Blather

Cooking for Guys

Live to Camp
Camp to Live

Poetry
and Other Lies

Borscht

Borscht

When my wife and I were first going out, I had her over for dinner. I made this recipe. Almost everything in it came from my garden. Amy was so impressed. I hardly garden at all anymore, and I haven't made this more than once or twice since. I don't know why. It's...

Roast Pumpkin and Chanterelle Soup

Roast Pumpkin and Chanterelle Soup

Deborah Moran posted a recipe for roasted pumpkin and chanterelle soup in the Cooking With Wild Mushrooms forum. It sounded so good, I knew I had to try it. I modified the recipe slightly and cooked it last time we went camping. Rich and creamy, with a smokey flavor...

Leucoagaricus rachodes

Leucoagaricus rachodes

  Leucoagaricus rhacodes, sometimes spelled  rachodes (it is also known as Agaricus rhacodes, Lepiota rhacodes, Macrolepiota rhacodes, and Chlorophyllum rhacodes), is a stately and delicious mushroom,  despite its somewhat confusing taxonomy. Brilliant white with a...

Pie Iron Tuna Melt

Pie Iron Tuna Melt

We were going to do tuna melts in the pie irons at Fungal in the Jungle, but Wayne and Peter fed us so well we never got around to cooking for ourselves. I was really looking forward to seeing how potoato bread worked in the pie iron, so a couple of days after we got...

Pretty Not Bad

Pretty Not Bad

Amy and I  drove up to Disappearing Lake. The water level is dropping fast; I think it will be a short season. We talked about  paddling the beaver pond but the shore was teeming with mosquitos so we went back down to South Prairie and put in.      ...

A Day Spent on the Water

A Day Spent on the Water

    My friend, Joe Castaldi, built a beautiful, sixteen foot gaff-rigged Melonseed Skiff from the original plans. He sent word he was planning to launch her for a maiden voyage down at the Hood River Marina, so I showed up yesterday, bright and early to...

Well, That Was Dumb.

Well, That Was Dumb.

My last week before I retired, I decided to ride the moto to work. People expected it of me and I enjoy the ride. It was December, with temperatures down around 15f (-9.4c). I suited up and went out to the garage. The bike had been plugged into a tender, so the...

Good Afternoon

Good Afternoon

5/27/25 3:30 80f (26.6c) Clear sky, warm breeze. Mike and I went up the mountain to have a look around. Found coral mushrooms, shaggy manes, and a handful of morels at between 3000 and 4000' under mixed conifers.                ...

Good Morning

Good Morning

  10/24/25 7:00 44F (6.6C) Cloudy with rain forecast in the afternoon. My arms no longer hurt from the vaccinations I got Monday. That took a little longer than I expected,  but not too bad. Flu, covid, and pneumonia. Still need the second shingles shot. Getting...

Good Morning

Good Morning

        10/23/25 6:30 45F (7.2C) Clear, cool, dry, and calm. A bird is chittering. Walter Dawg is napping on the deck with one eye open. Amy is up, probably sitting in her easy chair playing solitaire on the laptop. My tea is exactly the right...

Good Morning

Good Morning

    10/22/25 6:00 39F (3.8C) I awoke to a still  morning, the sky full of glittering stars. It is so dark I had to feel  my way across the deck to the tub. Overhead  in the cold blackness, the twins watch Orion stalk his prey into the oaks. The dogs cavort...

Good Morning

Good Morning

  10/21/25 6:45 38F (3.3C) Light breeze, new moon, overcast. Cool, damp and grey. I scrubbed the stale taste of last night's dreams from my mouth and my tea is washing the flavor of toothpaste away. Soaking in the darkness I listen to the whir of tires on damp...