Hunting and Gathering

If a tree falls in the Forrest and no one is around to hear it, does it make a sound? I don't know. What I do know is that delicious mushrooms litter the Forrest floor. They make for quite a find if you know where to look.

Last weekend Andrea and I, along with Justin, Kaitlin, and her dad Todd, went mushroom hunting in the near by woods. We got up early Sunday morning and headed out just in time to see the sunrise. It was a brisk 40 degrees when we arrived at our hunting grounds. We were prepared though, with multiple layers we were ready to battle the elements. With Knife and brush in hand we set out down the hill. The prey that day were Chanterelles. Like fleshy orange flowers, they rise up from the soft Forrest floor. The good thing about Chanterelles are that no other fungi really look like them, so you can pick them with confidence. The tricky thing about them is that they like to hide. There camouflage skills were no match for our desire to find them. With in an hour our so our buckets were growing heavy with our finds.

This was the first time Andrea and I had gone mushroom hunting but we're already planning our next hunting trip. There is nothing better than being out in the woods alone with friends enjoying nature. Plus the excitement you feel when you find a big mushroom patch just can't be found any where else.

Here is Andrea showing of her fungi finds.




Isn't she beautiful when she smiles. As you can see Chanterelles are not small mushrooms. Some we found were almost two hands wide.


We found so many that we had to dry them for storage.

You would be surprised at how long it takes to dry mushrooms. This was an all day process.

We have been trying all sorts of new recipes in an attempt to use up
all the fresh mushrooms. Mushrooms gravy, fungi fritters, and mushroom leek soup are the most memorable. However my all time favorite is mushrooms sauteed with butter and onions.

And the final product!

Now history shows us that 90% of you reading this will think that it's a little weird to go pick mushrooms in the Forrest. Some of you may even be worried about poisoning. Well if that's you, all I can say is your missing out. With a little research it's easy to tell the good fungi from the bad.
It's even easier if you go with someone who has been before. Soon you will be on your way enjoying delicous mushrooms. Best of all their free, which is always fine by me.

We hope everyone has a good October and can't wait to see everyone
at Christmas.