Karen1Monger's Profile

We use a mini-muffin tin, there are only 12 holes so I only have to come up with 12 items. And yes, anything with on a pick/stick is as good as a toy for a kid. Bento style!

Stinging nettles are at a great height for gathering the tops right now in the northeast. Do not pick them when they are making flowers, nettles will make you ill then. We have a recipe on our wild food blog:

http://the3foragers.blogspot.com/2010/04/stinging-nettles.html

As long as your spring onions don't grow too close to the road, they are fine to eat. We also pull up the bulbs and although they are tough to peel, use them like tiny garlic cloves.

Botanically, sumac is related to cashews. In the Northeast, we can find staghorn, smooth, and dwarf sumac. The berries are best picked after a dry period, as the rain will wash away the acsorbic acid-the lemoy taste. The berries tend to be covered in fine hairs, so we drain the steeped juice through coffee filters to remove any fibers and hairs. The juice is high in vitamin C, and does need a bit of sweetening to make it palatable.

Bay leaves seem to work fantastically for us. Keep in mind that those pheremone sticky moth traps will only attract the male moths. A deep and complete clean is needed to get them all out of the house.

Our all time favorite travel food is biscuits. Sometimes cheesy biscuits, sometimes with chopped scallions inside. Then we add sliced tart apples, smoked mozzarella cheese, and gulyas cream- a Hungarian pepper spread, and butter to waterproof the biscuits. Fantastic, we even pack them on short trips (2-3 hours) and unassembled for overnight trips.

Barberries grow across the northeast as an invasive ornamental hedge. They have dark green foliage that stays put in the autumn, and thorns. If someone pointed one out to you, you might smack yourself across the forehead once you realise they are EVERYWHERE. You can also make a tart fruit leather from them.

Mutsu aka. Crispin, lovely crisp tartness, fantastic for drying in the dehaydrator. Russets, ugly but very very crisp and firm, tart. Loved the Gingergolds, but the season was early, and already over!

Our household loves quinoa. I toast it lightly before adding the warm vegetable stock and bring it back to a boil before simmering. It also pairs well with other toasted things like toasted sesame oil and seeds.

Professionally I have always used Trablit coffee extract for pastries and baking. It is a French extract, and I have only seen it distributed by foodservice distributors. At home I use strongly brewed expresso for recipes, but I miss the Trablit.