A recipe from Tree:

In the fall giant puffball mushrooms seem to be everywhere ... forests, roadsides, city parks and empty lots. Safe to eat (as long as they are still fresh and white inside), hard to mistake for anything dangerous, but honestly pretty bland.

Generally, I think they work well as a tofu replacement in most recipes. Puffball bacon is my favorite:

Cut the mushroom into thin bacon like strips

Marinate the strips for several hours in tamari or soy sauce with a touch of maple syrup and a bit of nutritional yeast

Heat a lightly oiled pan (an iron skillet works best) over high heat.

When the pan is hot, fry the mushroom bacon until it is almost crispy.

Flip the bacon multiple times while you are frying. It's inevitable that some will stick to the pan, but the burned bacon bits are pretty tasty anyway.

Let the bacon cool in the pan, and it will continue to crisp a little bit.

I love to use the mushroom bacon to make BLTs, but it works great crumpled over salads, or in any recipe that one might use bacon as an accent.

Enjoy.

from Lynn

I like to think that this dessert is something similar to what Midwesterners were making 100 years ago with the rich fruit of the native persimmon. You are especially likely to find persimmon trees in Indiana, Michigan, Kentucky, and Illinois in the woods next to old farms. Ask a farmer friend if he or she has any on their property.

The Native American Persimmon is quite small and seedy. They usually get no bigger than the size of a golf ball. The golden, amber fruit ripen mid-autumn and achieve their wonderful sticky sweetness after a few frosts and they start falling from the tree.

You can eat the persimmons just the way they are or, to use in a recipe, you will need to extract the pulp from the skin and seeds. In order to do this, rinse the fruit in water, and mash through a sieve or food mill. A good harvest of about 3-5 pounds of persimmons should yields about 2-3 cups of pulp.

Old Timer’s Persimmon Pudding

This is a really unusual recipe I adapted from the Bear Wallow book on persimmons. They produce a lot of cookbooks of American folk recipes. What makes this recipe unusual is that the pudding is stirred while it is being baked, making the finished version, a dense, chewy, caramelized masterpiece.

2 cups persimmon pulp
1 cup half and half
½ cup melted butter
2 eggs
1 cup sugar
1 ½ cups flour
1 tsp. baking soda
1 tsp. baking powder
½ tsp. salt
½ tsp grated nutmeg
2 tsp. ground cinnamon
1 tsp. ground ginger
1 tsp. ground cloves

Preheat oven to 325 degrees. In large bowl, mix together wet ingredients: pulp, half and half, melted butter, eggs, and sugar. Mix dry ingredients separately: flour, baking soda, baking powder, salt and spices. Mix dry mixture into wet mixture. Stir well. Pour into a greased 9” x 13” pan and bake for one hour. Stir several times while pudding is baking, making sure to fold the crispy edges into the center of the pudding.

wild sourdough starter = liquid + flour + wild yeast

mix together a liquid (non-chlorinated water, unsweetened fruit juice, whey, soymilk…) and a flour (wheat or rye) in equal measures. throw a damp cloth over the mixture. you have just invited the wild yeasties to come – just wait for them. when you see bubbles the wild yeasts have arrived. feed the wild yeasties equal parts of liquid and flour every day until you have enough for bread or pancakes etc.

wild pickling = veggies or fruit + brine + wild bacteria and yeast

chop veggies/wild greens/fruit whatever you want to pickle. make a brine with non-chlorinated water and sea salt. brine should be near saturation. toss denser material (i.e. roots, garlic cloves) into brine and and swirl it around a bit. drain veggies saving brine. mix pre-brined veggies and less dense material (i.e. greens and fruit). pack a glass jar with your mix and pour the brine over it submerging all material. work out trapped bubbles with a stick. fill a small bag with extra brine and use as a water bladder to keep material submerged. leave the jar open to allow the beasties to eat for at least three days. taste and eat, let them keep eating for a stronger taste or refrigerate and slow them down.

wild mead = uncooked honey + water + wild yeast

determine the amount of mead you want to make. water to honey is 1:4 . bring non-chlorinated water to a low simmer, if you are making a medicinal or flavored mead, add herbs. a singular or simple combination is best. allow to steep with the lid on to trap the evaporating oils. after a good medium-strength tea is made, pour in honey and stir until it dissolves. remove from heat immediately. allow to cool and pour into glass bottles or a carboy. cover with a cloth and a rubberband. be patient. better yet, forget about it. the yeasties will have to eat for almost a year until you get a nice dry mead. and yes, you can always siphon off the liquid and transfer it to another container. you can use the fall out crud on the bottom to make sourdough starter…

early to mid spring is a time of intense stimulation. the earth is wet and muddy and seeds and animals are energing. our bodies need to let our internal rivers move too. a lot of the naturalized plants aka weeds in this city are really good for our digestive organs. here are two simple recipies to get our inner juices going.

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'liver lover' dandelion tincture

1. on or around a new moon go to a place with healthy soil and dandelions.
2. thank the dandelions and gently remove them from the soil digging deeply to extract roots completely.
3. brush and rub soil off the roots but do not wash. (healthy soil has minerals - yum!) the rest of the plant can be part of the tincture or you can remove them and use them in a soup or salad.
4. put dandelion roots in a small jar and pour in clean spirits like vodka or untainted brandy (or some homemade brew) and top off until roots are completely submerged.
5. wait 6 weeks or more (at least two full moons) and strain out dandelion. put dandelion in the compost. the tincture is ready. take a small amount in water or red clover tea several times a day to help your liver.

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'jump start digestion' wild green miso

forage tender wild greens from healthy soil, tear with hands (don’t cut) and toss into miso broth:

• chickweed
• lambsquarters (iron and calcium)
• nettles (iron and calcium) located in moister areas - wear gloves
• dock (potassium) - any of them
• purslane (omega-3)
• garlic mustard
• wild onion - namesake of this town