2 cooking successes

fall mushrooming is in full swing around here. this is the time where the greatest amount of wild mushrooms can be found. we have found many kinds through the years, but our family's favorite is by far the hen of the woods. this is just the best tasting mushroom, it grows in the same spots every year and grows so big that you feel tired carrying it! now that mushroom season is here we have been busy "checking our spots." over the weekend we found a few beauties and decided to whip up some mushroom barley soup.

we sauteed up the mushrooms, chopped roughly, with an onion, a few cloves of garlic, a couple of carrots, a few stalks of celery and some sage and thyme.

once it was all nice and soft i added a box of broth and a cup or so of barley. after it simmered for a bit, we let it hang out for a while.

i have to say that this was a fantastic way to use the hen and earned our family's gold medal of being deemed "restaurant quality". up next hen of the woods pate!

and then sunday night i made vegan dad's fake lunch meat recipe. i had been meaning to make this for weeks. we go through a ton of fake meat here and it has been bothering me a bit lately. it is not only processed, but also expensive. i love what vegan dad is doing with all of his fake meat recipes, he's my hero. 

the recipe was a huge success. here is the loaf before being cooked.
and here it is after it was cooked and cooled and about to be sampled.
this fake meat is awesome, if a bit plain. i know that i could doctor it up more next time. what matters most is that it made like 2 pounds and it is now officially gone after only 2 days. bee even asked for it for a snack today, and ate it all up! now if i could just find someone outside of my house who cares about making your own fake meat!