(no subject)

Does anyone have any information on solder used in cookware? I have an old (I'm guessing 40-60 years old) Revereware kettle. A few days ago I left it on the stove, forgot it was there, and it boiled dry. And apparently some solder from it melted and dripped onto the stove... And now, despite careful cleaning, there are small metallic flakes in water that has been heated in it. Ew.

Okay, I'm not drinking anything from it for the time being, but I'm kind of creeped out, and asking myself "gee, they knew better than to use lead in the solder in these things, right?"

Anyone like a few Birch Boletes?

Please?

Today after our game I did exactly what I did last weekend after the game -- headed down to my favorite birch bolete spot to harvest mushrooms. The funny thing is that this flush was larger than the last, even though we haven't had real rain recently. Even being extremely picky, and only taking the youngest, firmest and most pristine mushrooms I brought back another 5-6 pounds. About half of which is in the dehydrator now. (Which is a good thing -- last years harvest wasn't very big, and I'd used all the ones from the year before.)

Meanwhile, I have this embarrassment of riches. Birch boletes (technically leccinums, a bolete cousin) are a relative of the porcini. They're awfully tastey, if perhaps not quite so much as their more celebrated cousins (but still very worth the effort, and they'll put grocery store mushrooms to shame). They're also an easy mushroom to identify, and as it happens I've been harvesting and eating birch boletes from this patch for seven years now. But we can only eat so many fresh, and while they dehydrate well, I feel kind of bad about dehydrating so many of them. Especially since they'll probably still be fruiting for at least another month...

Any takers? I'd be happy to suggest recipes as well...