If there lurks in most modern minds the notion that to desire our own good and earnestly hope for the enjoyment of it is a bad thing, I submit that this notion has crept in from Kant and the Stoics and is no part of the Christian faith. Indeed, if we consider the unblushing promises of reward and the staggering nature of the rewards promised in the Gospels, it would seem that Our Lord finds our desires not too strong, but too weak. We are half-hearted creatures, fooling around with drink and sex and ambition when infinite joy is offered us, like an ignorant child who wants to go on making mud pies in the slum because he cannot imagine what is meant by the offer of a holiday at the sea. We are far too easily pleased.

C.S. Lewis

CATEGORY	CUISINE	TAG	YIELD
	Chinese	Appetizer	8	Servings

INGREDIENTS

20		-(up to)
24		Dried black mushrooms
1	sl	Fresh ginger root (up to)
4	tb	Oil
1	c	Stock
2	tb	Soy sauce
1	ts	Sugar
1/2	ts	Salt
3	dr	Sesame oil; more or less

INSTRUCTIONS

1. Soak dried mushrooms. Then squeeze dry and cut off stem ends. Mince
ginger root.
2. Heat oil in a heavy pan. Stir-fry ginger a few times. Add mushrooms
and stir-fry gently to coat with oil.
3. Add stock, soy sauce and sugar. Bring to a boil, stirring, then
simmer, covered, until mushrooms absorb most of the liquid (about 1 hour).
4. Sprinkle with salt and sesame oil. Serve hot or cold (whole, sliced,
or in bite-size pieces).
VARIATIONS: For the soy sauce, substitute sherry.
In step 2, brown a crushed garlic clove and remove before adding the
ginger and mushrooms.
In step 3, add 1 clove star anise.
From <The Thousand Recipe Chinese Cookbook>, ISBN 0-517-65870-4. Downloaded
from Glen's MM Recipe Archive, http://www.erols.com/hosey.

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