Sosio's Fruit & Produce: Kindness & Mushrooms Are Having A Moment

When I was at the Northwest Flower & Garden Festival Feb 15-19, I posted all kinds of content on my @FindDelight Instagram account, and one trend was that mushroom are having a moment. They were all over the show as cement garden ornaments, or wooden decorations for your home. They were imbedded in logs to grow in your kitchen or the subject of books for sale along side mushroom notecards. Mushrooms are having a moment for sure, so I wanted share this photograph of them in their original edible form (wink). This beautiful selection is available at Sosio's Fruit & Produce at Pike Place Market right now.  

I'd like to tell you a little story about Sosio's Fruit & Produce, if I may. They showed my family a simple kindness that I will never forget. When my mom had a terrible fall last March, my two brothers flew in from Detroit. Only one family member could enter the hospital per day due to Covid restrictions, so while I was at the hospital my brothers wandered around Seattle hoping for good news. One brother struck up a conversation with Mike of Sosio's and explained how they were certainly visiting Seattle, but not really sightseeing, just at loose ends, worrying about my mom in the hospital. My brother was surprised to see Mike start picking out plums, apples, grapes and putting them in a big bag as a gift for the family. Mike told him to have me eat lots of fruit to stay strong as I went in and out of the hospital at this trying time. 

It was lovely and unexpected and certainly welcome when I was on fumes. Later I made sure to write a thank you to Mike and share that my mom was out of the woods and that my brothers had flown home relieved. 

I can't tell you how wonderful it felt to find Sosio's in Pike Place Market, buy some plums and grapes knowing that life was so much better almost exactly a year later. 

#thankful #kindness #pikeplacemarket #seattle #beautyofeverydaylife

Mushroom Still Life at the Issaquah Farmers Market

I love going to farmer's markets, don't you? I see beauty everywhere and I take a lot of pictures. Apples are pretty. Sunflowers are commanding. Tiny potatoes are charming. I could go on and on. Yet sometimes I see a display and stop in my tracks. 

This display looks perfect to me. The combination of mushrooms and fabric creates an image that is puzzle-worthy. A mushroom still life where the fabric on the table actually improves the look of what is displayed on top. It is very unusual to see a farm market booth with this much visual strength. Bravo.

Color (gray, khaki, stone and cream) and Texture (smooth as silk or as lumpy as cauliflower) remind us that natural is wonderful. I'm sorry that I didn't catch the name of the vendor, but this product is available at the Issaquah, WA farmers market every Saturday thru October 1.

Now that I think about it, I am decorating my living room in these shades - with touches of plum, light blue and peony during the summer.

#mushrooms #designideas

Sno Valley Mushrooms: Beauty Sold at the Issaquah Farmers Market

I love going to farmer's markets, don't you? I see beauty everywhere and I take a lot of pictures. A basket of apple are pretty. Sunflowers are commanding. Tiny potatoes are charming. I could go on and on. Yet sometimes I see a display and stop in my tracks. 

Color (gray, khaki, stone and cream), Texture (smooth as silk) and Topic (mushrooms grown in a sawdust substrate without fertilizer, pesticides, manure or synthetic chemicals = amazing), rule when I am deciding what to write about. Something this beautiful and interesting, deserves the spotlight. No big farmers market post here, this is all about the mushroom.

I bought a carton of shiitake mushroom and I can't wait to cook them as the mushroom man suggested, sauteed with butter and fresh basil. They don't need to be washed or brushed because they are grown out of a block of sawdust substrate, which means no dirt. He told me to tear them from the middle of the cap down, no need to trim the ends either, it is all prime mushroom. 

Take a moment and look at this picture.  Silky smooth mushrooms that grow in a gorgeous natural palette.  Abby Tabak at House Beautiful magazine creates paint palettes that pull from nature. I couldn't help but think of her piece on mushrooms when I saw these fresh mushrooms at the market. I could decorate my entire living room in these shades. 

#housebeautiful #mushrooms #designideas

Earth Star Mushroom

You know that I like to write blog posts that are beautiful and interesting.  Here I go again.  I didn't think that I would be writing about inedible mushrooms this week, that's for sure.  But my mom's friend came to the door yesterday to show me this!

She had found this unusual mushroom in the shape of a blooming flower growing under a tree and was sure that I would want to show it to you.  Honestly, it looked like it was made of putty-colored leather in the shape of a flower.  Just like the ones that are gracing so many leather bracelets right now. 

We looked it up online and determined that it is an "Earth Star" mushroom - not edible, but certainly beautiful.  When I returned with my camera, I noticed that her garden glove was almost the same shade as the mushroom and suddenly a gardener's open palm was the perfect way to show off this natural treasure.  Isn't it neat?  If I didn't think the spores would mess with my allergies, I would try to transplant it into my terrarium at home.

I just love Mother Nature, she's given us "stars" in heaven and on earth.