Halle’s Smooooth Words o’ Wisdom

For starters one way to avoid crowds is to take advantage of extreme weather and get out when most everyone is in. Yesterday was such a day on an abandoned trail in the Columbia River Gorge near Cascade Locks.

Claudia and I experienced a banner day picking today. Chanterelles are more pleasant and are easier to clean when dry!

Today was my last day of Chanterelle picking for the season. It would have been nice to get out more this year. Some of the best and largest ones I found were emerging from under a large log:

I met two Russians with a beautiful 4-month-old German Sheperd. They assumed I was Ukrainian because I drive a VW.

Once upon a time when I worked for one I heard another art dealer say to a photographer: 

“If it doesn’t sell make it red. If it still doesn’t sell make it big. And if it STILL doesn’t sell make it big AND red.” 

There’s no stratergery here; the bag I happened to grab before heading out this morning happened to be the red one. Cooking the whole lot tonight with butter, olive oil, garlic and a touch of soy and sugar. Will eat some of the sauce though freeze most of it to enjoy come winter. Ok. Enough blogging about Chanterelles. Oh how I do love them though! Especially the hunt.

Yup, that’s me. Me and the biggest Chanterelle I’ve ever found. The photo’s by ‘Whatia’ Howell. Claudia and I went picking Sunday and were utterly clueless that it was the 2nd day of rifle deer season in Oregon. After meeting several nice fellows with rifles over their shoulders we avoided parking near other vehicles and whistled A LOT. I made Claudia sick of Yellow Submarine in a hurry.

Claudia has editited a lot of photos by your’s truly and has been such a pleasure to work with. She’s retiring in November after 33 years working at The Oregonian. She’s taking their buyout package which sounds like a super sweet deal. Thanks, congratulations and cheers Claudia!

After a surf along the northern Oregon coast Tuesday I found my first Chanterelles of the 2008 mushroom season: 

They were exactly where I found my first patch in 2007 only 2 weeks or so earlier.