mushrooms, wine

got ten pounds of chantrelles today. i have to pick one handed and can not cut the stems so both daughters helped while hubby slept on the moss. We were too late to get any matsutake this year so the tradition of steamed matsutake as the starting thanksgiving dish will not happen this year. took my family to the overlook half way up ellinor and we basked in the sun for quite awhile. my broken wrist hurt a lot going down the bumpy dirt road on mount ellinor. i wanted to walk down to big creek campground and have my husband meet me there but thought better of it. fall is my favorite hiking season.

my left sprained wrist feels quite a bit better today, i still can not open tight lids with my left hand but i think i have about 75% of my wrist function back. maybe in a couple more weeks i will be able to use a trekking pole with a wrist brace.

i will dehydrate most of the mushrooms for later use.

i have 1 gallon each of blueberry and rose petal wine fermenting away in my bedroom. Today i am making hard cider from apples picked in the vacant lot behind my house. wine making can be really easy just be sure to use a sterile technique. i am using bakers yeast this year because i don't like a really high alcohol content. things are not as sterile as i would like thanks to working first while manic and now with only one hand. i think my brews will be ok though. the only ingredienrts i am using are the fruit / petals, boiled syrup (sugar and water), bakers yeast, lemon juice and campten tablets. i have two glass jugs with airlocks. i want another glass jug but for now the cider is in a plastic jug that apple juice came in and the lid is the original lid just a little bit loose to keep the pressere down. the cider is just starting to turn and i love that taste. i am making fruit leather with the must. i only let the must ferment for 1.5 days so it tastes like apple sauce with just a little kick. YUMMY! i like to add quince to apple sauce but have none it adds a little zip to apple sauce too but is not alcoholic.