Mesa Trail ch. 29
Draft 2

Biggalow's Mushroom Burger
Divers Scallops 
Sapsucker Delight
Bunkledon's Potato Soup
Inuna's Forage Salad


Hannah had just finished handwriting the day's menu on chalkboard and made an attempt to draw little pictures alongside each of the options in symbols.  Biggalow's Mushroom Burger was followed by the outline of a standing bear. Everybody knew Biggalow by now, how helpful he had been in the mining operation.  They knew -- at least they all hoped -- that Biggalow was a vegetarian and might often be found sniffing up underneath the old oaks, all mossy underneath, for wild mushrooms. When he found them he might very well savor them for a little while, that earthy, pungent smell of a morel, it was like a bear treat.  Drizzled with a slight butter sauce, Hannah found this to be the most popular on the menu.  The hard part was always trying to find a consistent batch of the elusive mushroom.

Divers Scallops was followed by a drawing of three outlines of green turtles.  There was no way that Hannah was going to be able to get scallops into her little outpost on the side of a hot hill every day, but how could she resist the word play? Divers Scallops, it turned out, was a specially seasoned chicken tender (sorry sapsucker, the chicken a member of your own winged breed!).  A pinch of curry made them yellow and woowwweee, dipped in a ranch sauce, homemade, the hikers would pile up come noon time for Divers.

Sapsuckers Delight...well, let's just say this was the sweet to the savory of the Scallops.  Hannah would some day drain a maple tree for her own syrup and make these much more original, but instead she used local honey as the sap, tossed a set of mini-French Toast slices in egg and powdered sugar, then, when browned, drizzled with honey.  Bees from around the county swarmed to the sight.  Sapsuckers from up and down the Flatirons buzzed overhead with as wide of eyes as they could muster in total jealousy.  Katie once found a hummingbird licking the side of a plate of the Sapsucker Delight.

As for Bunkledon's Pototo Soup? Well this one took some thought. But Hannah decided that the size she cut her potatos into, sharp little cubes, soaked and stewed in butter and bacon, finished looking a lot like what would be considered a perfect gold nugget.  We knew Bunkledon was just as interested in finding the lode as anyone.  Here it was, warm, soft, smelled across the town of Boulder, a pot of gold stew.  Inuna knew the ways of the forest.  She could classify mosses as well as barks and wild flowers.  She had been taught the edibles and the non edibles.  She often asked the simple question in jest: why do we even need grocery stores?  Inuna would take her initial walk through the woods in the morning, gather as many greens, stems, and flowers as she could and then educate Hannah on how to prepare.  The menu was now full.  Hannah had lost track of the machinery of the sluice box.  Who was running that?  She had felt this all before she knew, as a drop of rain came tumbling down out of what looked like a blue sky and dropped right at the center of the menu, creating a small river of mixed chalk colors.  If a storm was to hit, everybody under the roof. We will eat as the thunderstorm hits.