rainy saturday

Saturday began with a tantalizing bit of sunshine, but about fifteen minutes after this picture was taken the sun disappeared for the remainder of the day. It rained all day, but after months of cold temperatures exacerbated by biting winds from the lake, a warm(ish), windless day accompanied by some rain didn't seem so bad.

Here is Niamh at the market, angry and howling because a) I stepped two feet away from her to take the picture, and b) I brushed off her complaints of an "owie" on her leg, wouldn't carry her, and told her to hush (I may have felt a little bad about this once we got home and she did indeed have a sore on her leg from the rain boots).

I was very excited to see the first gariguette strawberries of the season yesterday. Last year they were unfailingly sweet and delicious. The only strawberries I remember being better (or at least as good) were those U-picked from the farms around Roseburg. Anyway, I also bought some of our favorite reblochon cheese, and 200 grams of morel mushrooms. I've been wanting to try morels for ages, and it seemed like a good day for a little gastronomic adventure.

Rowan and Niamh weren't at all distracted by the red, plump, sweet smelling berries-they went straight for the bread and reblochon. In fact, Niamh didn't even eat her strawberries. I guess they're living in the right country.

Though the strawberries smelled and looked divine, they unfortunately turned out to pretty tart. It must be a tad early for them.

I sauteed the morels in some butter, and sprinkled them salt and pepper. My first reaction to the famed mushrooms that cost a small fortune, gourmands wax poetic about, and hunters have turf wars over, was 'hmmm...a bit gritty.' I thought I had read a couple of years ago that you shouldn't wash morels. Wrong! Oh well. The taste at least, was very good, much better than your run of the mill button mushrooms. Niamh ate quite a few of them. Pat even tried one and declared it "Not bad." Rowan wouldn't touch them (no surprise). Though I did enjoy the morels, my palate is definitely not refined enough to appreciate them fully, and don't see them being a regular splurge.