Learn more about Mycologists, Sarah and Nick Jordan! They will be teaching the Wild Edible Mushroom Identification Workshop on September 9, 2012 at Norwegian Wood Retreat

Wild Edible Mushroom Identification Workshop

Wild Edible Mushroom Workshop

Sunday, September 9, 2012, 11:30 AM to 5:30 PM

Limited Seating so register now!

Presented by Nick and Sarah Jordan

at Norwegian Wood Retreat, LLC

30440 Highway 169, Princeton, MN 55371

Cost - $40 per person includes lunch

This workshop is designed to help people develop the skills and confidence to begin collecting,

identifying, and safely eating wild edible mushrooms. Activities will include a photo presentation

of edible Midwest mushrooms, practice identification with fresh specimens, a mushroom foray in a

nearby forest, and cooking/sampling edible mushrooms. Edibility guidelines, cautions and other

pointers will be provided for each "form group" of mushrooms, with emphasis on the most common,

delicious, and readily identifiable mushrooms found in the Midwest. Dozens of species of edible/

inedible and poisonous mushrooms will be on display!

Bring your camera, notebook, mosquito-proof clothing, basket, and any mushrooms you found and

are curious about or just want to share! Suggested field guide: North American Mushrooms: A Field

Guide to Edible and Inedible Fungi by Orson K. Miller and Hope Miller 2006.

About the Instructors: Sarah Foltz Jordan is a conservation biologist at the Xerces Society working

to help preserve rare insect species and their habitats. She spends her free time documenting,

identifying, and enjoying fungi. Nick Jordan believes that fungi are our allies and that their role on

this planet is powerful and often underestimated. During the summer, he and Sarah grow and

market vegetables, fruit, and of course mushrooms on their small organic farm in Princeton, MN.

For more information visit the instructors‘ Edible Mushroom Website: www.mycomagnet.com

To Register, email deb@norwegianwoodretreat.com, or call Deb at 651-335-3449

Due to limited space pre-registration is required. Payment is accepted by check and PayPal.

For directions to Norwegian Wood Retreat, go to www.norwegianwoodretreat.com and click on the

Google Maps link.

The Guestbook

Reading what guests have written in the guestbook is very much a gift for me. Here are a couple excerpts:

"the setting is idyllic, the bed was heavenly, the breakfast divine"

"I've never been to a B&B before. My perception is forever changed. I didn't want to leave the outdoors once I sat down on the couch on the porch - ah!"

"we've found our new home away from home"

"your place is spiritual"

"a menu set to impress"

and my favorite...."we'll be back!"

A Soul-Satisfying Weekend!

Arnhild arrived on Friday afternoon with lots of yarn and experience to share.  Once everyone arrived the table was set up for a smorgasborg.  There was enough food for the Vikings and then some!   Here is the menu.

First Course

Fish Cakes with horseradish

Open Face Sandwiches 

Smoked Whitefish

Gjetost and Jarlsberg Cheese

Deviled Eggs

Herring

Olives

 Lefse

Pheasant Summer Sausage

Aqavit (the bottle was never opened!)

Main Meal

Meatballs with Gravy

Grilled Salmon with Norwegian Lemon Butter Sauce

Rutmus - Mash Potatoes/Beets

Dessert

Fruktsuppe

Ginger Cookies

The Best Flourless Chocolate Cake 

Beverages available throughout the day

Orange Juice

Tomato Juice

Milk/Soy Milk

Coffee/Tea

Lemon/Cucumber Water

Fruit is available throughout the day

Saturday started out with the smell of fresh coffee, morning walks, and lots of laughter!  

The Saturday group of knitters learned Austrian Cables.

Getting Ready for a Knitting Retreat with Arnhild!

In preparation for a knitting retreat with a Norwegian knitter, Arnhild Hillesland, I decided to make lefse.  Lefse is a traditional norwegian food that is very adaptable to most meals - as a bread or as a snack with butter, sugar, and cinnamon.  It's very much like a tortilla but made with riced potatoes.

I remember eating lunch in a restaurant in Decorah Iowa where they served a breakfast sausage wrapped in lefse and topped with ligonberries.  Very memorable!  So one of the breakfasts I serve next weekend will be a replicate of that meal.  

The first photo is of the dough mixture rolled out.

 This second photo has three lefse on the grill in three various stages.  You can see I need more practice making them round.  Nevertheless, they taste the same whether they're round or not.

The weekend will start out with a smorgasbord with several courses of Scandanavian delicacies.  Just to be clear, being the norwegian I am, I like lutefisk but I will wait to serve it with others who will join me.  I also don't want the odor of the fish to linger all weekend!

Saturday and Sunday are day-long knitting classes.  Austrian Cables and Reversible Knitting in two colors.  If you are interested in joining the groups, it's not too late.  Just a few openings left.

Good Morning!

Welcome to Norwegian Wood Retreat, a retreat for kindred spirits.  I've just made the leap into the blogging world.  Thank you, Jane, for pointing me in the right direction.

This blog will be about events and activities at Norwegian Wood Retreat.  I hope to entice you into coming for the day or weekend.

Norwegian Wood Retreat is a Bed and Breakfast - and more! - located about 1 hour north of the Twin City metropolitan area on five pine and oak acres.  Ok, there currently is some pesky buckthorn too but I'm working to get rid of it - it will take some persistence!  There are four bedrooms with very comfortable beds that can accommodate up to eight overnight guests.   The beds can be set up as singles or king size.

The facility also has a good sized studio with a heated floor - very nice this time of year! and a large screened-in porch for napping on lazy summer afternoons.

Examples of being more than a B&B have been scrap booking retreats, business meetings, christan men's retreat, one-day family gatherings, and just recently, a venue for a local campaign Meet and Greet.  Quilters are coming in March.

At the end of March, there will be a knitting retreat with a well-known Norwegian knitter and Rauma wool distributor, Arnhild Hillesland.  Reservations are currently being accepted.

Go to Norwegian Wood Retreat.com - Events to find out how to register for upcoming events or customize your own visit.  Norwegian Wood Retreat is also on Facebook too so  that's another way to see photos and get event information.

Stay tuned for more postings and pictures!