Soon after our return from Switzerland, where a little over a week was spent eating a lot of meat and cheese, it was time again for the Second Mushroom Festival of Autumn.

This one involved two pounds of fresh porcini and a pound of fresh matsutake. These delicious fungi arrived, of course, from Oregon, and have provided the base for five dinners, none of which involved meat, poultry, or fish.  (OK, fine , chicken stock from kosher backs; and no salt added because the brine is extremely salty.)

We’re talking soups, tempura, baked in phyllo, tossed with linguine, etc.

The days are warm, and the nights are cool.  The skies are white, heralding winter.  Fires blaze with little effort to ignite as the wood is dry after two seasons of near drought.