Tomorrow I close my store. I wrote enough about it here that I won't repeat it all, but ... wow.
Tomorrow I retire.

Yup, after tomorrow I'm looking forward to days of bon-bons with my feet up on the couch ... yeah, just me, the bon-bons, the five kids, the schoolwork, the housework, the yardwork, the husband, the cooking, the cleaning, the welding (from In Living Color) ... it'll be the life of ease, I tell ya.

I'll let you know how that goes.


Completely irrelevent but happy images ... Most of the kids playing at a little water feature. They were supposed to stay dry. That went well.

I have to share this recipe.

I needed something to make with mushrooms, I had a pound of them, sliced, from Sam's that were down to their final days. This was the first recipe I found (found here) that I had most of the ingredients for. I did not, however, have the rolled oats ... I had one-minute oats and only 5 cups. And I only had a little packet of active dry yeast. Oh, didn't have marjoram either. Yes, I too was wondering what I was thinking.

Oat Mushroom Patties

3/4 lb. mushrooms, diced
2 garlic cloves, minced
6 C rolled oats
1/2 C onion, diced small
1/2 C carrots, diced small
1/4 C soy sauce
1/4 C yeast
1 t oregano
1 t thyme
1/2 t marjoram

Bring 4 C of water to boil in a large saucepan. Add mushrooms, carrots, and onions and cook until soft.

Add the soy sauce, yeast, garlic, oregano, thyme, and marjoram. Add the rolled oats, one cup at a time, letting oats sink in, then stirring. Cook about 5-6 minutes, until the mixture is thick at the bottom of the pan.

Cover and set aside for about 20 minutes.

Allow to cool and shape into patties.

Placed on a well-oiled cookie sheet and bake at 350' for 45 minutes, turning halfway through.

Serve as desired.



I wasn't sure if "cover and set aside for about 20 minutes" meant to take the pan off the heat, so I put it on very low heat and that seemed to work fine.

I added seasoned bread crumbs before shaping into patties, which added a nice flavor.

"Shape into patties". Interestingly enough there is no note as to how many patties this makes. We don't eat burgers. I haven't shaped anything into a patty since I was a line cook ... a good 20 years ago. So I had to really guess here. I ended up with 11 nice sized patties, which I salted lightly before cooking.

I topped many with cheese during the last few minutes in the oven and served them as I would a veggie burger ... with ketchup, tomatoes, pickles, mustard.

I had no confidence in this recipe. It just looked interesting. I was pretty sure we would be eating at Moe's or making PB&J. In the end, though, we all, except one who doesn't like mushrooms, liked it ... enough that I'll make it again (and might even use the correct ingredients).

If you try it I'd love to hear your experience!