The chocolate cake is my interpretation of Sachertorte because I knew we had some apricot jam lying around in the community kitchen from last week. And then I get to tell everyone about the time I single-handedly made sachertorte for about 170 people in the mountains outside Vienna a few years ago.
The great thing about procrastibaking is that at the end of the day when you realise you haven't got any work done, you can console yourself with cake.
This morning my brother found me buzzing around at 7am in the kitchen, nodded knowingly, and said "ah it's your superfan day. That's why you're up early getting all your jars out." And indeed! The grand opening of the Kirkcaldy branch of Grain and Sustain has arrived! I got there just after 9 to find it delightfully buzzing, jammed my backpack full of jars of supplies, and had lovely chats with a few local business owners who I bumped into who I also see regularly. Plus the sun was out. I am feeling the love for Fife!
Agaricus haul, and some beautiful amanita muscaria.
Amy added 20 photos to https://i.amy.gy/2021-foraging/
Pressing apples and making compote.
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An amazing full rainbow in view from Dysart. And some sunrises and Max time.
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Another amazing sunrise, with Max and K. In the evening, I went with K and R to see Merlin Sheldrake talk in St Andrews. We got chips on the way back from East Wemyss - just in time.
Amy added 7 photos to https://i.amy.gy/2021-fife/
Amy added 29 photos to https://i.amy.gy/2021-fife/
Set out on the motorbike for a brief jaunt to St Monan's, then back to Buckhaven to load up on apples. But the search for a nonexistent secondhand shop in St Monan's dragged on, time advanced faster than expected, and we found ourselves having to choose between chips in East Wemyss and an extremely rapid apple pick. We went for the former and regretted nothing.
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Laid laminate floor in Dave's room the guest room. Once again, Max's help was invaluable.
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Amy added 12 photos to https://i.amy.gy/madefood/
Chocolate coconut cake at home; sachertorte at the Community Kitchen.
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Making as many things as possible with foraged apples and mushrooms.
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Giant field mushrooms as pizza base... as pie topper...
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Many delicious chocolatey things. And more meals with field mushrooms.
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Reminiscing about Malaysia, I made nasi lemak. It was so good! The vegan boiled eggs - made from potato, soy milk and agar, primarily, with kala namak - were weird but, you know, filled a need.
Amy added 7 photos to https://i.amy.gy/madefood/
Peanut butter cups and muffins in the Community Kitchen. Haggis, neeps and tatties (and chard) at home. Wagamama's at Kit's.
Cemetery foraging; lots of brightly coloured waxcaps, and some agaricus. Nothing else in the box, mind your own business. Giant horse mushrooms picked by R up near Cupar.
Amy added 14 photos to https://i.amy.gy/2021-foraging/
Earthstar fungi in Ravenscraig Park. Various inkcaps, including a good harvest of shaggy. Funnels, porcelain fungus, and a few wee things I don't know.
Amy added 18 photos to https://i.amy.gy/2021-foraging/
Amy added 10 photos to https://i.amy.gy/2021-foraging/
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Fungal questing with Lowenna in Livingston.
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Amy added 10 photos to https://i.amy.gy/growstuff/
R and Max and I insulated under the floor in Dave's room the guest room. Under one half of the room there was a positively comfortable 2 feet of space to maneuver in, but under the other half it got down to a foot or less. Not horrifying at all. This involved duct taping and cable tying insulation tubes around as many pipes as we could get to, and stapling and taping thick foily stuff over it all. It took the better part of a weekend and felt like a mega achievement. Max did most of the work, obviously.
Amy added 22 photos to https://i.amy.gy/madestuff/
A weekend of looking after the void demon. She sat over me concernedly when I had a migraine, and we went for a big long walk to Livingston Village and back. She is very good at finding socks.
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Sunrises in Dysart. A little visit to Lowenna.
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Mum came to visit. We adventured around Kirkcaldy, to Burntisland, and visited Dave at work in Aberdour. Got rained on a lot, but walked a lot anyway.
An absolute chanterelle emergency in the woods by Loch Ness. I picked a bagful but we were supposed to be hiking.. I've never seen anything like it, there were so many. Also found hedgehog fungus, a few boletes (but most were one to two weeks too old), shaggy inkcaps, my first woolly milkcaps, a handful of puffballs, and a few to be IDed.
Amy added 39 photos to https://i.amy.gy/2021-foraging/
Dave and I went on a mini adventure to the Highlands. We stopped over in Inverness, then bussed to a quiet hostel on the side of Loch Ness. We promptly proceeded to climb Meall Fuar-mhonaidh, going extremely the long way around. A few wrong-side-of-the-fence mishaps, and forcing our way through ferns taller than me. We were also delayed by vast quantities of chanterelles. After descending, we reached a small and lovely tea room / pottery barn, just in time for rain. So we stayed a while for cake. The route back took us along the Great Glen Way. That evening I made wild mushroom stir fry to share with the couple of other people in the hostel. Dave had a pizza.
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Sunrise at the lochside. A castle visit. A wander around Inverness city and river islands. Put Dave on a bus back home, but I stayed.
Amy added 128 photos to https://i.amy.gy/202110-inverness/
A pleasant sunny solo day in Inverness. I went to the Botannical Gardens (and bought plants, oops). Climbed a big hill with a cemetery on it. Enjoyed the local vegan food scene.
Amy added 103 photos to https://i.amy.gy/202110-inverness/
Rock hunting in Orrock Quarry. The clouds hung low and heavy, muting and distorting all sound. The mounds of stone formed an alien landscape. The air was damp and cold. The light disappeared quickly, and we had left late to walk from Dysart. The country roads weren't lit, and there was no way we would make it over the hill to Burntisland in total darkness. We pressed on to Kinghorn instead, and ate extortionately priced chips while we waited for the last bus home.
Amy added 14 photos to https://i.amy.gy/2021-fife/
Replacing the smelly carpet with laminate in Dave's room the guest room has escalated into installing insulation under the floor in half the flat. Which is definitely good in the long run by BY GOLLY do I want this disruption to be over. Replacing the smelly carpet with laminate in my room will, I anticipate, escalate into creating a secret compartment under the floor with a trap door because I think I have 4-5 feet of space down there.. (plus installing under floor insulation in the other half of the flat).
Of all of the things that could divide the current TAG, ReSpec vs Bikeshed is going to be our downfall.
Foraged field mushrooms, shaggy inkcaps, puffballs. Made sachertorte at the Community Kitchen . Grain and Sustain in Kirkcaldy opened! Laid new floor in Dave's room. Beach time. A foggy quarry adventure.
Cooking and baking and gardening and foraging and not a lot else by way of 'productivity'.. Worked on BODS (when I did work). Made compote from foraged apples and berries. Visited Lowenna.
A failed mission in St Monans. Mum came for a few days and we went on some nice walks despite the rain. Made peanut butter cups in the Community Kitchen which are always a good idea. Weekend supervising the void demon which was lovely, and also foraging around Livingston. Also watched season 4 of Dear White People all in one go. Crocheted a housewarming teacosy.
Hung out with Max. Made lemon tarts at the Community Kitchen, and compote and mushroom things at home. Chanterelle and more foraging. Inverness hiking and foraging.
Week in review: 27th September - 3rd October
Inverness touristing with Dave and alone. Beach time. Saw Merlin Sheldrake give a talk in St Andrews. The usual gardening and cooking and baking. Dave went away for the weekend. Giving me the opportunity to paint his room, and then take up the floor to insulate the pipes.
Dave's room The guest room becomes white and purple. This was my first ever time painting a colour and it was fun.
Amy added 10 photos to https://i.amy.gy/madestuff/