(Dog trainer Jean Rand prepares to go truffling with her black Lab Gusto/Photo courtesy of Joyce Eberhart.)

We speak with local dog trainers and a mycologist about how hunting with hounds could improve the culinary reputation of Oregon's underground wild truffles. Using dogs, instead of blindly hand-raking, is less damaging to forest ecosystem, as truffles grow at the roots of young Douglas firs. The Oregon Truffle Festival takes place in Eugene Jan. 29-31. And check out of a video of Southeast Portland resident Eric Lyon hunting truffles with dog Zoe here.

(Gusto, Oregon's most proficient truffle dog/photo courtesy of Joyce Eberhardt.)

Community Calendar: We give you the 411 on food events for Valentine's Day, Chinese New Year and Haiti fundraisers.

Then we hear from Emily Stimac of the First Alternative Co-op in Corvallis on how to cook with in-season parsnips and turnips.

(Curiously sweet parsnips/By Garelvirat/Flickr Creative Commons)