The good and the VERY VERY BAD

[Thumbcocker]

Went walking through our woods found a mess of golden chantarell mushrooms (yellow). Very tasty.

Also located two destroying angel mushrooms. (White with ring and bulb base) VERY VERY BAD! One mushrooms can be fatal and there is no antidote.

 

[jimbo1096]

Never picked mushrooms for food, found a lot of them when walking through the woods in my younger days. Was always afraid I would get the wrong ones.

 

[RSIno1]

....... located two destroying angel mushrooms........ VERY VERY BAD! One mushrooms can be fatal and there is no antidote.

Which is why I have a firm rule to eat no fungus.

 

[Bob Wright]

When I was horseback riding in the pastures, I saw where those things grew. Never had any appeal to me.

Bob Wright

 

[Gator89]

When I was horseback riding in the pastures, I saw where those things grew. Never had any appeal to me.

Bob Wright

Yes, leave the cowpie mushrooms be.

 

[Acorn]

My Aunt’s sister supposedly knew which mushrooms were OK to pick. She gathered a bunch and cooked the that evening for dinner. For whatever reason none of her family ate any, only her. Apparently she didn’t know as much as she thought. She got sick, her organs shut down. It was touch and go for a while, but miraculously she pulled through.
She was a tough old bird.
Once, she was shot by the jealous wife of her paramour.
She reached into her belly and pulled the bullet out with her fingers.
Survived that too.

 

[blume357]

have a cousin back home I was scheduled to go do some work for a few years back and she was all excited because she had found my mother's chicken, mushroom and rice recipe and was going to cook some for me for lunch. Sat down to much and she dished me up a plate... about half way through, and it was pretty good, she informed me it really wasn't chicken but was the wild turkey her husband had bagged the week before and the mushrooms were ones she'd picked out on the woods the day before.

 

[Kevin]

I love mushrooms and wish I knew enough about them to pick wild mushrooms. But my part of Texas isn’t really the spot for growing mushrooms anyway.

 

[eveled]

Its one of life’s tragedies IMHO. That some are poisonous. I’ve seen many that I’d love to try.

 

[gramps]

There once was this couple that loved to forage, and got a bunch of mushrooms. They had a party, which included a casserole with those mushrooms in it, and it was served in a separate container than what it was cooked in. Their dog was allowed to lick the cooking wear clean. As the evening wore on and the party guests were lounging around the pool with aperitifs, the maid came running out, and hurriedly told the lady of the house, that the dog “was dead”! The hosts got the guest together and took all of them to the ER, where their stomachs were pumped. The couple arrived home close to midnight, and a neighbor came over apologizing for running over the couples dog!
gramps

 

[rugerguy]

I will NEVER, NEVER ever get that hungry to need to pick and eat any wild mushrooms, and I was Boy Scout.............:rolleyes::confused:

 

[gramps]

My grandparents taught me what chanterelles were at age three. I was told to not eat any mushrooms til ok’d by an adult. I have been collecting and eating those mushrooms since. Picked up a few books and added others like the meadow mushroom, boletes, morels, and others. I have learned to identify poisonous ones to also avoid. Be careful, enjoy!
gramps

 

[JPGLSG1234]

Way back in 1976 I consumed some wild mushrooms at the lake with friends with dinner. Later that evening I backed my new fishing boat through the garage wall into my living room. Then promptly ran down the center supports beam holding up that end of the house trying to correct the first mishap. That scared me off the wild ones up until now....

 

[sfhogman]

Mushroom poisoning happens around San Francisco relatively often....
Seems that folks who have recently immigrated from some parts of Asia assume that some of the mushrooms found there are the same species as those found here...after all, they look somewhat the same. It's usually some grannylady type that did the foraging.
We have Amanita mushrooms all over the place around here.

I stick to Safeway, meself.

Jeff

 

[RC44Mag]

I remember in the 60’s-70’s a time or two on the news they’d report that a couple people died from eating store bought canned mushrooms. i figured if poison shrooms can get past ‘experts’ in factories then there’s no way I’m going out pickin ‘em. I’ll pass.
truth be known, I did try magic shrooms on occasion. It was the 70’s after all.

 

[Bob Wright]

Yes, leave the cowpie mushrooms be.

