The woman who served visitors deathcap mushrooms has been arrested
Im not sure how they can prove it , well i mean malicious with intent to kill .
Or it was plain neglect , I seem to remember , her husband saying he had been hospitalised after eating a meal cooked by her the year before ,
It seems like an age since I’ve posted on this thread, working hours and other commitments have played their part but hey ho back to business!
Given that it’s not forecast to tip it down tomorrow we’re very much looking forward to getting back into the woods and get away from the usual humdrum routine.
Already the fungi season is almost at an end, it won’t be long before the first frosts kick in, the wet weather has provided a bumper season for a foray, some to photograph and admire and some to eat! Also I’m very much hoping to stumble upon some sweet chestnuts… the horrible imported supermarket offerings are a poor alternative.
I’ve just got to dig out my Swedish fire steel and we’re ready to go!
Well, not such a good trip as far as the fungi were concerned. We found some but not the varieties we were hoping for. On a more positive note it was a tonic to venture into the woods and take in the fresh air!
We decided to take the Lixada compact wood burner to heat up the food, we didn’t take any fuel with us instead we foraged…no fire no grub 
There were plenty of silver birch branches lying on the ground which were cut up into mini logs and plenty of twigs and bracken for kindling.
I’ve seriously got to get a grip of my map reading, we inadvertently stumbled into quite an extensive area of private land that had various mock up buildings scattered around, turned out if was a paintball /Airsoft venue.
Anyway, a couple of fellas popped up from the middle of nowhere, I thought I was in for a right ticking off and made my apologies if we were trespassing.
They couldn’t have been nicer, it was actually a gun club, they follow various disciplines including air guns and rimfire, we were invited to join 
All in all a morning to remember, looking forward to our next jaunt 
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What’s cooking in the pot Chilli B?
It’s a tin of chilliconcarne Ralph, just a quick fix for my son to eat. We weren’t out for very long. Next time I’m tempted to take a few sausages and or black pudding with a little chopped onion in a small container and have a very modest fry up 
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I hope you know your fungi.We don’t want you arrested for murder too. 
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Rest assured that I will NOT be serving up any death cap and chips 
Yes I know the above image is a fly agaric but Azz doesn’t appear to have any death cap emojis available, most unsatisfactory !
I found the fly agaric in the food and drink section of the emojis 
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Just a mini forage today.
I’d noticed this holly growing by a local brook quite recently.
Since I’m not usually in the habit of walking around with a pair of secateurs about my person I made a mental note to go back.
I’m no florist but I’ll get just a little bit creative with it later, even if it’s in a small vase.
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A well overdue post regarding the wild blackberry vodka.
It’s been steeping for months now, probably longer than necessary but I have the distinct feeling when it actually comes to drinking time it’s going to be sublime!
I’m pretty much prepped up for straining and bottling at my leisure this evening.
Incidentally, I’d almost forgotten about the tripod strainer. I found it while having a rummage in a cupboard, very fortuitous 
It came with a useful but flimsy bag for straining, when that gives up the ghost I have other options 
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Well, finally strained and bottled!
The vodka has certainly taken on the flavour of the wild blackberries, cinnamon, citrus zest etc. It’s still a bit rough around the edges but I’ll be putting it in a dark cupboard and forgetting all about it while it does it’s own thing and mellows.
Dare I say it but it’ll be drinkable at Christmas!
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Just had a rummage through the freezer to check on the half forgotten bag of haws that I picked during the Autumn.
Essentially I’m going to use the same process as I did with the wild blackberry vodka although this time it’s going to be gin. I’m deffo going to enhance the flavour with some citrus zest, cinnamon and a little root ginger. I’ll be careful not to add too much of the above, I don’t want to overwhelm the flavour of the fruit.
Incidentally, I had to cut off the browny dried remains of the flower from each and every haw with a sharp knife!
The reason is that those dried remains would affect the clarity of the gin when it’s finally bottled.
Cheers!
Well, in a year’s time that is 
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Well, spring is truly in the air and a young man’s fancy turns to…um, foraging!
I took my son for a walk around our local mill pond to pick some early wild garlic. We didn’t need a shed load, it’s for wild garlic butter and we made sure that none of the young flower buds were damaged.
Now we need to wait until the butter softens up and then it’s choppy chop, blending, rolling up in grease proof paper and into the freezer
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I just stumbled upon this thread! Read the entire thing, and I am in awe of your foraging skills, creative liquors, and patience to wait for the final outcome. Gosh, do I have questions for you about all this. And the wild garlic? If and when I see this on my walks near the river, I simply think it is leaves to a wild flower. Geesh!
Note: I didn’t have a clue what haws were…still don’t, but that may be another thread in the making.
Very impressive, young man!
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I’m glad you enjoyed it… I’m just about to light a scented candle in the front room after I’ve made coffee… there’s a distinct garlic smell in the air, can’t imagine why
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Got there eventually!
Much mushing and crushing…
We set a little aside for a sample… it’d be rude not to…
And the rest is destined for the freezer!
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Time to get some of that wild garlic butter out of the freezer to defrost. We have some two day old soda bread to use up. Garlic bread with a sprinkling of smokey green jalapeno from Borough Market and a liberal sprinkling of Maldon Salt… great with pizza this lunchtime!
I wouldn’t want to get all premature, it’s a long time to autumn but it was a pleasure to see our favourite local crab apple tree in blossom… something to look forward to.
Apologies to all those on the forum who are well versed in the art of photography…
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Looks promising!
My cherry trees are in full blossom and one of my fig trees has some little figs already sprouted.
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Looking gorgeous against that blue sky… the promise of things to come!
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