"Melba's Jammin'" > wrote in message
...
> In article >,
> "Felice" > wrote:
>
>> "Melba's Jammin'" > wrote in message
>> ...
>> > Bubba Vic, I know you treasure the rehydrating liquid from dried
>> > mushrooms. Is it the kind of thing to use generously or to use
>> > sparingly? Do I want to freeze 1/4 cup portions or, say, 1 cup
>> > portions? All I can think to do with it is to add it to the liquid or
>> > drippings for gravy making.
>> >
>> > I rehydrated 30g of 10-year-old mushrooms from the hills of NE Slovakia
>>
>> I have no clue as to the mushroom liquid, but there just has to be a
>> story
>> behind those 10-year-old Slovakian mushrooms. So?
>>
>> Fleece
>
> Oh, Fleece. . . . :-) When my cousins visited here 10 years ago,
> Cousin Michal brought dried mushrooms for us that he had picked and
> dried for us. It was an act of love from my cousin. He knew where to
> look, walked the hills and the woods to collect them, cleaned them, and
> dried them on a rack over a wood-fueled stovetop to bring to us. I
> think I calculated that he had gathered somewhere in the neighborhood of
> 60-70 pounds of fresh that shriveled to a gallon and a half. More
> precious than gold, I was asked to apportion them for my sibs. I put up
> 30g packages (about 1 cup) and spread them around. They keep forever.
> Tomorrow is Christmas Day for many Orthodox Christians and among "our
> people" (ethnic group), an important dish at table is wild mushrooms
> flavored with sauerkraut juice. I haven't made it in several years but
> still have a couple packages of Michael's mushrooms to work with,
> supplemented with the porcini from Italy and boring white buttons from
> my food co-op. One of my sisters occasionally asks if I have "any
> extra." Well, no, I don't. The fact that I rarely use them does not
> put these into the lot of "extra." Shoot me.

Why, Barb, you have heirloom mushrooms! How splendid!

Fleece