Fall foods from the garden

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I spent Halloween weekend at my parents' place in the countryside, where fall abounds with open arms. The first thing I did was frolic with my dog of course. After a good hour of dog fun, I put on rubber boots and headed out to the garden to pick and pull out veggies with my own hands. "What should we do with all these fall vegetables mom?" really means "What's for dinner?"

My parents grow their own shitake mushrooms. They drill holes into the logs and place shiitake spores (or germs, they call it) and place them like above.

One day left unsupervised.. they've grown a bit too much but were still very juicy and flavorful. 

Brussel sprouts are difficult to find or very expensive to buy in Japan (8 sprouts for $3!) , so I asked my parents to make room for my own batch this year. The seeds were planted 3 weeks later than suggested, so the sprouts came out a bit small.. they were still delectable, sauteed in olive oil and salt. 

These red peppers are also from the garden.

These rare fruits are called sarunashi. They grow on trees in wooded areas, and taste exactly like sweet kiwi fruits.  One of those things you can't buy at any stores.