In article .net>,
"Gregory Morrow" > wrote:

> Melba's Jammin; wrote:
>
> > Last week I cut up a boneless chuck roast and pressure cooked it
> > for stew and. The 'and' went into the soup kettle tonight. I
> > cooked a few handsful of barley, rehydrated a package of dried
> > Slovak mushrooms,
>
> What kind of mushrooms are they? Did you get them when you went over
> there?

Dunno, Greg. :-( AFAIK, my folks there don't refer to them with a
botanical name. There's a kind that's called sosnyak--the one that
grows under the pine trees. They're from the very NE part of Slovakia.
The kind I picked as a kid here were, I believe, boletus, though my mom
never knew them by that name. She knew them as "these are the good
ones." 8*0) I have some dried mushrooms that are about 10 years old
in the cupboard. When The Cousins came three years ago, Cousin Michal
brought a big sack of dried mushrooms -- he'd spent the spring and
summer gathering and drying them for his American cousins -- they're
more precious than gold because of it. Considering that they're mostly
water, his was truly a labor of love for a bunch of people he'd not yet
met. I decided it's time to start using these things. When I make them
with kraut juice for Christmas, I use some fresh button mushrooms, too.
It works.
>
> I too am diggin' winter food. I just made some chicken stock and now
> will start on the cranberry - dried cherry conserve for Thanksgiving.
> Bought a crockpot at Linens 'n Things today, too....

Could you post the recipe, please, if it's not inconvenient? It sounds
really tasty. I made a cherry-plum conserve that is really good -- I've
a dozen small jars to give to my Church Women in Exile group, along with
a pound of frozen ground pork and a small jar of Penzeys Breakfast
Sausage Seasoning in each gift bag.

Give that crockpot a test with spiced cider -- that's all it's good for,
IMNSHO. <8^0)
--
-Barb
<www.jamlady.eboard.com>
"If you're ever in a jam, here I am."