Foraging

Harvesting Bull Pine Nuts

The more I work with wild nuts, the more I appreciate the ones you buy in the store. Shelling wild pine nuts is not the most exciting thing I've ever done, but I'm glad I did it.

Mushrooms

Foraging for Blewit Mushrooms

Another foraging trip and another edible mushroom under my belt! Two good stashes of blewits last week gave me a great introduction to this mushroom.

Mushrooms

How to Identify and Cook Honey Mushrooms

I don't eat unknown mushrooms lightly. But when I spotted these honey mushrooms, I knew, somehow, they were edible. Turns out they're a prime pierogi ingredient, too.

Foraging

Black Walnuts and Holiday Cheer

Of all the things I hunt, fish or forage for, nothing requires as much effort as shelling black walnuts. But it's worth it. Black walnuts are to regular walnuts as a diamond is to cubic zirconium.

Foraging

Hunting Oregon Truffles

Think you can imagine the thrill of unearthing a truffle? Sorry, but you can't. Not unless you've panned for gold. Or dug diamonds. It's the same feeling, complete with the whiff of rapacious greed...

How-To (DIY stuff)

Acorn Eating Revisited

It's been another year of learning and experimenting on the acorn front, and the more I learn, the more I love working with "oak nuts."

Foraging

Berries of the Coastal Range

I went to Marin County in search of huckleberries. I left with a full huckle bucket, but also something I'd never seen before: Salal berries. It pays to keep your eyes open.

Berries and Fruits

Berries of the Sierra Nevada

The high Sierra, or really any Western mountain range, is a treasure trove of summer berries. We recently found four different kinds on one trip.

How-To (DIY stuff)

Berries of the Central Valley

I've been on a wild berry rampage this month. This will be the first of three berry posts, starting with picking elderberries and blackberries here in the Central Valley.

How-To (DIY stuff)

Manzanita Cider

If you live on the West Coast, you've seen the stunning, red-barked shrub called manzanita. But I bet you did not know the berries make a delicious cider...

Charcuterie

Venison Charcuterie

For me, charcuterie is the endgame of every successful hunt, but each animal needs a different treatmeant: sausages, cured whole cuts, salami, etc. This is what I did with my deer from Catalina.