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~ For people who are passionate about respecting the earth, walking in nature, observing wildlife, local diet, making do, repurposing, organic gardening, foraging for wild plants and fungi, natural health, scrumptious healthy cooking, renovations, DIY, crafting, raising children simply and mindfully, taking time for stillness, and living in harmony with the seasons.

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Monthly Archives: August 2013

calling all mushroom lovers… “City of Champignons”- Mushroom Exposition at the Devonian Botanical Garden

22 Thursday Aug 2013

Posted by Delena Rose in Alberta Mycological Society, Devonian Botanical Garden, mushrooms & fungi, wild mushrooms

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Tags

Alberta mushrooms, Alberta Mycological Society, August event, Devonian Botanical Garden, fungi, mushroom tasting, mushrooms, mycology, wild mushrooms

AMS3

Last Sunday (August 18th), B and I and the Little One took in the Alberta Mycological Society’s (AMS) annual “City of Champignons” Mushroom Exposition at the Devonian Botanical Garden. It was our first time attending this event and we were looking forward to seeing the displays, tasting some wild mushrooms and talking to local experts about our own recent forays in the backyard here at cabinorganic.

AMS1

We were amazed at the amount to work that went into the fresh, wild mushroom displays. These were gathered and arranged by AMS volunteers, both the evening before and that very morning. They were arranged and labelled in family groups so it was very easy for us to find many of the mushrooms that we see daily on our twice daily walks but haven’t got around to identifying yet.
AMS4

The displays were also a nice opportunity for mushroom lovers like ourselves to look closely at, handle, appreciate the diversity and smell the wonderful mushroom aromas. Experts were on hand at each table to answer any questions and provide additional information.

AMS5

The AMS also had a few large displays featuring local mushrooms, medicinal mushrooms and poisonous mushrooms. There were also tables featuring recommended books, and field guides and posters were also available for purchase.

AMS

AMS6

The entire afternoon was filled with events:

11 am: Mushroom walk in the garden

12 noon: Presentation on “A dozen common Alberta mushrooms”

1 pm: Fungi Flavors with Chef Chad Moss

2 pm: Mushroom walk in the garden

3 pm: Mushroom tastings with Chef Chad Moss
wild mushoom tasting

Our favorite part of the day was the tastings! Chef Chad Moss had prepared an amazing feast for the senses, including wild lobster, honey and oyster mushrooms, which were carefully paired with smoked bacon, brie and rose petal, sea bean and other unexpected flavors. These were served on a freshly baked baguette.

In his presentation on Fungi Flavors, Chad challenged us to let go of our dependance on recipes and be creative with our wild mushroom finds in our own kitchens. He really inspired me to let the mushroom be the central taste instead of my usual habit of masking it with garlic, onion or ginger. Instead, he demonstrated how more subtle flavor combinations, which may include apple cider, scotch, earl grey tea, cardamon, bacon, brie, nuts, even fresh strawberries and cream can bring out the unique earthy flavors of these meaty delights.

wild mushroom tastingwild mushroom tasting1

wild mushroom tasting2

We were also treated to a wild mushroom soup, rich and full of chunks of assorted wild mushrooms and topped with a herb oil.wild mushroom soup

We are so grateful to the Devonian Botanical Garden for their spring, summer and fall mushroom classes, as well as to the Alberta Mycological Society for their many educational events and opportunities throughout the year. You don’t have to be a member to attend some of these events but your annual membership gets you invited to many smaller scale events, talks and forays all over Alberta. Here you can rub shoulders with, gather and cook wild mushrooms alongside people who are passionate about fungi and have been enjoying mushrooms for years. These events often involve a small feast where the mushrooms can be enjoyed together as a group.

For more information, please click on this link to visit the Devonian Botanical Garden’s website. Be sure and check out the Events link to see what other events are lined up at the garden before they close for the season. The fall mushroom course is coming up on September 7th. Click here to register.

Also, click on this link to visit the Alberta Mycological Society’s webpage for information on memberships, events and a wealth of information provided by the society as well as links to other helpful websites. If you’re keen to get in on the action, the Great Alberta Mushroom Foray will take place on August 30th in the Castle Mountain area, SW Alberta. See the website for details. Also, be sure and check out their current exhibit AMS@the Royal Albert Museum until September 15th, 2013.

Enjoy your forays and wild mushroom adventures!

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add a kick to your day with power ball cookies

16 Friday Aug 2013

Posted by Delena Rose in cook

≈ 2 Comments

Tags

balls, cocoa, coconut, cookies, healthy snacks, no-bake cookies, power ball cookies, power balls, sesame seeds, sunflower seeds, wheat-free cookies

power ball cookies3

This winning recipe was passed to me by my lovely friend, Dana. Try substituting any of your own favorite nuts or dried fruits to your taste. A new favorite at the cabin, these tasty no-bake cookies are easy to pack along with you on long hikes or bike rides and are a great source of protein. This is also a fun ‘hands-on’ recipe to make with small children.

power ball cookies2

Power Ball Cookies 

1 cup toasted sunflower seeds

1 cup toasted sesame seeds

1 cup rolled oats

1 cup chocolate chips

1 cup dried cranberries

1 cup raisons

½ cup cocoa

2 cups peanut butter

½ cup honey

1 ½ cups coconut

Warm the peanut butter. Mix all ingredients together except for the coconut. Roll into 1-inch balls and roll in coconut. (Refrigerate the mixture for half and hour of it’s too sticky to roll.) Store in refrigerator or freezer. Enjoy!

power ball cookies

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cabinorganic had a baby…!!!

