May is a wonderful month. Flowers are everywhere, fishing is getting into gear and the summer garden is laden with promise. Foraging can be a little thin in my neck of the woods, however, although there is one delight to be had: Elderberry flowers. After getting the lay of the land along the American River
Edible Wild Plants
Recipes and harvesting guides for a variety of edible wild plants and mushrooms. You'll find step by step guides on how to gather edible wild plants safely, and then recipes on how to cook them once you've gathered them.
These are broken into sections covering edible wild greens, berries and other fruit, wild mushrooms, starches and nuts, as well as a selection of pickle recipes using wild plants.
Wild Salsify Lives Everywhere
I see salsify. It’s everywhere. And I didn’t know it was salsify. Until now. We have had wild salsify root growing in our yard for several years — and never noticed. This, to me, is wildly amusing. Here I am, supposedly Mr. Great Forager and all that, yet here is a common wild edible right
Bacchus Biscuits: Greek Fennel Cookies
I first made these fennel cookies for our annual Big Fat Greek Party, a festival of all things Greek we hold every spring. They’ve been dubbed Bacchus Biscuits. I support that. They turned out to be quite a hit, much to my relief — I’d never made them before the party. They are a riff off
Cretan Olives with Seville Oranges
A found olive is a rare thing, unless you live in Northern California. They grow everywhere here, yet few people even know the olives that fall in oily masses from their trees every year are actually the same as those they pay exorbitant prices for at places like Trader Joe’s or Whole Foods. But they are. Whole
Venison with Morel Sauce
I am happy to report that the morel mushrooms in this venison steak were not the only ones we found in our front yard. Since I cooked this dish last weekend, we’ve found six more. Woo hoo! Morels are the best mushroom to pair with red meat like steak or, in this case, whitetail venison. They