Staycation, Sunshine and Mushrooms Galore

Everyone knows the Brits like talking about the weather but it has to be said that for once, it really is worth talking about.  We are taking full advantage of it at the moment and spending our weekends away in Miles our camper van. You don't have to go far in Cornwall to feel like you are on holiday.  In fact we headed 30 minutes from north to south coast and pretty much had a tucked away space overlooking the sea to ourselves all weekend.

On the Saturday morning we awoke and headed out for a walk along the coast path to look for mushrooms for breakfast.  Not only did we succeed in our hunt but we did so in shorts and vest tops in gloriously hot sunshine.  It was indeed a summer's day at the beginning of October!  

Other amazing things about the weekend were seeing a shoal of at least 20 large Barrel Jellyfish and as usual bumping in to our friends the Choughs (although in an area we didn't even know they were established in!)...and in case you were wondering it was an amazing breakfast of sauteed parasol mushrooms (Macrolepiota procera) with some lovely cranberry and pumpkin seed bread.  These are pictured above before harvest and at the bottom on the plate.

Later that day we chanced upon some more mushrooms just off the coast path, a short walk north from our 'campsite'. This time we found some field mushrooms (Agaricus campestris), and some Agaricus macrosporus (no common name in the UK).  The former are in the photo below left. A few of the field mushrooms made it into that nights dinner, of Mediterranean veg. and mushrooms in a sun dried tomato sauce, with pasta.  The rest were packed into the cool box to come home with us along with handfuls of plump sloes, to get the sloe gin going in time to add some natural cheer to the dark days of winter ahead.

As well as 'making hay while the sun shines' we will continue to explore the many varieties of edible mushrooms this time of year can provide, as well as any other seasonal wild edible treasures.