cute, but that squirrel chased us for about a 1/4 mile. In the end Ariana was screaming and Jeremy and I were ready to stomp the thing to death, if we were not so scared that it would jump on us. I would much rather take on a rattler, or even a cobra, than a aggressive squirrel. After arriving back here, where there are millions of squirrels, and poisonous snakes are rare, I found this card, that accurately portrays the feelings we felt that day.

Shoot Jackson

Published by Daniel on 3/4/2006 in Photos, life and out-of-doors. 7 Comments

Today, my friends, was a very beautiful day. The sun was out, and the sky… it was just that deep wonderful blue. Ethan was off to see trains with Grandpa, B wanted to veg, so I took Ariana on a photo shoot. She was armed with my A40, and I took the Konica. We drove into Jackson, and after a brief bit of instruction, we were off, snapping at anything that did not move. She followed me around and pointed her camera in the same general direction as mine. After about 30 minutes, her batteries died, so we stopped in at Huron Camera for some AA’s. We talked about design concepts, rule of thirds, and about what looks cool. We shivered and rubbed our hands. An hour in her card filled up, so we stepped into the Library for a little clean up. I looked through and we weeded out some blurry shots, doubles, and ones that just lacked interest. Eventually we headed back to the car, and did a little more clean up, and then drove to Nomad Bookhouse for coffee and root beer. We sat and browsed through “The Greatest Photography, National Geographic”, and “Drawing for Dummies”. Then we headed out again and she filled her card, and I finished up with some shots of St. Mary Star of the Sea church, which also happened to be where I had my first job in Michigan.

It was a nice, low-key, fun outing, and I think Ariana may really start to understand photography if we keep it up. The elements of design are pretty easy to teach, but it is the intuitiveness of experience that really changes shots from nice, to stunning.

Ariana descends from a successful shot. Aranging her shot.

I have uploaded my results to both flickr and the albums. I will set up a flickr account for her, and I will post a link shortly.

It’s coming…

Published by Daniel on 1/20/2006 in InOurHouse, life and out-of-doors. 1 Comment

Apparently there is a huge mass of snow elves running up from Oklahoma, carelessly dumping piles of snow everywhere. Such a mess. Actually, until they arrive in Michigan, they are only using squirt guns. They saved the poufy stuff for us. I am sure the kids will be in tears when they find out tomorrow…

freezing roast

Published by Daniel on 11/30/2005 in D-lish, coffee, life and out-of-doors. 2 Comments

I just finished an hour roasting session in the 29? garage. I was expecting each batch to take 5-10 minutes longer, but I think that they were each only about 2-3 minutes longer. The beans are stored in the garage, so they were basically starting from frozen.

Here is what I roasted (the Guatemala was roasted yesterday):


This was roasted with my recently modified popcorn popper. I did 2 small batches (about 1/2 cup each), and it turned out quite nice at full city+. This one is tasty, although not as tasty as the Honduras we had with Nathan and Carol last weekend. This bit of coffee was from a trade with Nathan.


So far. my experience has been that the PNG roasts pretty uneven in the dog bowl, and tends to be a little too acidic for my morning taste buds. I do like it, although I am not sure how it is distinctive yet. I’ll pay more attention this time around. I went for a darker roast this time (around full city+) so maybe it will not be quite as acidic. This was some coffee from Brother Nathan on our last interstate trade agreement.


This Costa Rica is quite good, but also on the bright side. I think that both the PNG and the Costa would be better in blends than straight, although both are still good coffees. Again this is roasted dark (maybe full city+), and I will see how it came out this weekend.

Several weeks back we picked up a popper from Goodwill. It is not any of the favored poppers, and there were 3 of the exact same model there on the shelf. Does not seem to be popular for popcorn either, and I know why. It is a very simple popper, and does not even have a power switch; you plug it in, and away it blows. It runs hot and fast, but the air only blows straight up so the beans are not agitated or rotated at all if you put more than a half cup. If you put much less, the beans shoot out the top. I decided to add a chimney built from tin cans to keep the beans from shooting out so easily. It works. Beans will still hop out if I put too few in. I also drilled some directional holes in the base to provide some rotational air flow, but I am thinking it did not work. If I agitate it by shaking the popper while it runs, things turn out just fine, so I will do that for now. Each batch in the popper takes about 5 minutes, and it pops about 1/2 cup. That is a third the size of a dog bowl batch, so it takes a little less time to roast the same amount in the popper.

In case you were wondering about the name so that it can be avoided: Presto PopCornNow Plus

seasons confection

Published by Daniel on 11/17/2005 in life and out-of-doors. 1 Comment

All day yesterday we were teased with little dustings of seasonal sugar, but it all just blew away. The forecast said one to two inches by morning, but we were disappointed to find that had blown away too. There were a few patches of ice on the lake where the weeds kept the water relatively calm, and most roofs had a nice shake of white clinging against the wind. The kids were very excited, and it only escalated as we pulled into the parking lot at school and there ware very small piles that could actually be stomped in and scattered. We all hope that the rain has gone for good, and all future precipitation will be the soft whiteness that collects beautifully, and is synonymous with clean.