Spiritual Portal

I will cover Chicken of the Woods this post. The Latin word for this species is; Laetiporus sulphores thanks to the helpful service of Chris; a park DNR employee I met recently. Chicken of the Woods has a somewhat chicken taste and texture. And although Chris heavily suggested not eating it raw but frying it, I ate it raw with my salad and in my sandwiches and it was just great 😌 with some mustard, tomatoes and 🥬 kale.

Chris and I found it growing against a log and tree at Duck Lake State Park and in Northern Muskegon, Michigan.

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Mushrooms are a very good vegetarian food, low in calories, rich in fiber, riboflavin (B2), niacin (B3), selenium, and with some protein. They are also well known for their properties of boosting the immune system. And, last but not least, they are pretty delicious!

Thanks for the response mccoy. These are the most tasty mushrooms I’ve eaten;

chanterelle

This mushroom is what I would consider to be the “golden child” on this list. The Golden Chanterelle is shaped like a flaring horn on old record players, and the color can only properly be described as a crayon yellow. These mushrooms are regarded as the tastiest mushroom on the list, with a natural hint of paper and a fruity aroma. Its golden chalice shape is unique and enticing. Very nice mushroom overall.

What Are Morel Mushrooms? Morel mushrooms, or just morels, are a type of wild mushroom with an earthy, nutty flavor. They have a meaty texture, unlike the more slimy texture of other mushroom varieties.

I went foraging and according to the expert the mushroom I had was inedible. The thing is- they look identical to a very delicious and edible mushroom.

The only difference is the slightest variation of yellow underneath the cap.

It's a cautionary tale for those who think they can just pick any mushroom out of the ground and eat it.

That's very true, Usually, people here specialize in one or two species of fungi and only pick those ones, just to avoid picking an unedible or worse poisonous species which may be very similar to the edible one.

Chanterelle, I think I ate those ones here in Italy, the local species is white, not yellow, but they are the same shape and they are absolutely delicious.

Unless I have an authority on mushrooms around i usually eat just a little to see its effect on my body. Then eat more if no ill effects.

Jeff I hope you look over this thread and you add to it!

Yea they are the best I’ve tasted also, so i entered a photo of them here so anyone can identify them in the forests.

There is a wealth of information here about them; https://www.mushroom-appreciation.com/chanterelle-mushrooms.html

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This is an important distinction between the Jack o’ lantern mushroom and the chanterelle mushroom

https://www.bing.com/search?q=jack+o+lantern+mushroom+vs+chanterelle&qs=MT&pq=jack+o+lantern+mus&sk=MT1&sc=10-18&cvid=9CE39BF2C38641EEA7971CC7887931DE&FORM=QBLH&sp=2&ghc=1&lq=0

The mushroom I found today and hope to identify.

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Looking at it from the top…

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The top kind of looks like a portabella but I haven't a clue. The bottom indicates something different.

You know a thought occurred to me. There are birding apps that help identify birds, I wonder if you could download an app that helps identify mushrooms.

Have you tried GoogleLens?
https://lens.google/

I thought that as well and got one of those apps. Actually I tried three different ones before I gave up on them and went to the library. Here where I am in the library the call numbers are 589.6 upstairs in the nonfiction. Mushrooms of the southeast. I recommend that book. All three of the apps told me that a group of Jack O' Lanterns were Chanterelles and vice a versa. Give up on technology I think it wants me dead. You bring it to me here and I will help you figure it out. There is also a VERY GOOD YT channel if I am allowed to say it. NOT SELLING IT FOR THEM. I used it though this fella knows a whole lot. LearnYourLand. Give it a look. There are a few others but this one was BY FAR the best. Nothing works better I found than going at it cautiously, and then realizing once you know them and eat one there is no way you can even imagine you could ever think it was something else. They all even have their own smell. Before they even come out of the leaves a month before. There are three things you need to remember when identifying mushrooms. The time of year. What it is growing on. Where it is growing I mean. Then, take a spore print and compare to literature. I personally haven't had to take a spore print but I have just to see the colors.

That picture is a type of bolette too. Old. Not much rain so they come up real quick and dry out. Trying to survive. They think they will die if they don't put off their spores. The mushroom "plant" is actually in the wood. You do no damage at all picking a mushroom. Bolettes generally make you sick to the stomack. There are a few I like though. Like the Shaggy Stalk Bolette. I forgot how to spell that word. Look that one up on a search engine they will be out soon and you cannot mistake them. I do not know which one that is cause it looks dried out to me. They look like anything then.

Hey SS, thanks for the solid advice and YT recommendations.

https://www.youtube.com/@LearnYourLand

Nothing wrong with sharing communities and forming a bridge for likeminded individuals.

I am going to enjoy digging into his videos.

