I have always really disliked mushrooms. If there were mushrooms in the dish, however small mum had chopped them, I would painstakingly pick them all out and pass the little pile on the side of my plate to her (my dad was doing exactly the same to Jen).

I decided about a year ago that I needed to learn to like mushrooms. I just felt they were something I should like somehow. They always looked to interesting and yummy.

So I kept making myself eat them, even ordering meals with mushrooms when I ate out at restaurants.

Today, I think I need to admit I might have a mushroom addiction.

If I am cutting up mushrooms to put into something, half of them will be eaten by the time I finish chopping. My favourite lunch out in Brussels is the wild mushroom tart in Arcadi Cafe in the Galleries St Hubert. I still dream about the mushrooms in a creamy white wine sauce that we had after church a month ago.

And even though I was promised something for dinner tonight with lots of mushrooms in, I just went home for lunch and made myself this mushroom casserole because I had just read the recipe on Heidi’s 101 Cookbooks blog, and couldn’t resist.

My mushroom casserole was slightly different, adapted out of the desperation only an addict can know to the ingredients I had in the house – white rice instead of brown, creme fraiche instead of cottage cheese, and I added bacon and probably about twice as much parmesan as she recommended (I am my father’s daughter, after all).

I need help.

If I buy batteries for my camera in the next 12 hours, I will take pics of the left overs. Otherwise, you’ll just have to imagine the scrummy deliciousness that was my lunch today.

And in the meantime, I have all these recipes bookmarked, for just as soon as I can get to the shop to buy more mushrooms…

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