Oyster Mushroom Saute
Nutty - Meaty - Goodness

- Ingredients -
1 lb fresh Oyster Mushrooms
1/2 bunch Organic Lacinato Kale & Organic Collard Greens
or greens of choice (very good w/ bok choy)
2-3 cloves Organic Garlic
1 small Organic Red Onion
1/2 -1 cup Organic Extra Virgin Coconut Oil
1 tablespoon Organic Coconut Aminos
1 teaspoon Umeboshi Plum Sauce
1/2 fresh finely sliced Organic Thai Chili Pepper or
1 teaspoon Thai Chili Pepper Sauce

(you can also substitute the coconut aminos & umeboshi plum sauce for peanut sauce & coconut milk
with organic dry unsalted peanuts..yum!)

Begin by chopping up all solid ingredients into desired sizes. Then add coconut oil to fry pan and let melt slightly, before adding onion, garlic, kale, & mushrooms, then let sauté with lid on for 5 minutes on medium to low heat. Then add coconut aminos, umeboshi plum sauce, & thai chili pepper/sauce, and let sauté for another 5 to 10 minutes on low heat. Then eat atop rice, eggs or alone. I like to sauté on low to medium heat for shorter amounts of time to preserve the nutritional quality, vitality & texture of my food.

Oyster Mushrooms . Pleurotus ostreatus

Of all mushrooms commonly consumed, oyster mushrooms in the genus Pleurotus stand out as exceptional allies for improving human and environmental health. These mushrooms enjoy a terrific reputation as the easiest to cultivate, richly nutritious and medicinally supportive. Oyster mushrooms are also renowned for their ability to degrade environmental toxins, particularly hydrocarbon-based contaminants. Their role as guardians of the biosphere becomes clear as new research into their complex biochemistry proves their potential to combat hunger, improve immunity and clean up polluted lands.

Oyster mushrooms are native to both deciduous hardwood and conifer tree species. Recognized as wood decomposers, they are ubiquitous in forestlands around the world. Fruiting both in the spring and fall, oyster mushrooms, particularly Pleurotus ostreatus and its close relatives, attract cultivators and entrepreneurs for their numerous advantages and unique ecological interactions. Most significantly, nearly all oyster mushrooms are primary saprophytes, meaning they do not require a composted substrate. They grow readily on dead wood, straw, grasses (wheat, rye, rice, fescues, corn, bamboo), cotton, cacti, Scotch broom, hemp, coffee wastes, paper products, and practically any other dried cellulosic plant material.

Although oyster mushrooms have been studied extensively and support health in a number of ways, it is also extremely important to always cook oyster mushrooms! Oyster mushrooms contain a novel, heat-labile, hemolytic protein called "ostreolysin," which can be toxic unless the mushrooms are cooked at temperatures exceeding 140 degrees Fahrenheit. This compound is found in developing and mature oyster mushrooms yet is absent in the mycelium. Nevertheless, this is another good reason -- among many -- that all mushrooms, with the exception of truffles, should be cooked to best take advantage of their beneficial nutritional properties while deactivating heat-sensitive toxins. -Paul Stamets 

☼ Fire Cider ☼

I first learned about this magical concoction last fall while interning at Herb Pharm and since then have been  eager to make my own. I started this batch of fire cider about a month ago now. While nestled on my kitchen shelf it has been inoculating itself with powerful immune boosting properties. Making it a beneficial anti-inflammatory, anti-bacterial, anti-viral, decongestant, digestive aid, and circulatory system stimulater. All of which are much appreciated during this time of weary bodies & minds, making it an admirable winter remedy. 

Fire cider is a traditional folk remedy passed down from grandmother, to daughter, to granddaughter, and in my case from teacher, to student. It is traditionally prepared on the new moon and buried in the earth until the full moon (a one month period of time), but this is best performed in the warmer spring and summer months when the ground isn't frozen. It's ingredients include a base of apple cider vinegar,  with accompaniment's of ginger root, horseradish root, garlic, onion, cayenne pepper, and the sweet touch of honey. Although ingredients have been known to vary, these few remain recipe monarchs. Fire cider can be taken straight in small doses  such as a tablespoon at a time (more if coming down with a cold), added to salad dressings, soups, stir-frys, rice and meat dishes, and just about anything else you can think of that is in need of an invigorating and restorative spicy tick. 

