[Mushroom Boom] Seasonal Ingredients

The excess rain that had continued to spread across Burrowgatory started to let up near the end of the month. A lot of the residents made a lot of use of the outbreak of little blue mushrooms that sprung out in nearly every grassy area all over every part of town. While it was a nuisance to some, taking over gardens and almost acting as an invasive species, others picked them and brought them home to turn into a beverage, or simply ingest them. The amount of mushrooms that had been growing began to die down, either withering away or the remaining lot being harvested or destroyed. 

Lotus had been too busy and occupied with renovations to their shop to partake in the popularity of the new fungus that seemed to be all the craze. The only time Lotus ever saw them in use was when he visited the Rabbit Hole, and there was a seasonal drink on the menu called the Psilo Punch. It didn’t really look that appetizing – or refreshing for that matter – but a lot of other buns seemed to go nuts over it. 

An idea brewed within Lotus’ mind. Perhaps the shop could use the mushrooms as an ingredient in their special sweets? The Pink Lotus was known for its Japanese style snacks and handmade goods; much like Dan’s Dango, they also sold things like mochi and dango. Of course, there was no match for Dan’s, but it was still delicious. They sold other foods you wouldn’t be able to get elsewhere though: taiyaki, swiss rolls, warabi mochi, matcha cookies, etc. It occurred to Lotus that it would be quite genius to incorporate the mushrooms into some items… 

On a slightly gloomy day, Lotus grabbed a basket and volunteered his fellow (reluctant) coworker and roommate. A grumpy dragon-like bun known as Ryuhei. Some features he possessed set him apart from most buns; smokey clouds that constantly followed him, and scales adorning his ears and other parts of his body. The last thing he wanted to do was go out in the rain (no matter how light) and pick mushrooms all day, but he couldn’t really say no to Lotus. Since… he was technically his boss.

“Pick up the pace, slacker! We’re burning daylight already!” Lotus called back to his tired travel companion, who was walking as slow as possible.

Ryuhei, also carrying a basket of his own, adjusted his jacket sleeves and pulled the hood over his head more to prevent the rain from directly hitting his hair. He grumbled and muttered curses under his breath as he half-assedly attempted to speed up his walking speed – so as to not get more nagging throw at him.

“You really couldn’t have chosen a clearer day to do this?” the green and pink bun griped, glancing up at the gray sky for a moment to observe the clouds.

“Other buns say that the best time to find the mushrooms is when it’s rainy! Not like it’s downpouring right now, so just be lucky I didn’t drag you out here while it’s raining buckets,” Lotus responded in a raised tone.

After walking for some time, the two of them finally stumbled upon the garden they had kept not too far away from the location of their shop. A small koi pond with a wooden arched bridge was the centerpiece of the place. Stone statues and lanterns lined the paths. Lotus’ eyes lit up at the sight of just how many mushrooms were growing all over the place. Thankfully not really any of the flowers and existing plans were killed off. Merely overcrowded by the mushrooms.

“Damn… there are plenty of these to go around, huh?” Lotus thought out loud, already striding over to a patch of mushrooms. “I wonder why some of them are white? I thought all of them were supposed to be blue…” He leaned down and examined a few, plucking one of the white ones before tossing it aside to pick out a blue one to put in his basket.

Ryuhei, joining Lotus’ side to look at some of the mushrooms, tilted his head and furrowed his brows. “I’m guessing the blue ones are the actual ‘ripe’ ones… I don’t know. Not like I researched them myself. This was your idea.”

Lotus scoffed and continued to pick out the fat, blue mushrooms. “Well, let’s get to it then! I’m almost tempted to just eat one right here to see what it–”

“I’m not carrying your high ass back home if you do. You’ll just have to lay here and think about your life choices,” Ryuhei cut his roommate off with a subtle bite in his tone, taking his sweet time in picking out some mushrooms.

“Hehehe, fine, fine… I’ll try one once we’re back at our place,” Lotus giggled. 

For about an hour or so, Lotus and Ryuhei filled their baskets with as many mushrooms as they could fit and carry. They managed to get quite a lot, and would certainly have plenty of them to experiment with. After they deemed that they had enough (and Ryuhei bitching for the umpteenth time), the buns decided they would return to the shop. Lotus was quite excited to see what they could make out of the strange little shrooms.

He wondered what a taiyaki filled with mushroom paste would taste like… Or what effect that would even have on somebun.