mushroom scramble

breakfast (8:30 a.m.) = oatmeal with raisins and brown sugar

brunch (11:30 a.m.) = bagel with scrambled mushrooms

Heat some olive oil and a diced red shallot, along with salt, pepper, and fennel seeds, over low heat. Add 5 small-medium button mushrooms (those small, round, white mushrooms that are easy to find), chopped. Heat, stirring/turning occasionally with a spatula, until the mushrooms are slightly browned on the edges, and you should hear water hissing out of them. Turn the heat off and let them continue to sizzle while your bagel toasts. I did mine in the oven at 400 degrees until it was slightly brown on the edges. Spread margarine on the bagel, then top it with the mushroom scramble. Don't be shy with the olive oil; mushrooms will drink it up. Fennel seed gives the topping a savory breakfast taste.

First Farmers' Market in December

Here it is, December 5th. First snow in the forecast. And we've just come back from shopping at the farmers' market.The Clark Park market was back, after its unnerving hiatus last week. It was 66 degrees on Thursday. Today it's in the 30s. Kind of exciting and cozy. We bundled up and walked down to the park. It was raining a drizzly rain, but the air is so cold it bites your face a little bit, and my boots did not sink into the mud the way they do in summer and fall. It feels like winter out there, for sure. It smells like winter. Yesterday, we rearranged and cleaned the living room. Now that we're back from shopping, the plan is not to leave the house again.

So what do you get at a farmers' market in December?

Saturday Shopping List

about 3 pints of chestnuts

1 quart or so of yukon potatoes

1 bunch of curly kale

1 head of green leaf lettuce

1 stalk of brussels sprouts

1 giant head of cauliflower

1 quart of white mushrooms

a lot of purple carrots

7 smallish red tomatoes

4 yellow onions

2 green peppers

a jar of strawberry jam

1 loaf of white bread

1 loaf of red onion sourdough bread

3 chocolate-banana muffins

total: $52.45

On the way home, we stopped by a small grocery for bagels. That's what I had for breakfast, with sauteed tofu and onions. Still have red lentils and plenty of beans, along with sweet potatoes, sauerkraut, broccoli and some dark kale. The dark kale actually makes a good salad green if you shred it up. I had a dark kale salad last night, with onion, garlic, mushrooms, and topped with tiny bits of crispy fried potatoes, with poppy seed dressing. Have also been eating a lot of rice noodles (Thai Kitchen instant noodles), topped with sauteed peppers, mushrooms, onions, broccoli, whatever we have. A staple lately has been brussels sprouts with sauerkraut. The only seasoning it needs is garlic and a little bit of salt.

Thursday night, we had a pizza from Papa John's. The first time they delivered it, it was mistakenly covered with cheese. By the time they delivered the correct pizza (tomato sauce, mushrooms, onion, black olives, green peppers, and banana peppers), we were starving and the pizza was delicious.

I'm watching HGTV for the rest of the day.