It was a very very long day (technically it's after midnight already) but it was a good one. Woke late (for me) at 8:30 and went over the to Farmers' Market at Fort Mason. We needed strawberries for the tartes, and Willi had a hankering for the first stone fruit of the season. Farmer's Market was very well organized with little circles on the ground to help people maintain social distancing as they waited in line for the workers to pack up the items they wanted.
Over-bought (big surprise) and got kale and chard and some spare ribs and cherries, in addition to what I came for. Headed next to Restaurant Depot for a big shop. Came back home and started in to work.
While I was gone, Willi had started on processing the over 100 pounds of mushrooms that we had harvested. He set up in the front yard to clean, cull, grade and slice mushrooms. He probably started around 10am this morning, and is STILL out there working. He built two drying racks out of some lumber and chicken wire that we had bought to create a raccoon-deterrent for the garden. We hadn't gotten around to doing the garden thing (or Calum hadn't) so he used some of the supplies to create a double-layered drying rack. Borrowed an additional fan from Jamye and Chris so we could double our drying real estate. He also set up a double rack to dry morels inside.
I made a big breakfast for us of bacon, morels, porcini, kale and poached eggs, with a couple slices of the Anadama bread toasted and slathered with butter. Delish!
The rest of the day was spent baking (me) and cleaning mushies (Willi). We did slow-cook some ribs and chicken and had dinner out on the downstairs porch with Jamye. Between the two houses on this property? NO ONE could go hungry. Our table was spread with ribs, chicken, stuffed poblanos, grilled asparagus, grilled porcini, corn-on-the-cob, strawberries and whipped cream, grilled peaches, deviled eggs and to top off the meal, s'mores. Not a hardship to quarantine here!
I have a lovely bouquet of flowers on the table from my dear friend, Domenique, and a huge bunch of dogwood that Willi picked for me. My house may be a total wreck with mushrooms drying on every counter and table surface, but it's a cheerful place today, and for that, I am very grateful.
Tomorrow is a North Bay delivery day, and I am looking forward to seeing my North Bay people and my mom. I also have a couple deliveries here in the city, and another link in a lovely chain that is happening with a group of extended friends. My friend, Allison, sent food to her yoga teacher a couple of weeks ago. This week, the yoga teacher is ordering again, and also sending food to another neighbor of hers. I love the pass it along dinner-love. If anyone is wanting to do something nice for a friend or loved one, and sending a meal sounds like a good thing, let me know! We can even do it anonymously, if you want, or deliver a special note with it. You could even send a special treat, if there is an occasion you want to celebrate.
This week I have two special order cakes going out. Lemon-Buttermilk cake with lemon curd filling for one, and a raspberry filling for the other. Both will be frosted with a Swiss Meringue Buttercream and decorated with fresh fruit and flowers from my garden. If you would like a special cake (or a pie) to add to your order (or just order alone), let me know. I can do all sorts of flavors, fillings, frostings. For years I made an annual birthday carrot cake for Sarah, ordered by Karen. That carrot cake is crazy good, so it's also a possibility. I figure I can add one cake a day to our regular baking load, so if you know ahead of time when you would like something special, feel free to order in advance.
For now, I am going to call it a night... or an early early morning... and head to bed. Here are a couple of pics of Willi's drying contraption and the crazy load of mushrooms that he had to deal with. I traded him his house-cleaning chores this week for his work on those things. All of a sudden vacuuming seems not that hard. :0)
Wednesdays menu is below. Orders for Wednesday (SF and East Bay delivery) should be placed by Monday night/Tuesday morning.
Take care of yourself, drink lots of water and get more sleep than you think you need. Get some sunshine when you can, and if you can walk in the park or by some trees, even better. Give yourself a hug from me. xoxo