# Working for my lunch.



## kuan (Jun 11, 2001)

Today I met shroomgirl at her catering kitchen. She made me peel potatoes in exchange for a wonderful lunch! We had boudin, bread and three different kinds of preserves. GOlden raspberry, frais du bois, and black raspberries. We also had fantastic fresh goat cheese from a local cheesemaker and some great fage yogurt.  I had a great time, thanks shroomie!


----------



## mezzaluna (Aug 29, 2000)

Wow! I'll work for a Shroomgirl lunch, but I don't have Kuan's speed with a knife. 

I had the Fage yogurt today, at least. Wonderful stuff.


----------



## shroomgirl (Aug 11, 2000)

you and Garrett are more than welcome anytime. I finished up, delivered the food then came back to mop and make choc. marshmallows for the bon fire at Sat. night's campout....MOREL MADNESS IS UPON US!!!!!
I'm making pies in the morning while the wedding cake baker is doing his thing. The cream base (dbl. choc) can be assembled prior to consumption.
Shopped for Sun brunch......
I'm hearring loads of morels but they are still smaller than beer cans, the freeze slowed their growth.....the ones the guys are finding are fresh though and not left over from the pop prior to the freeze.
Hope you guys found the zoo, whole foods and a playground. Forest Park is huge and pretty fun to bopp around. wish I coulda gone with you.

I'll make you a sign...."Will Cook for Food"


----------



## kuan (Jun 11, 2001)

We found the zoo and before we could get out of Forest Park he fell asleep!

St. Louis zoo really is great. You could spend all day there.


----------



## chrose (Nov 20, 2000)

I knew I should have moved up there instead of here  I'm with Mezz, I'd gladly peel potatoes or whatever else to hang and learn with Shroom for a day (or 2)!


----------



## suzanne (May 26, 2001)

I'm jealous of both of you: Shroom, you got to meet Kuan AND Garrett! and Kuan, you not only met Shroom, but ate her cooking, too.


----------



## cape chef (Jul 31, 2000)

Shroom is one of the nicest, most knowledgeable and sharing person I have ever had the pleasure of meeting and dining with. Happy you two had a chance to meet and cook together.


----------



## shroomgirl (Aug 11, 2000)

awww you guys.....

Kuan has such fluid movements in the kitchen, he's smooth. It's like watching someone with so much finesse work. We were putting together meals for a past (well apparently current) PC client who's been ill.....real comfort food for a family with young teenage boys. Chicken potpie, brisket with BBQ sauce, mashed potatoes, burritos with pot roast, roots, southern green beans, chicken parmesan.....even leaf lard crust..... 


Morel Madness this weekend, Kuan, Heidi and Garrett made it to camp Sat and Kuan got to look for shrooms (no luck, bummer). But they got to meet alot of funky dorky scientists that hang out in the woods and wear chemical equation t-shirts on the make up of amenitas or little woodland scenes....

For the first time in Julie history I found more morels than several top shroom hunters....this is monumental believe me. Chanterelles are another matter but morels hide, they are extremely illusive.
Oh, the victory dance and smile are still fresh.....12 morels did not hide well enough.

Sat. night the Toahs stayed and had potluck at Cuivre River State Park, We listened to Joe Walsh and watched his slide show on the various types of morels and when they appear with what corresponding follage.....who knew there were sooooo many varieties of morels or that they have specific patterns for each favored tree/burn area....and distinctive corresponding shapes/colors

Garrett/Heidi found a blue racer snake in the bunkhouse during naptime.....just ewww....Garrett was facinated and so concerned about the snake, I just wanted it set free into the woods. 
Thank goodness one of the hunters is a herpatologist and thinks it's REALLY cool to pick them up, move 'em and talk to small boys about them.

Cooking together with cheftalk family would be a blast. I've got local food sources out the wazoo, if a bunch of you wanna come visit STL we can have a fun foodie time. Visiting farms, stores, cooking up a storm in my monster size kitchen. It's been a long time since there's been a Cheftalk weekend, I'll be glad to organize one here if you guys wanna see the "breadbasket of America" and actually pork capital too.

Missouri State Parks actually have pretty functional mess hall kitchens, the one today had a 8 burner, two oven, griddle top stove....a large newish hobart mixer, 2 walkin fridges and 2 reg freezers.....and all the melamine you could desire. Plus the perk of having running water and an indoor restroom. 

West VA, Aug 16-19 is the national wild mushroom conference. I'll be cooking and teaching how to cook wild shrooms....any of you wanting to come hang with fungal heads let me know. It'll be a blast!!!! Though I gotta tell you mushroomers are kinda like chefs in that they are not the general mainstream populace, there's a peculiar sense of humor and for many shroomheads the attention to detail is mindboggling....they call it dorkiness or some such thing...one of the grad students is studying slime molds and micro risal something or other....basically little fungal things, some being slimey....when I ask if their edible they typically say, well every mushroom is edible....some only once. great. It was so bizarre taking the food handler's course on Wed then cooking wild shrooms on Friday, there's a twisted sense of humor there somewhere.


----------



## kuan (Jun 11, 2001)

Please, I peeled potatoes. 

