Our travels along the West Coast took us through Oregon, both along the coast and the Cascade mountains.
Somewhere at a beach in Oregon
Most of the foraged mushrooms I ordered as a chef in Virginia and Pennsylvania came from Oregon, so I was excited to get to Oregon and go mushrooming.
I remember going mushroom-hunting with my parents in Germany. I learned quickly which ones were good to pick and to leave the ones I did not know. I enjoyed the flavor from a young age and learned to appreciate them even more as I entered my culinary career. I knew Porcini mushrooms and other boletes, parasol mushrooms and chanterelles as a child but morels, blewit mushrooms, lobster mushrooms, winter chanterelles, hen of the woods, chicken of the woods and others I got to know whilst working in the kitchen both in the UK and in the US. At the Inn at Little Washington we had foragers bring us mushrooms through the back door. Most of the mushrooms I bought from a purveyor came from Oregon, though.
As we arrived in Oregon I asked around and was surprised to hear that the season starts in September with the rainfalls. It had been dry the whole summer and we arrived at the end of August. So we had to wait for rain. Someone told me that clouds at night move over the coastal mountains and that the humidity could be enough for mushrooms to grow. So I set out with some of the children to see if we could find any. We had some success and found some chanterelles and lobster mushrooms. We had enough to make a delicious risotto.
Lobster mushrooms and chanterelles
A few days later there was a sprinkle of rain and we find a few more than the first time. Finally we had a full day of rain and I went with just Jojo and we found a lot of mushrooms. We found the most beautiful chanterelles but the majority were Lobster mushrooms.
Jojo and I found a lot of mushrooms after it rained all day the day before.
Lobster mushrooms are russula or milk cap mushrooms that have been compositionally altered by a parasitic mold. This may not sound very nice but they are actually delicious. They have a firm texture and a nutty, woodsy flavor and some say hints of seafood aroma. We had a blast and used the mushrooms as a side with meat, made omelettes and a tasty mushroom pasta. Coincidentally we found the perfect wine to go with the pasta to make it one of those memorable meals one always remembers.
the pasta dish was delicious.
The season was short for us as we had to leave for California but in the end we had our fill of mushrooms and I can look forward to go morel-hunting in spring again.
More mushrooms
A couple of things are important when cooking mushrooms; make sure you wash the mushrooms well before cooking and drain them well so they are dry.
Secondly, the pan should be thick so it holds the heat well. Get it smoking hot before adding the mushrooms.
Do not overfill the pan or it will cool down and the mushrooms release a lot of water and will steam rather than sear.
Butter herbs (thyme, Tarragon , rosemary) and garlic are perfect to finish the mushrooms at the end of cooking.
I love adding bacon bits to the mushrooms when I cook them as a side dish or for my omelet.
After visiting Phoenix for a LV conference we decided to spend some of the winter in Southern California. There are a few Thousand Trail RV parks in Southern Arizona but they are all age limited (55+). So we decided to go back to Southern California where there are a few Thousand Trails as well.
We went to Palm Springs Thousand Trails and had the best time there. The park is clean, the pool area is great, there were lots of children for ours to meet; but most of all the staff there are super friendly and forthcoming. They helped us with our future reservations and we never had an issue with anything. There were also daily activities for the children.
The pool area at Thousand Trails, Palm Springs. We went there on a day pass to do Laundry and use the pool.
After 2 weeks we had to leave however and decided to spend a week on the BLM land at the South-entrance of Joshua Tree National Park. I had read about it researching where to stay and only found positive feedback. we arrived in the afternoon filled up with water and gas and were ready to spend the week.
As you get off route 10 and head towards the park after about half a mile is a road running parallel to route 10 with a lot of spots. To our surprise there were already about 30 RVs, something we had not experienced before. Usually there are 5-10 spots. but here was room for probably 50 more easily. The Bureau of Land Management (BLM) land is just outside the park and stretches for miles in both directions. Because the area is so large there is plenty of privacy. Our closest neighbors were about 100 yards away from us. So there is plenty of room for our children to play, to make lots of noise and still not bother anyone.
The beginning of the dirt road leading to many boondocking sites.
We stayed there in mid November for a week and came back again at the beginning of December. The weather was very comfortable but it got chilly at night. You are supposed to only stay 14 days at one place but we never noticed anyone stop and check.
Sunset in the desert.
As we are a large family we go through our water very quickly and after 3-4 days we are usually out. If you enter Joshua Tree National Parks South entrance you head towards Cottonwood Campground. There is a dump station and fresh water so we took the trailer to dump and fill up with fresh water. There was no sign so we did not pay anything. We have the annual America the Beautiful National Parks membership so we entered the park with that but there is no barrier or ranger station you have to pass.
The dirt road stretches for miles.
You are in the desert here but there are plenty of shrubs, bushes and small trees. The ground was mostly gravel but it was compact enough for our rig not to get stuck. The kids played ball and bocce outside, rode their bikes and dug holes with the shovel we have.
We had plenty of space and spread out.
The internet there was good enough to stream video over our T-mobile internet gateway. The mountains of Joshua Tree are right behind you and there is an area that is managed by the LA water district which you are not allowed to enter. As long as you stay away from it you are fine to spread out as much as you want. We saw several groups of trailers in a circle who met over the weekend. There were expensive motor homes, Trailers, camper vans and people camping in tents.
We had plenty of campfires whereas most of California has a ban. There are stone rings set up everywhere.
There are plenty of things to do in Joshua Tree NP as well. We took the children on a hike, bouldering and also just drove from one end to the other with plenty of stops for all the different sites. All in all we felt very safe as there very a lot of campers and we left our trailer by itself to go to town for shopping etc. It is definitely a place we will use again if we feel in need to stay somewhere in Southern California.
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