Unless you view her as a man or him as a woman… which does happen despite the pronouns… I’m guessing you are bisexual?

I'm actually straight but dw I'm working on forcefemming my husband

@turtlesandfrogs SO I was aiming for a much thicker Hawthorn sauce, based on this recipe - https://www.greatbritishchefs.com/recipes/hawthorn-berry-recipes-foraging

Mine turned out much more like a syrup than the ketchup that's shown here. I think I didn't boil the berries for long enough, and didn't push soft flesh through the sieve because I wasn't sure whether to or not - I think I should have.

It still turned out deliciously though. Next year I'll probably make it my way again, and separately also try to imitate the recipe more accurately.

I've been slowly building up small stores of wild preserved food over the last year to use through the winter - I'm going to try next year to have about 10% of my food be wild or gardened (I'm moving to a place with a garden!!)! This is a very small target for some people, but we start somewhere :)

This is a delicious meal that I made with sauce from Hawthorn berries. I haven't used them before and was excited to find a new way to preserve vitamin c for throughout the winter. It was delicious! As I was making it, I noticed it tasted a lot like hoisin sauce, so I decided to fry up some oyster mushrooms with the sauce and make a sort of faux vegan hoisin duck pancake with cucumber and spring onions and chilli oil (in this case with gluten free wraps so my husband can eat it too). It was so good!! I'm definitely going to invest a lot of time in harvesting more hawthorn berries next autumn.

Ahhhh I'm so glad you made some!! Your syrup has a wonderful deep colour. Let me know how you like them :)

@scyllas-revenge and @mushroomgay thank you SO much for the inspiration to make a ton of magnolia things. I followed both of your recipes to make a bunch of magnolia syrup and pickled magnolias. ヘ⁠(⁠￣⁠ω⁠￣⁠ヘ⁠)

🏵️🌸🏵️🌸

Final magnolia post!! This udon noodle soup had a broth made with wild garlic and the last of last year's dried porcinis, and some fresh magnolia blossoms to add a sweet gingery kick. It was delicious!

@spicynative 3 parts vinegar, 1 part sugar, approx 1/10 part salt (usually just a glug, it's whatever). I heat all these parts together until everything's dissolved, then add petals (I prefer chopped for easier eating on sushi, but you could easily add them whole). Pour into a sterilised jar and keep in the cupboard or fridge and enjoy on whatever you like!

This is how I use pickled magnolia petals - as ginger on homemade sushi! I also love it enough to enjoy wrapping a fresh blossom around each piece to eat it too.

The miso soup features wild garlic, another wonderful spring time edible.

You're in the UK but we have magnolias here in the south of the US, too. Any idea if the ones here are also edible? I'd love to try magnolia syrup!

There are no known inedible or harmful magnolias, and I personally treat all magnolias as edible.

This is how I use pickled magnolia petals - as ginger on homemade sushi! I also love it enough to enjoy wrapping a fresh blossom around each piece to eat it too.

The miso soup features wild garlic, another wonderful spring time edible.

Magnolia syrup w tonic water + ice is a perfect summer garden drink imo. Next year I might try adding some natural red dye - maybe a little beetroot - to get a pink colour in memory of the blossoms.

Magnolia, Cambridge, UK, March 2024

I loooooove magnolia season! Not only are the flowers gorgeous (and people have them in their gardens all over Cambridge and the streets are beautiful for those few weeks) but they're also edible.

They have a floral, gingery taste, and every year I pickle some petals to make something very similar to sushi ginger, and make a syrup that can be used as a desserts or the base for a drink.

Epping Forest, London, UK, January 2024

Winter chanterelle (Cantherellus tubaeformis)

This was another surprising, slightly late in the season, find in January that went into my mushroom stew that night (I had been out searching for the in-season Velvet Shanks, but came up short).

These gorgeous fungi, like their summer counterparts, can be recognised by their beautiful vein-like folds (rather than true gills) under the cap. They are equally delicious, but less sweet.

Epping Forest, London, UK, January 2024

Hedgehog fungus (Hydnum repandum)

A lovely late find, there was a patch of these growing beneath the pine trees and harvested a couple for a mixed mushroom stew.

This is a great forage for a beginner, being easily recognised by its hedgehog-like spines under the cap, having almost no dangerous look-a-likes (just watch out for Greenfoot Tooth (Hydnellum scabrosum) which is considered poisonous by some).

Epping Forest, UK, February 2024

Wolf's milk (Lycogala epidendrum)

This is one of the few slime moulds I know by name, it being relatively easy to identify on sight. If anyone knows why it's called that I'd love to know!

I don't know what this white slime mould is, but the tiny forests of it carpeting this wood were beautiful.

Epping Forest, UK, February 2024

Jelly ear (Auricularia auricula-judae) and Witch's butter (Tremella mesenterica)

All the jelly fungi were looking beeeeautifully fat and healthy after the rain on my walk yesterday.

The lords and ladies is also out. If you care.

The crow garlic and the ramsons are out! Spring is here!!

The crow garlic and the ramsons are out! Spring is here!!

FUCK me he's on a mushroom

The Mushroom King

Evgenia Levina