The News from the Woods

[Ma and Pa]

Bless 'er heart, Ma found a buttload of mushrooms while strolling around the property this afternoon. Said she really didn't have to look too hard; a lot of 'em were growing on the paths. They aren't very big, but that means we can eat 'em kinda like popcorn, I guess. It'd take a whole mess of them to kill a man
(or a Ma), but we may attempt suicide at supper tomorrow night.   

[me]

Enjoy...

[Locutus]

Pa, how does one tell the poisonous mushrooms from the non-poisonous ones?  I had a distant relative who could tell the difference.  I actually had some very tasty wild mushrooms at a bed an breakfast about 70 miles outside of Washington, DC.  They were absolutely delicious. 

[Ma and Pa]

Locutus: The spring mushrooms found in the Midwest are generally varieties of the morel family. With the exception of the false morel, which is toxic, they shouldn't be mistaken for any inedible variety. Morels have an appearance quite similar to the natural sponges we use to wash our cars! False morels aren't common around here, and after finding a few batches, you would recognize the one that didn't "match up" to what you're used to finding. Incidentally, the grand prize morel, the big yellow variety, has been selling for $35-40 a pound the last few years: proof of the law of supply and demand!

[Locutus]

This?



So that one is edible?  What kind of mushrooms are found on pizzas, atop steaks and such?

[Ma and Pa]

Looks good to me!

[Locutus]

Sorry I edited my post as you were typing.  I added a question at the end.  Mushrooms on pizzas and steaks and such don't look like that.  What varieties are those, as well as the ones found in the produce area of the grocery store?

[Ma and Pa]

Those smooth, round, white mushrooms are commonly found during the summer on lawns, golf courses, etc. The generic name for them is button mushrooms, and it pays to have an expert evaluate a find of those, because there are poisonous varieties with similar appearance. We call those toadstools. Now, in the fall (very late Aug. into Sept.), I've found Puffballs back around the pond; these are similar in taste and smell to button mushrooms and can be cooked and eaten in the same way. However, Puffballs are huge! I've found 'em the size of soccer balls! They must be eaten while they're milky white; if they've turned yellowish or tan, they're too old. When you step on an old dried out Puffball, it emits a cloud of green-brown spores, kinda like something from an old-time sci-fi movie.

[Locutus]

Interesting.  I'll do a bit more research.  I don't exactly recall what time of year it was when I had the wild mushrooms outside DC, but they were extremely tasty.  If I recall correctly, I do believe it was sometime during the summer.    Maybe they were the buttons. 

[Sandy Eggo]

When I was growing up, my great grandmother used to take me out to gather mushrooms. I LOVE them any way you want to prepare them, but she used to fry them. Anyway, we used to look at the part underneath. If the underneath was brown then it was okay to eat. Also, we used to break the top from the stalk. If there was "milk" inside, then you couldn't eat it. I remember something about the red ones always being poisonous.

She'd be SO proud to know that I paid attention and retained some of this stuff. She was 1/2 Native American on her mother's side and considered herself a "healer". She tried to teach me about the woods and the different medicines, etc. there, but other than avoiding anything like poison ivy, oak or sumac or picking mushrooms, then I didn't retain a bit of it. That's a shame. I wish I could have her back for one day and I'd take it all in.

Anyway...

Think those rules change depending on region? I don't think I've ever seen a mushroom like the one pictured above.

The psychedelic 'shrooms...I wonder if they're that way because they're poisonous?

[Locutus]

I've never seen a mushroom like the one in that picture either. 

[Ma and Pa]

In southern states, morels are often called "dry-land fish". The most common method of cooking them is to dip in a milk-egg mixture, batter (Ma uses Frying Magic, salted & peppered), and fry in butter or margarine. Feel your arteries clogging? That's what I have to look forward to tomorrow evening. I think Ma would just as soon hunt them as eat them, and she LOVES to eat 'em! As for me, they're delicious, but if I get one good meal of them a year, I'm fine with that. The season usually lasts two weeks or so, then you have to travel north to find more. Michigan is morel heaven! Do mushrooms grow in sandy Florida soil?

[Ma and Pa]

Locutus: the morel in your picture appears to be a yellow -- the King! To me, they're most commonly the color of coffee with lotsa cream. I bet a few people swooned when they saw that beauty you posted! A couple like that makes a fine sammitch.

[Locutus]

Do mushrooms grow in sandy Florida soil?

They do, but only north of here.  I've never seen a mushroom down this far that I can recall.  I've seen mushrooms up in central Florida and mostly in the winter when it's cooler.  I'm not sure if they're edible, but I wouldn't want to eat one of them for fear of testing my luck. 

[kimmi]

I like mine from a can!