Ted and I got an unexpected surprise today!  As some of you know, we’ve tried over the last year or so to grow Shitake mushrooms at home.  We’ve had some turn out, and others…well they were a bust.  The last round of mushrooms to our disappointment were a failure, so we were waiting for the growing medium (what the mushrooms grow out of) to dry out so we could try again.

Today Ted went to take the mushroom container outside to gather up some of the rain water (you can’t use tap water because of the chlorine), since it’s raining and that’s not a common thing in Cali…and low and behold there was a HUGE Shitake mushroom that somehow had decided to show up weeks after we had given up on this batch.  It was so big that we were able to chop it up and serve it in some scrambled eggs for breakfast and all I can say is - DELISH!

There’s an earthiness to a mushroom that’s grown fresh…not packaged up and left in the fridge for weeks till it sells at the store.  But that can be said about soooo many foods.  That’s one thing I learned a lot about when I was living in Florence, Italy.  I took a cooking class there and my professors number one emphasis was if it’s fresh and in season use it, if not find something else that is! When I came back to the states I definitely has a new definition of what “Fresh” was!   I think it’s a great rule of thumb to keep in mind, not only for the obvious flavor aspect, but also because the carbon footprint that comes along with eating things that are out of season and that need to be shipped from all ends of the world can really be exasperating once you hear the statistics.  I can’t say that I’m a total localvore…I love a good banana and that just doesn’t grow in my backyard, but small positive steps are a move in the right direction, and if it all tastes as good as this mushroom - I say bring it on!