It’s less than 24 hours away from the start of this year’s fall mushroom festival, and already fans are camping out in pup tents and setting up collapsible lawn chairs on the main street where the floats will start the procession tomorrow, starting at noon, sharp.

The package of ‘shrooms is slated to arrive from Oregon sometime on 10-2-12.  Get yours now from: http://www.oregonmushrooms.com.

We’re talking a pound of chanterelles and a pound of matsutake, and the possibilities for what to do with them?  Endless.

OK, not endless.

But what we’re thinking are:

Pan seared chanterelle and then onto the bread for them and then toasted on fancy-pants bread with Gruyere.

Or: Matsutake in a miso broth with kale.

And: Pasta chitarre with chanterelle and one anchovy.

Or: matsutake under chicken skin, slow roasted, and lathered with butter.

All of these have UMAMI: High cyclamate stuff.  But of course you already knew that.

And that is just the beginning.

Meanwhile, the state police are directing traffic right outside the kitchen!  People in RVs are here!  Buses of school kids!  And at Logan Airport?  Flights from as faraway as Qatar filled with MPs (mushroom pilgrims).

Can you wait?

I can’t either.