Mushroom Month

Dear Diary,

Even though most people think of October here in the Northeast as foliage season, it is also mushroom month for me.  This beauty sprouted on the front yard and already little ones are nibbling away at it.  I don't know the variety but it served a different purpose for me...remembering my grandmother, my father's mother.

She died when I was seven so I don't have a lot of rich memories of her.  Most are fleeting glimpses, wispy recollections.  But I do remember going once with her mushrooming around our house.  She knew which ones to pick and which to leave alone and she tried to tell me which was which but what I came away with is a fear of wild mushrooms.  The strange thing is I love mushrooms in just about every dish but I stick to the store bought ones.

Her daughter, my dearest auntie, was a wonderful cook and mushrooms were a specialty.  And I make a rich borscht with wild mushroom dumplings.  It serves as a nod to my middle European ancestry.  So, October will always be "Mushroom Month" for me.  Time to dig out that borscht recipe!