No Show Bus Tour

Wonder what happened to the bus tour from Philadelphia that was coming to KSQ today at 3:30pm?
A little disappointing to say the least, especially when one prepares for a group with tastings and a cooler full of mushrooms. We called your cell phone Jerry - three times this past week just to check to see if you were coming. We stayed open an extra hour waiting. A lesson learned - must ask for a confirmation phone call one week prior to trip.

Good to stay open later - had a few more sales for the day!

Mushrooms and Your Health

Mushrooms truly are "Nature's Hidden Treasure". They have been called a "superfood". There is a saying - "Eat Mushrooms and Live Longer" - Could that be? Mushrooms have been around for thousands of years and we, in America, are just now learning the benefits of these fabulous fungi! I've included a link to the nutrition research. Take time to read it. Explore the website - learn all about mushrooms. Ask yourself, "what can mushrooms do for me?" You may be surprised.

Two more 3rd grade classes from Mary D Lang

Our 2nd day of visits from the 3rd grade students at Mary D Lang Elem. School yesterday was great. They had a nice day to walk uptown - weather was perfect as was the day before. What has more potassium than a banana? A mushroom - this is just one of the facts that is learned in our 10 minute video. One other fact is that PA's No. 1 crop is mushrooms - so important to the economy of PA. There is so much to learn about the mushroom industry in our area. Both classes today were attentive. Some tasted our mushrooms with ranch dressing, some tasted the mushrooms without and some did not taste at all. All classes were given a portabella mushroom with instructions on how to make a spore print. That should be a fun project. The morning class selected the Oyster Mushroom as their favorite and the afternoon class chose the Maitake!

Teachers, parents and students - thank you - we hope everyone enjoyed the trip as much as we enjoyed having you!

Mary D Lang 3rd Graders visit

Mary D Lang elementary school is just a few blocks from The Mushroom Cap. Yesterday, 3rd Grade students, their teachers and a few parents walked uptown to visit the Mushroom Museum. The first class arrived at 10 am and the other at 1 pm. Both classes were very attentive. We showed our 10 minute video, let each student peek through the mushroom shaped peep hole and let them each taste fresh mushrooms if they wanted to. We were sure to tell them how proud they should be of an industry that is so important to the economy of Pennsylvania. Many of the students have parents who work in the industry. Some had been to a mushroom house before and some had not. We chose 4 different mushrooms and asked the classes to vote on their favorite - both classes chose the same mushroom - MAITAKE. Why? Mostly because of the way it looks - like a piece of coral in the ocean. We also told the children about the nutritional value of mushroom - 4% vitamin D in all mushrooms - the only plant life that has vitamin D.

We had fun and hope the children did too! It is always good to educate them about the heritage of Kennett Square, PA. There will be two more 3rd grade classes coming today.

Visitors to Kennett Square

Today was a pretty exciting day in the "Mush-Room". We had visitors from Israel. They came from Philadelphia on their way to Baltimore via "old Route 1" - they wanted to take the scenic route rather than I-95. They enjoyed their stop at The Mushroom Cap - learning about our heritage here in Kennett Square, PA. We enjoyed their visit.

Flat Stanley was here!

Flat Stanley arrived at the "Mush Room" today! He had his picture taken under a toadstool, next to a shiitake log and also at the mushroom house display! What fun it is for those students at St. Ignatious Loyola. Could this be the only Flat Stanley to visit a mushroom exhibit? He will have so much to tell about Kennett Square being the Mushroom Capital of the World!

Who is Flat Stanley? Read below.

Well, the project is about a book written by Jeff Brown- Flat Stanley. This book narrates the story of a boy called Stanley who was squashed by a bulletin board whilst he was comfortably sleeping in bed. In the morning, his family realised that Stanley had become flat and that he could now pass underneath doors, travel in envelopes etc. Infact, it is here that the project starts. Every class participating in the project reads the book and draws her own Flat Stanley. Children then send their Flat Stanley to other schools around the world on school visits, at home etc. Then, after this period of time, Flat Stanley returns back home full of pictures, souveniers, photos and information about the place he visited.

What is that smell?

Oh my gosh! It is Kennett Square mushrooms drying in the dehydrator. Love that aroma! KSQ crimini, shiitake, oyster and maitake mushrooms are being dried in the "Mush-Room" at The Mushroom Cap. Why? Well, visitors who are traveling and cannot take fresh KSQ mushrooms with them take dried KSQ mushrooms! A real taste of KSQ. Pictured here are dried KSQ shiitake mushrooms! These are great added to our packaged Mushroom Chowder - serve to your guests and they will think you made it fresh!

To reconstitute dried mushrooms: Soak in warm water for 20 minutes. Depending on your recipe you can also soak in wine.