Found

Two Giant Puffball Mushrooms:



They were on the edge of the forest. I waited patiently for BAH to come home so that we could cut through them together and see if they were any good, and lo and behold:



Perfect!

Our mushroom book says that if you find a puffball mushroom, you have to drive around town and show everyone this giant mushroom you found! And I found two! So, I posted them to facebook:



My giant puffballs. Cheesy, I know.

Does anyone know any good recipes?

Mushrooming Around

Ever since BAH got his book about mushrooms, we've been on the hunt. A few days ago, BAH spotted a Puff Ball mushroom in our unused pasture, and decided to leave it a few days and see if it grew. Tonight, we picked it!



He determined that it was, indeed, a Puff Ball mushroom, but...

I guess this mushroom hunting thing is complicated. There are two things that have to be right, in order to eat a Puff Ball:

1. You must make sure it is really a Puff Ball mushroom, and
2. It has to be ripe, but not sporing.

The second point can be determined by cutting the mushroom in half. When you cut it in half, it needs to be the same shade of white all the way through. We cut it in half, and:



It is definitely not pure white all the way through. Darn. It was getting ready to spore, when we picked it. This means we should have picked it on Monday. But alas, 'tis too late! No mushroom soup tonight. [And, yes, that knife is being held together by penguin duck tape.]

There are a few more Puff Balls out there. We'll try again. You have to wait for them to be big, but not mushy. This one was mushy. This mushroom picking thing, what an art it is.

Bedtime Stories: Edible Wild Mushrooms of Illinois & Surrounding States

It isn't often that a field guide to wild edible plants is readable for pure entertainment value, but such is the case with Edible Wild Mushrooms of Illinois & Surrounding States, by Joe McFarland and Gregory M. Mueller. I was not at all interested in reading this book that Bad Assed Husband (BAH) has been toting around lately while gazing at the ground, until he started reading aloud from it for Little Z's bedtime story. Little Z and I were both riveted, on the edge of our seats, as BAH read us the passage describing the experience of eating a Wood Ear mushroom,

"The Wood Ear rehydrates just fine and becomes a perfectly edible mushroom you can share with dinner guests while serving Asian dishes. 'Interesting texture' is how generous people describe the Wood Ear, before taking a drink...

"The flavor of Auricularia auricula-judae is not foul, nor is it good. We'd like to describe the flavor properly but it really has no flavor, as far as we can tell. Perhaps meditation will provide answers, or eliminate the question altogether."

Then, lest you should think that wild mushrooms don't taste good, BAH read a bit for us about the Lion's Mane, page 59,

"It [Lion's Mane] has a surprisingly mild, totally inoffensive tendency to actually taste a bit like crab or lobster meat, mild and sweetly tender, which is a culinary description rarely assigned to mushrooms. Hericium erinaceus, therefore, is a good example of why people should try a few different species of mushrooms in their life before deciding they don't like mushrooms. It's like being opposed to music based on a specific hatred of the zither."

The photographs are wonderful, too. And, if you happen to live anywhere near Illinois, you could even use this book to find some wild edibles. Or, read it to a child at bedtime. Edible Wild Mushrooms of Illinois & Surrounding States has multiple uses. Highly recommended.