Monday, October 03, 2022

Tofu, Shrimp of the Woods & Adventure

My nephew, Colin, and his wife Kat arrived Friday evening. 

We took a whirl wind tour of Viroqua, which included coffee at Wonderstate [Formerly, Kickapoo Coffee], the Farmer's Market, and Viroqua Food Co-op for supplies and groceries.

Kat made some amazing gluten free muffins and a bread for us when we returned. After eating some delights, us 'kids' set off the the Kickapoo Valley Reserve. I thought we'd avoid all the hoopla of the Dam Challenge by heading over to Wiester Creek.

We headed up the West Ridge Trail and then went down the hill to Ma & Pa's trail. Yippee! One more section to cross off for me! Section 29 is done!

Infrared photo of the West Ridge Trail


As we headed down Ma & Pa's Trail, we encountered a couple hiking towards us with a full basket of mushrooms.
We were looking for them as well as trying to spot birds either visually or by song.

Mr. and Mrs. Kingfisher watching for birds!
Colin has edible Fungi in the red bandana.


We started to find Shrimp of the Woods


Then we went...

off the map...



And unfortunately, we had to do some major brush busting. However, that led us to even more Shrimp of the Woods!



Our take after cleaning them and before Colin cooked them:


Our last part of the off the map trek took us through a corn field to where we parked.

Charlie led the way. Colin and Kat wanted to see what Charlie looked like in Infrared.

He looked like a Zombie Dog!


PS~ The Shrimp of the Woods were amazing and so delicious! We wanted to head back out right away and search for more! 
Colin made us a delicious supper vegan style that included Tofu. I thought I'd never try it, but everything was delicious.

Rich stuck with having a steak!



12 comments:

Miss Merry said...

I have never had shrimp of the woods. They look delicious!

Val Ewing said...

They were amazing in taste. Absolutely worth brush busting for them.

Far Side of Fifty said...

Looks great! I have never tried tofu...I would probably go with the steak too! Did Kat share the Gluten Free Muffin recipe? Most of my relatives are gluten free now...not me but I feel sorry for them :(

Sandra said...

You had a fun visit and it sounds like you enjoyed the meal as well as the company. Zombie Charlie!

Val Ewing said...

I will have to ask her to give it to me. And then I can share!

Val Ewing said...

It was wonderful. So refreshing and fun. They even met Olive and had a great time!

Shirley said...

No tofu on the menu here!
Charlie is a good tour guide.
I'll have to see if Shrimp of the Woods is local here. Bet it's not. It looks yummy!

aurora said...

Glad you enjoyed such a fun visit! No doubt they loved KVR.

Anonymous said...

Very cool! You got to try the Shrimp of the Woods! I have never tried it before this year, but I will have to say that I agree with the folks who suggested cooking it longer. After cooking it to the point of all water leaving, I found the taste and texture much more enjoyable. ( I also have sen people deep fry them. I wonder how that would taste...)

The Great Ethan Allen said...

crap... I think I posted my comment under anonymous..

Val Ewing said...

My Nephew cooked them and they were perfect. I heard deep fried were excellent also. These were awesome.

Val Ewing said...

They sure enjoyed the scenery and all of the interesting fungi we saw!