- Ingrediants -

(for a quart sized jar)

☼ Organic Apple Cider Vinegar

☼ 1/2 cup fresh Organic Ginger Root

☼ 1/2 cup fresh Organic Horseradish Root (very potent)

☼ 1 medium Organic Onion

☼ 5-10 cloves Organic Garlic

☼ 2 fresh Organic Jalapeño Peppers 

☼ Zest & juice of one Organic Lemon

☼ A few sprigs of fresh Organic Rosemary or 2 TBLS dried

☼ 1 TBLS Organic Turmeric powder or 1/2 TBLS Fresh Organic Turmeric Root

☼ Raw Local or Organic Honey to taste

Begin by chopping or grating all fresh ingredients. Then add fresh ingredients and dry ingredients (except honey) to a quart sized jar. Cover with apple cider vinegar. Cover jar with a small piece of wax paper and then secure jar with a tight fitting lid. Impart a blessing of healing and love upon your fire cider and shake your jar to infuse the ingredients together. Either bury or let sit in your kitchen for a months time. Then strain out solid ingredients with cheesecloth/strainer and pour remaining cider into a clean jar of choice, add honey to taste, refrigerate, and enjoy!

Turkey Tail Mushrooms . Trametes versicolor

The turkey tail mushroom is one of my favorite fungi. I am so Thankful that they like the trees that they inhabit have made themselves readily available within our Pacific Northwest forests. I came upon this Trametes versicolor . mycelium family while exploring Mt. Rainer a few years back. 

This super-abundant colorful mushroom grows on dead trees, logs, branches, and stumps. Turkey tail mushrooms are called bracket fungi, meaning that they form thin, leather-like and leaf-like structures in concentric circles. Rather than gills underneath, as in shiitake mushrooms, their undersides have tiny pores, which emit spores, placing them in the polypore family. These mushrooms grow throughout the world, practically wherever trees can be found. In fact, turkey tails are some of most common mushrooms found on wood on the planet.

They are commonly called "turkey tail" because their various colors: brown, orange, maroon, blue and green -- reminiscent of the plume of feathers in turkeys. In China, their common name is yun zhi. In Japan, this mushroom is known as kawaritake or "cloud mushrooms," invoking an image of swirling clouds overhead. In many Asian cultures, turkey tails' incurving cloud forms symbolize longevity and health, spiritual attunement and infinity.

Traditionally, our ancestors boiled mushrooms in water to make a soothing tea. Boiling served several purposes: killing contaminants, softening the flesh, and extracting the rich soluble polysaccharides. The mushrooms -- called fruiting bodies by mycologists -- are made of densely-compacted cobwebby cells called mycelium. With modern laboratory methods of cell tissue culture, the large-scale production of mycelium brought to light a whole new array of medicinal preparations. Nowadays, the commercial production of mycelium enables a cleaner and more digestible product than traditional mushroom preparations. Surprisingly, novel compounds are continually being discovered, which are not available using traditional preparations of the fruiting bodies, but are detectable within, and excreted from the rapidly growing mycelium.

The natural killer cells promoted by ingesting turkey tails also target virally-infected cells. Moreover, turkey tail mycelium excretes strong antiviral compounds, specifically active against Human papillomavirus (HPV), which causes cervical cancer, and hepatitis C virus (HEP-C), which causes liver cancer. Viruses that induce cancer are called "oncoviruses." The virus-to-cancer connection is where medicinal mushrooms offer unique opportunities for medical research. The current thinking amongst many researchers is that turkey tails and other medicinal mushrooms lessen the odds of getting cancer by reducing causal co-factors such as oncoviruses.

Turkey tail is renowned in Asia as a source for cancer therapy. The Japanese company Kureha first screened many polypore mushrooms and found that turkey tails produced a profound immune response, a discovery confirmed by many other subsequent studies. The Kureha researchers received a patent for extracting both the mycelium and mushrooms in 1976 and derivative U.S. patents through 1981 (long since expired). The extraction method led to marketing "PSK" (polysaccharide Krestin®) and later "PSP," both protein-bound polysaccharides. PSK became recognized as a cancer drug in Japan and approved under somewhat controversial conditions. Before approving a foreign-made drug, the United States Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has many requirements. One is that the Active Principal Ingredient (API) needs to be disclosed. Therein lies the problem. PSK is an assortment of sugars and attached proteins but has no unique molecule responsible for its impact on the immune system. Without that API, verification from batch-to-batch is not possible. Thus, it is classified as an undefined drug. This is one reason why PSK cannot be legally imported nor marketed in the United States. -Paul Stamets 

"Keep your face towards the light of the sunshine, and you cannot see the shadows."  

-Helen Keller

I have begun to embrace the spring sun 

by 

embarking on daily treks through the forested hills and open valley's of my home. 

I have come into contact with several species of flora, lichens, mosses, fungi, and mammals, 

but 

have yet to encounter what I am in a sense seeking, 

the comfort of a friendly face, a smile, or even the faraway wave from an automobile driver. 

I am constantly taken aback by the beauty of this untouched landscape 

but

 the loneliness that resides within it is becoming more of a burden then a pleasure.