Kind regards~

Our Chanterelles get bigger than my hand and wrist high. Golden, smooth, peach, flames....sooo many. They will be out at the end of June. With rain of course its a drought almost now. I have actually been hoping to share a location and a story since last year. NO ONE AROUND ME GOES IN THE WOODS ANYMORE. No one anywhere. It is so wrong. Forget who they are in their little box. More for all of us though. My favorite mushroom of all is the Puff Ball Mushroom. I like the flavor of them the best. I bake a bunch of them with green peppers and onion and garlic and it is pretty enjoyable. All of them are edible. You better make sure to cut them in half before you eat them. Or even try to eat them. You will kill yourself if you do not. The puffball looks like an immature Amantia called the DEATH ANGEL and a few others just as dangerous as the name sounds. One of the few that are DEADLY POISON. Cut it in half...if it is pure white like a marshmellow, you are ok to eat it. IF IT HAS ANY DESIGN IN IT AT ALL DO NOT EAT IT. It is a baby deadly one. The pure white ones you see will kill you. So will a few of the small brown ones. The brown ones actually gave everyone the fear of all mushrooms. I guess it is easier to mistake a brown one, but with teaching and practice and a spore print you will be fine. Did you know that you can actually survive best eating mushrooms on their own? You get everything you need from them. Even protein in some. The hedgehog mushrooms here taste exactly like you took a Chanterelle and wrapped it in bacon. That one is pretty good as well.

Jeff please reread your last post at the bottom. It gives a mixed message about the puff ball mushroom. Here….

Ok. It makes sense to me but that is because I understand it. All the puffball mushrooms are edible. There is one thing that some might accidentally mistake for a puffball they call the pigskin puffball that is poison...but once you take my advice you will never have an issue. Puffballs are of course round globular, sometimes on a little stalk looking stem that really isn't one. This is the dangerous part. They look EXACTLY like the DEATH ANGEL when it is a little baby. The death angel is exactly what the name says. How you tell the differnence it to take the mushroom and cut it in half longways. A puffball mushroom will have nothing but white marshmellow insides. No designs at all. The Death Angel, and others like it, when you cut it in half longways it will have the design of the growing mushroom that hasn't opened. The design will be of the cap that hasn't grown out yet cause it is still a baby. So fluffy white marshmellow with no designs is a puffball. It can be eaten. It is my favorite flavor out of all the mushrooms so far. The Death Angel is white on the inside as well, however it has the designs of an upcoming mushroom inside it. Remember, cut longways. The length of it. Then cook. I fry them or bake them.    The one people may get confused on doesn't look like a puffball to me. The pigskin puffball some call it, is yellow with little brown spots, and when you cut it it is brown or black. Awful looking. Can't be mistaken I think, but books say it could be. The pigskin puffball is poison. It is not a puffball. Puffballs are smooth and white or light brown. One has a purplish tint to it. All the ACTUAL puffballs are edible. I have yet to see the giant puffball. I guess because of my area I am not far enough south. That one is the size of a basketball I see looking things up. Big steaks to cut off that one and fry.     >>>>>>>>>The last post said the pure white ones are poisonous. I am sorry for not being exactly clear. The pure white mushrooms known as amantias are the poison ones I am talking about. They have caps on stalks and are almost completely white. Those ones are the deadly ones. The puffballs are fine white. Sorry for the confusion. I will learn how to edit a post I would like to go put in the word mushrooms after it says the white ones are dangerous. The white AMANTIAS are dangerous is what I meant. Those are the reason you cut them in half longways. Remember, solid white marshmellow with no design. Is ok. No matter the imperfect outside shape. If it looks like it has a design AT ALL then do not eat it.

Thanks Jeff … a lot of study here for those, including myself, wanting to forage mushrooms. You can edit a post by pressing ‘modify’ in the right hand upper corner of your post, right next to ‘quote’. After you have modified (edited) your post, press save at the bottom in blue.

Still standing or any one else; can you tell me anything about this mushroom I found yesterday on the trails?

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there is not much left to it. Its been so dry here where I am and the temperature fluctuate so uncontrolled things are not normal. Nothing came out this year so far. That and the dry spell. I think we are in a drought now. Any of the ones I have seen since spring have been very few and far between. I am worried about the Chanterelles. All of them really. I would have to have a spore print to compare as well. Do you know how to get one of those?

Hmmm no I don’t. Please let me know.

 I like fashioning a piece of white paper with a half cut sheet of black or something dark and then take the cap of the mushroom and set it gill side down on the paper to where half is on the white and half is on the black. You could just do white but sometimes it is hard to see or distinguish the actual color on white and dark color will be needed. Just place the cap on the paper and set a cup or bowl or something like that over it for a few hours. Sometimes longer, sometimes less. Depends on what point of their cycle they are in and how dried up and old they are. Some mushrooms drop a LOT of spores and you can actually see them on the forest under them..like the honey mushrooms it looks like snow. Old ones dried up probably don't make a print anymore. Wet soggy ones aren't worth working with either. I don't think so anyways.