mushrooms for dinner

[bookwormom]

anyone here been gathering mushrooms? I just came back with a big basket of them and don't know who is supposed to eat them all. It just is so much fun to find and harvest them. It started because along the edge of our lawn where it meets the woods, the chanterelles are growing thick right now, so I called my neighbor and we started in on them. Husband's favorite mushroom and as far as I know, there is not a poison one that it could be confused with. ( if you saw the movie " Ratatouille", that is the mushroom Remy the rat found) I was hoping for some king boletus, no luck, but found a bunch of really nice other kind of boletus, some nice looking bitter boletus, which of course I did not take, plus a bunch of Lactarius and Amanita rubescens, I do not know the common name for that one, and don't eat it raw, cooked it is good and safe. Don't let the name scare you, as there are some Amanitas that will kill you dead, cooked or not, the white and green ones being the most dangerous.
two weeks ago I found a bunch of agaricus down in the pasture.

all I need now are some new potatoes and have mashed new potatoes with mushroom gravy. One of my favorite meals when I was a kid. we take 19 different varieties, but I have only found six of them growing in this area. I don't consider myself an expert, but I figure of the thousands of mushrooms, I don't need to know them all, 19 good ones do for me. and maybe I will learn a few more edible ones.

[Thyme]

Have you ever canned your mushrooms ? We can them all the time, is very simple to do. Directions in ball blue book.

[bookwormom]

Dad cans them all the time. I never have. may do that.

[kaijafon]

I took a medical mycology course last year, and I'm glad you know what you are gathering. There are some tricky ones out there. The person who wrote "the horse whisperer" gathered and ate some of the wrong kind and almost died.

Ah, fungi; how yummy!

[bookwormom]

yeah, you need to know what you are gathering. I learned from my parents, mostly my dad, who took me along when I was still a preschooler. I have been gathering them for several decades.
You have to be extremely careful with agaricus, they can be confused with a deadly Amanita, most folks who wind up dead have made that mistake. Like my sister says, you can eat all mushrooms, but some of them only once.

[kaijafon]

yeah, you need to know what you are gathering. I learned from my parents, mostly my dad, who took me along when I was still a preschooler. I have been gathering them for several decades.
You have to be extremely careful with agaricus, they can be confused with a deadly Amanita, most folks who wind up dead have made that mistake. Like my sister says, you can eat all mushrooms, but some of them only once.

that is awesome that you were able to train at so young an age!! I'm envious!! LOL!

I do not go gathering since I do not have someone so knowledgeable with me to do so. I also do not have anywhere "close" by to go and gather. This is an area I hope to "rectify" sooner rather than later.

I loved learning about them last year, but that was no where near enough instruction for me to go out on my own. I have gone on "foray's" by myself but did NO gathering, just a "lookie loo" with the intent on practicing the actual IDing in the "field". I was in a state park, so could not gather anyways. But did see quite a variety of fungi. Some I'm sure were eatable; like some Chantalle (sp?).

So if you ever are kidnapped and forced to take someone out on a walk about to ID mushrooms, that will be me.....lol!!!!

<sigh> seriously wish someone with your type of knowledge lived close by so I could apprentice with them. I would love to be able to pass this type of knowledge down to my grandson.

[NCLee]

I have the same problem, here. Don't have anyone to teach me. I don't trust trying to learn to forage by using pictures and field guides.

Lots of good hunting around me, which makes it worse. Because I see things that look like they *might* be what's pictured. This applies not only to mushrooms but quite a few other things, as well.

Lee

[mly692]

These are the three that I look for most often;

http://www.hunt101.com/data/500/fh-m4.jpg

Those are 'chickens'. They're really good when they're fresh. These were growing along a bike trail. I looked pretty funny riding out of there with a shopping bag full hanging over my handlebars!

http://www.hunt101.com/data/500/sheepshead.jpg

This is a sheepshead. I found this one early last September. They're good eating.

http://www.hunt101.com/data/500/0509091533.jpg

You all should know what these are. I found them this spring.

[bookwormom]

how exiting. I do not know the first two, sure would love to see them "live".

http://botit.botany.wisc.edu/toms_fungi/nov2006.html

just had to do a search. Also found it in my book. It says in my book that it lives as a parasite of oak and chestnut trees. oak and chestnut trees did not grow at home.

http://www.wildmanstevebrill.com/Mushrooms.Folder/ChickenMushroom.html


I am so glad I found them. thank you so much. and I am so exited, the chicken mushroom does not have a poison look alike. I am positive I have seen it before and just to bad I did not know it.

I'm going to keep my eyes open for them

I hope you all find someone who is a little knowledgeable who can teach you and give you some confidence. You do not have to be able to identify hundreds of mushrooms, just a few that you can eat and that you are sure of are enough. I would love to show you the ones I know. But it is best to have someone from the area you live in. My folks take 19 kinds of mushrooms, not all grow here in ky, and I see some here that I have never seen before.

[mly692]

just had to do a search. Also found it in my book. It says in my book that it lives as a parasite of oak and chestnut trees. oak and chestnut trees did not grow at home.




Yes. I find them mostly on oak trees. But have also found them on wild cherry. That pic of the frying pan full in the first link gives me a heck of a craving! They are so good with scramble eggs!