There's a fungus among us!

Aren't they pretty?

I'm finally getting around to posting some pictures of The Mushroom Festival! I know I've mentioned before that we live near the town in Pennsylvania that is considered "The Mushroom Capital of the World." In fact, mushrooms are surprisingly Pennsylvania's biggest agricultural crop. Interesting huh? Even though we don't live in the town that's considered the Mushroom Capital, you can't drive very far without seeing many, many mushroom farms in most of the towns around here.

So evidently every year, this town has it's famous Mushroom Festival. It's a huge event with many, many thousands of people attending. We started out our day by going to the parade. 

The Son and The Niece thought it was great fun. The adults were a but disappointed because there was not even one marching band, pretty much the parade consisted of classic cars ("Cool Babies" as The Son calls them), local politicians, some dude who was called "Mr. Delaware" as in a Mr. Delaware kind of guy that won a pageant. I still have yet to google him. Nonetheless, the kids had fun.

Oh yeah, the parade also had this... a person dressed up in a mushroom costume. That's not something you see every day now, is it? 

After the parade we headed by the Kids' Entertainment Tent. The Son and The Niece had a fantastic time doing the twist and marching in a parade while singing "You're a Grand Old Flag". I do love me some George M. Cohan! Look at these two, twisting away like they did last summer! 

This woman got in on the twisting action with The Kids. How funny! 

After the entertainment, The Husbands carried The Kids up to the main street where there were lots of vendors to enjoy. Our husbands...always a couple of fun guys. (ha ha, you know I had to say that at least once in this post, right?) 

We saw this thing called The MushRoom. It was weird because there was nothing really inside it except for a couple folding chairs. I didn't get it. It did serve as a great meeting place for us all later though.

We visited the tent where they show how they grow the mushrooms, it was quite interesting. Next year, I hope to go on one of the actual mushroom farm tours. Here's the son, posing with lots of different varieties of 'shrooms. 

This is my favorite picture from the day, all those mushrooms in the back look so pretty (and yummy) to me and although The Son would never eat an actual mushroom, he was more than happy to pick one up and pose with it. 

 Lastly, I got this shot of some button mushrooms and how they look when they're growing. Neat huh? We were allowed to touch them and they felt really cool. The Son got to pluck one off and look at it under a microscope, that was big fun to him and I must admit, it was pretty interesting to me as well. 

So next time you buy mushroom at the grocery store, think of my little area of PA and take a look at the label and see if they were in fact grown around here... chances are, they will be! 

Happy Independence Day!

Happy 4th everyone! I have a picture for you today of the place where it all happened, Independence Hall...one of my favorite places in The City of Philadelphia. It's a great trip if you ever have a chance to visit. 

I'm hoping most of you know, (at least those of you who are from this country) but Independence Hall is where our country's Declaration of Independence was signed 232 years ago today.

My family will be celebrating the day with our neighbors and their kids at Dutch Wonderland again. I hope you all have a wonderful and safe Holiday!

God Bless America.

Shroomin' in PA!

I know you are all anxiously awaiting this post regarding Pennsylvania's top agricultural crop! As I'm sure you've already figured out from the picture above...it's mushrooms! Yay and Hooray for mushrooms!  Aren't they pretty? I especially love the little white guys on the left. The majority of mushrooms are grown in the part of PA in which we live. Kennett Square, PA is the "mushroom capital of the world". I don't live in that town but we do live near it. The thing I've recently learned about mushrooms is that when they're growing, they can be very stinky. The Son says they smell like "dog toots" but honestly, I don't think they smell all that bad most of the time, just very "organic" and I kind of like it. Call me crazy, but I do. 

I've also learned to actually like mushrooms! I never, ever thought I would but I've been trying different things with mushrooms in them and those little fungi are darn good! We recently discovered (courtesy of my friend Lynn) a restaurant called the Half Moon Saloon in Kennett Square. (Are you proud of me? I finally figured out how to make a link in my blog! Yes!) The Half Moon serves this dish called "Exotic Mushrooms". It's a mix of mushrooms with some kind of beefy flavored broth with walnuts and dried cranberries served over gorgonzola toast. Oh. My. Gosh. It is one of the yummiest things I've eaten in a long time. I've ordered it every time I've gone to the Half Moon and I'm sure I will continue to do so. I also just tried their mushroom risotto and that was quite good as well. 

This weekend, The husband (a real fun-guy) tried to duplicate the "Exotic Mushrooms". He did a pretty good job too even considering that he forgot the walnuts and cranberries. I was impressed and I'm a picky eater, well maybe not picky but particular for sure. He said he would continue to experiment until we get it right. "We" meaning him cooking, me tasting. I think we need to invest in some truffle oil to really get it right, maybe that will be a good Father's Day gift for me, I mean him. 

So before you go thinking you don't like mushrooms, give them another try and support the economy of Southern Chester County Pennsylvania, you might be glad you did.