[MightyMama]

The bargain grocery near us runs a truly epic sale for exactly 30 minutes per week, and when I went last week I found a five-pound bag of dried Shiitake mushrooms for fifteen dollars. I’m gonna have tasty soup for YEARS...

I adore mushrooms in duck soup, and it’s absurdly easy. Ditto lentil soup, and lentils are far easier for me to come by than duck. :)

[Jamestown1630]

I once got a great deal on a mix of exotic, dried mushrooms from Costco - but I couldn’t figure out how to use them. No matter what I did, they came out tough and too salty.

How do you manage them?

[katykelly]

That’s a great deal on dried shiitakes !

[Aliska]

I love my lentil soup; my kids liked my split pea soup better. I ream them through my Foley food mill like my mom did. I use the brown lentils and you have to get past the color of the soup which I did. I tried red lentils from the health food store and they wouldn't cook soft (I don't think I soaked peas or lentils overnight)

Could you please post the recipe for the duck and mushroom soup? I once had duck and black mushrooms in a Chinese restaurant that closed as they so often eventually do, and it was so delicious but I don't remember what else was in it.

I've had bad luck with ducks, bought a frozen one and it had a couple strings of meat and nothing but fat. How do you pick a quality duck? Please don't tell me to go buy one from a farmer.