15 Thursday Aug 2013

Posted by Delena Rose in bellybabechild, more about us

≈ 2 Comments

Tags

announcement, baby, baby boy, boy, Chayton, child, newborn, pregnant, Skye

ChaytonBW

This is one of those situations where you meant to call your good friend but things kept getting in the way and at the beginning it was easy to put it off for just another day or two. Then weeks and eventually months went by and then it became harder to make that call because a simple apology would no longer do. No, you waited far too long; too much time has passed and now dinner, chocolate, flowers and a full explanation and serenade to reintroduce yourself are now in order. Here is my explanation and my serenade…

Back in May 2012, I took a temporary government contract and began a series of research/writing projects. The job involved commuting daily into the city, an hour and a half each way. I knew this would be arduous, especially when winter arrived, but this job was important to me as I was hoping that it would be a stepping stone into a potential full time career as a consultant (working from home). This position gave me an opportunity to do some writing for government, network with potential clients, make some valuable contacts and continue to sharpen my writing skills. The good news is that I feel that I accomplished all of this in my brief time there. However, the commute ate up all  of my precious free time and my blogging slowed to a crawl and then recently stopped altogether.

The other challenge was that I became pregnant (Surprise!!!) in November and the added physical demands of ‘building a baby’ took the rest of my energy reserves making blogging impossible as eating and sleeping became the priorities.

I worked my last day on July 19th, cutting my contract short to go on maternity leave. I was looking forward to an entire month off to finish getting prepared and also to surprise you all with a ‘cabinorganic is having a baby’  announcement along with a surprise belly shot. The baby wasn’t due until August 24th but he had other plans! Three days into my leave I found myself in the hospital and five days after that Chayton was born.

Introducing Chayton Skye…cabinorganic’s newest member!

Chayton Skye was born July 28th. He weighed 5 pounds and was 17 inches long and is perfectly healthy. He is a calm, content, bright-eyed little guy and we are settling in nicely together.

Chayton21

I will fill you in on more of the details in future posts, but in the meantime I do hope that now that you’ve heard my explanation that you will forgive my long absence! I have been busy but it was all for a good cause: for the long term benefits of working from home, continuing to live my dream life here at cabinorganic and sharing it you. I am now home full time and have some personal writing projects that I will be working on with the hopes that they will bring in some income when my leave is done. This blog is once again a high priority and I will be starting a sister blog (or shall I say- a ‘brother’ blog) very soon called cabinorganic~belly,babechild for posts exclusively on pregnancy, babies and my adventures in conscious parenting as a new mom.

I have so much to share and catch up on with you all! I may have been away but the projects, cooking and adventures in nature have never stopped. Time to get busy!

ChaytonBW1

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…then Mediterranean fish soup on Sunday

14 Wednesday Aug 2013

Posted by Delena Rose in cook

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Tags

appetizer, fish, fish soup, Mediterranean, mussels, soup


Mediteranean Fish Soup1

After a long hiatus I am finally, FINALLY back- and here to stay! Thank you, dear readers, for your patience, comments and encouragement to keep writing and sharing and posting. I will fill you in on my absence in the next post and am looking forward to catching up with you all. Although I have been away, there has been much to share! In the meantime, here is what B and I did with the rest of those delicious mussels…

Mediterranean Fish Soup

The fish:

2 ½ lbs mixed fish of your choice. You can also add prawns, mussels, clams, scallops, squid, etc. for color and texture.

The soup base:

4 tablespoons olive oil

1 large onion, chopped

1 carrot, sliced

2 leeks, white part only, sliced

2 stalks fennel

3 tomatoes, peeled, seeded and chopped

1 potato, diced

3 cloves garlic

6 cups water

1 cup dry white wine

1 teaspoon saffron threads

Strip of orange peel

2 tablespoons tomato paste

Sea salt

Pepper

 The garnish:

Croutons of baguette fried in olive oil the rubbed with garlic.

Instructions:

Wash and chop the fish into 1-inch cubes.

In a large saucepan, heat the olive oil and sauté the onion, carrot, leeks and fennel slowly until softened. Add the tomatoes, potato and garlic and cook gently for 14 minutes. Add the water and wine, saffron threads, orange peel and tomato paste. Bring to a boil and simmer for 30 minutes, seasoning with salt and pepper.

Serve the soup in individual bowls with a couple of croutons in each. You can also top the soup with freshly grated Gruyere cheese.

Mediteranean Fish Soup

Resource:

Holuigue, D. (1993). Classic Cuisine of Provence. Berkeley, CA: Ten Speed Press.

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