Fun winter activities coming up.. .and fun winter foods… the Oakland Museum and the SF Mycological Society put on another weekend of fun… the Fungus Fair. If you enjoyed the Ferry Building mushroom explosion last weekend you may get into the very in depth displays, cooking insights and activities in Oakland.

photo courtesy of Oakland Museum: taken by Michael Wood. Aleuria.

Explore the mysteries of the mushroom at the 37th Annual Fungus Fair, presented by the Oakland Museum of California and the Mycological Society of San Francisco (MSSF), Saturday and Sunday, December 3 – 4. Fair hours are 10 a.m.-6 p.m. on Saturday and 12-5 p.m. on Sunday.

Also, friend – Miriam Owen- was telling me about chestnuts and the strong Italian-American traditions around the farms in the Bay Area. I just recently added chestnuts to a Thanksgiving Soup (basically all the leftovers), and it was sweet and nutty and had that hard to describe fall-autumn winter taste. I was intimidated at first- you have to cut a cross in the hard nut skin, fry for 5 minutes, remove skins and bitter outer layer, then saute in broth for 20 minutes, but it was worth it. So info on u-pick chestnuts, etc. on chowhound. Hopefully friend, Miriam, will publish her escapades in the chestnut world soon!

I keep hearing about Russian mushroom hunts… can someone post with info? I have no inroads.

If you want that great deal on chestnuts- the open market produce shops on Stockton, near Broadway.