Pictured above, from left to right, are a portobello, maitake, and shiitake mushroom. I bought these at a local Asian supermarket on Route 27 in Edison called H-Mart.
Why use these special mushrooms? Why not just stick to white button mushrooms? In addition to the excitement of having something new in one’s soup, maitake and shiitake have medicinal benefits. Here’s a post on the health benefits of maitake (slows tumors, protects healthy cells from becoming cancerous, may reduce the need for insulin and more). This post on the health benefits of shiitake mushroom is on cancer.org. Susun at Planet Thrive writes about medicinal mushrooms in general.
Here are a bunch of maitake mushrooms.
This is a shiitake mushroom. Sometimes I put a shiitake mushroom in a mug of hot water and drink it the way someone would a cup of tea.
I’m going to use them in mushroom barley soup tonight. If I have leftover mushroom barley, sometimes I stuff it into my Friday night chicken. I’ve also made mushroom lentil soup. Here is another mushroom with shiitake soup.
These two wet tulips are relaying the weather we have in New Jersey today.
The pink petals of my neighbor’s dogwood are showing off.
Yesterday I spotted this robin in a tree. Do you think he spotted me?
Today in the gray I saw two birds in a tree – the left bottom one is a robin. Can’t make out the right one – he’s so far off! Michelle suspects the one on the right is a “she” robin – the males have the brighter breast. Mating season?
We still have a bunny rabbit living in our backyard.
École élémentaire des Hospitalières-Saint-Gervais, a school in France
Ilana-Davita presents JPIX – The Spring Edition. See some beautiful photos by bloggers from Israel, the U.S., Ukraine, New Zealand and France. Oh, see three paintings, too! Enjoy.
Update: Batya has volunteered to do a JPiX in early August. Thank you, Batya!
If you go to North Eighth Avenue in Highland Park today, most of the pink magnolia buds will probably be on the ground. I haven’t taken out my camera since April 17. There are other trees in bloom in Highland Park, but if I can spare a bit of time over the next few days, I am hoping to take out my watercolors and start a new painting. Not sure what will inspire me.
