Hi Root Cellar Community,

Do you know what I love? I love my family, I love the forest and the ocean, and I love fresh beautiful food prepared and enjoyed with those dear to me. Bring me some veg from your garden or a fish that you caught, cook it with me slowly while we enjoy a nice glass of wine and some great music, then enjoy the meal with me, also slowly. If this can happen seaside, followed by a walk in the forest, my heart will pretty much explode. If someone else does the dishes, well then I have had prime ‘Daisy Dream Experience’, and I can die happy.

Foraged Morels are starting to roll in at The Root Cellar and for me Morel Mushrooms mean meals shared with friends & family. They aren’t something that we really bother with on a ‘school night (what’s THAT?!) or when we are rushing between activities and eating-to-live rather than living-to-eat. Morels are like the pomegranate of the woods… a little bit of a hassle (rinse….swish… soak… pat), but worth every second. And the hassle dissipates if you’re prepping mushrooms with friends, quite like shucking crab….It doesn’t take much to turn a pain in the A$$ into a dream when you’re rewarded with a delicious meal at the end.

Morel focused meals mean shared food. Shared food WITH PEOPLE WE DON’T LIVE WITH. And technically this is allowed now. But my comfort zone is lagging. I have spent a bit of time with a couple of people, and savoured every second, but socializing now has an air of trepidation to it for me. Many seem to have this sense of ‘we better do it before the second wave and they tell us we can’t anymore!’ perspective… and I get it for it is wild mushrooms that are now pushing me out of the wading pool and into the deep end.

When I haven’t had house guests in months, I get thinking about the state of my table cloth and maybe candles, and I notice how shoddy the mat at my front door is looking, and of course the perfect wine or cocktail for my mushrooms. I am steadfast in this with my food, but am also pretty diligent when I ‘need’ something (okay, I just WANT a new table cloth), about tracking it down at a locally owned store, preferably made or sourced by a local vendor. I am uplifted to hear more subscription to this kind of effort around me ‘mid-Covid’. I hate that everyone knows someone who has been hit hard, who has lost a job, whose business can’t pay the rent, or may not even re-open. But I LOVE that this means that everybody CARES. I now see oblivion about where our consumer dollars end up diminishing and being replaced with pride, and it brings me both great joy and great gratitude.

Thank you for your mindfulness.

Thank you for spending your dollars where it counts.

And thank you for contributing to the rebuilding of our economy.

Warmly,
XO Daisy

A Little Dirt