But yes, it was great fun Saturday. I can't wait until next year when I can snag some morels.

Edit: OK I just had a shroomgirl chocolate marshmallow! AWESOME!


----------



## anneke (Jan 5, 2001)

Funny you should say that; that's EXACTLY how I imagined him. It's always interesting the validate the things we dare to deduce from someone's writing.

I wish you weren't so far away. Got lots of time on my hands these days and would LOVE to come lend you a hand. I work for chocolate marshmallows.


----------



## shroomgirl (Aug 11, 2000)

After years of Cheftalk there are things we know about each other or deduce that many close to us don't know. 
How we think, share and cook all comes out in the threads. Each has his own style, it shows in the threads especially the ones you start. What interests us through the years may vary but unless there are major life changes how we approach them is consistant. 
The support this community gives to each other is invaluable.....I'd love to connect in person with other cheftalkers but if it doesn't happen life is still good because of Nicko's project. Thanks Nicko, you done good.
Julie


----------



## shroomgirl (Aug 11, 2000)

Anneke....I'll even make raspberry, mexican choc, mandrian orange, choc orange, marshmallows if you wanna come south to play in my kitchen.

Kuan....there was the leaf lard dough too....


----------



## jayme (Sep 5, 2006)

Shroom-
 From the sound of your cooking-- I think the "Will Work for Shroomgirl's Cooking" sign will have to be something we can all print off... LOL we'll all show up and you'll never have to peel another potato yourself....LOL


----------



## shroomgirl (Aug 11, 2000)

Cool, anytime guys....one story I told Garrett (Kuan's 3 year old son) is that the dbl bubble gum is for my sous chef when he cooks all day....he has to cook all day long for that piece of bubble gum. 

I need to teach more. There's a satisfaction in turning people on to cooking that is not found by just serving food. The aha look that comes, or the comments such as< I never knew it'd be so easy, I can do this at home>.....what really does it for me is when a small child contributes for the first time and has such a sense of pride that they too can produce....there is nothing contrived and they know it.
This past weekend I told a bunch of shroomers at Sun. breakfast of:
scrambled eggs, southern biscuits, morels and cream, sausage gravy, asp and crab. That Greg Louganis is my favorite inspiration....he didn't always go for the most difficult dives he may have done the simplist but he went for perfection. A great biscuit and gravy beats out a fancy mediocre croissant any day....not that I'd stick my nose up at a great croissant.... . If you start out with great ingredients try not to muck them up is a great motto.


----------



## blade55440 (Sep 9, 2005)

Heh, I'd gladly peel potatoes or any other "theraputic" task (as we called em in school) just to learn from the Chefs here on the forum. 

Anybody looking for interns and/or aspiring cooks in the deep south?:chef:


----------



## botanique (Mar 23, 2005)

Hey Shroomstress... Shroomenator... Shroomtastic chicki of the fungal forest...! It is so pleasing to read your accounts, I am smiling from ear to ear with tail wagging (hey, don't tell anyone about the tail ;-) It brought me back to when I was Ed. Coord. at the botanical gardens in Mendocino -- I spent many rainy afternoons with the mushroom man helping to identify and take pictures for the site and signs.... Ahhhh... memories of Ft. Bragg in all of its saprophyte splendor.... Oh, and I once had a crush on a microbiologist mushroom madman in grad school because I found a puffball in my greenhouse and he identified it for me....  

I'll let you know if I'm out your way! Cheers! Stevie


----------



## nofifi (Jan 14, 2007)

Schroomgirl, have you ever thought of just teaching cooking? It's a shame I'm in the middle of moving to another state, otherwise, I would love to be the first in class. I'm not surprised at Kuan's abilities in the kitchen, you are right, you can tell through the threads. (I'm just a good home type cook who can never learn enough and I still get excited about learning more).


----------



## shroomgirl (Aug 11, 2000)

Actually I've taught through the years.....private classes for an orthodox jew who wanted to learn to cook from his CSA bag each Wed. (lasted about 3 years), classes at cooking schools....."how to fill your fridge in a few hours", "wild shrooms", etc..., Culinary Intensive Camp for 11-15 year olds, Farm Camp, Ice Cream Camp (urp...that was a 5# week), afterschool classes at an elementary school, farmer-chef-rds, most recently 5 society women making yeast doughs for 5 hours. Sunday is a demo at a local winery, Aug is the national wild mushroom conference mycofogy/class......
I've taught each Sat at market for 20+ weeks a year for 7 years how to cook what's on the market.

It's just not been as much indepth or longitudinal as I'd like. It's been several years since I've taught a multi-course class. I've not been around little guys for an awfully long time, and I didn't realize how much I missed being around the wonder of a small person until this past week when Garrett Taoh came to visit Julie's kitchen. 

As with everything there is a season, it's interesting to see it come around again.....sleeping in crappy thin mattressed bunkbeds at girlscout camps, looking for fungus amoungst the leafs with kind hearted generous dorks. (that's what they call themselves and I fully concur)
Cooking with small children, teaching them basic skills that they just puff up with pride doing. (not cooking kids though I do have bits and pieces of goat kids in the freezer)  

You guys are welcome to visit.....my door is open


----------