A herd of horses don't leave cowpies.

A word of caution regarding cowpies: No matter how dry they may look, they're still fresh on the inside. They may look like they'd make a good aerial target, but...................

Bob Wright

 

[Wyandot Jim]

The Farmer I worked for while I was in high school would go into the woods after a spring rain to pick mushrooms. His wife would batter and fry them for supper. They were very good and is the only time I have had wild mushrooms.

While living in Beijing we ate a bunch of mushrooms in our Chinese food that I was told were grown in the old bomb shelters. Yea you eat a lot of Chinese food when you live in China. It was also the worst I have ever had. The absolute best was while living in Singapore.

 

[Pat-inCO]

I stick to Safeway, meself.

That, or one of the Koger sub brands. ;)

 

[blume357]

Those mushrooms coming out of the cow pies can cause you to see God... one way or another.
Back in the day I would have probably tried some if given the opportunity but it never happened... now I have no desire....
Closest I get to mind altering drugs is two shots of bourbon.....

But we have a local grocery that sells a variety of edible mushrooms and I bought a batch last week and cooked them... nothing better than Mushrooms & Onions Grilled in butter set to the side of an extra rare steak.

 

[bearskinner]

When I was horseback riding in the pastures, I saw where those things grew. Never had any appeal to me.

Bob Wright

My sentiments exactly. Spending lots of time on my uncles cattle ranch, and boys being boys, we often had cow pie incidents. Find a crusty one, still soft on the inside, and launch it towards my brother. The amount of mushrooms growing from and under cow pies, especially after rainy days, keeps me from searching out samples to eat.

 

[ronto]

On my walks in the woods I will see 1 or 2 Morel mushrooms sometime but not often. I'm not a cook so I don't pick them.

 

[wv.citybilly]

Oyster Mushrooms (growing on Queen of the Forest).

Wipe clean. Dry (if too wet) gill side down on paper towels. Remove stems.

Baked Salmon Italian Style with Roasted Oyster Mushrooms.

 

[Aqualung]

My Aunt’s sister supposedly knew which mushrooms were OK to pick. She gathered a bunch and cooked the that evening for dinner. For whatever reason none of her family ate any, only her. Apparently she didn’t know as much as she thought. She got sick, her organs shut down. It was touch and go for a while, but miraculously she pulled through.
She was a tough old bird.
Once, she was shot by the jealous wife of her paramour.
She reached into her belly and pulled the bullet out with her fingers.
Survived that too.

This reminds me of an old "Little Johnny" joke I heard a while back.

The teacher was asking the kids about their family members when Little Johnny raised his hand. Reluctantly, she called on him because she knew that the kid could be vulgar and disruptive.

"I want to tell you about my Aunt Jane. She was a nurse in Vietnam and was dating a soldier who was killed in a patrol. She drank a 6-pack of beer and a bottle of whiskey, grabbed an M16, a .45 and a couple grenades and jumped onto a chopper dusting off to drop a patrol into the jungle for a Search & Destroy mission.

She jumped out of the chopper in the LZ, charged an NVA machine gun emplacement and killed them, kept firing the M16 and .45 until the ammunition ran out, taking out about ten more of the enemy. When the guns ran empty, she grabbed an entrenching tool and attacked in hand to hand combat, killing 3 more NVA until the entire area was cleared."

The teacher was surprised that the story was not vulgar or inappropriate, even if it was a bit violent...but it was about heroism in war...so, she asked the other students what they learned about Johnny's Aunt.

"Women can do anything men can do," one girl quipped.

"Love can make people do powerful things," another girl offered.

"Jane was a hero during the war," one boy said.

"Those are all good observations," the teacher replied, "What does that story tell you about her, Johnny?"

"None of that other bull****. It just tells me not to F*** with Aunt Jane when she's been drinkin'!"

------------------------------------------------

As for wild mushrooms, I could never survive in the wild in scrounging for mushrooms and plants and the like. My memory is so awful, that I'd never keep them all straight.

Mrs. Aqualung and I love the Alone shows and we both say that we'd be in serious trouble if we had to remember what mushrooms, berries, plants, etc. could be eaten and what couldn't.

Aqualung

 

[Ale-8(1)]

The only mushrooms I'm confidently able to identify as edible are the morels.

 

[wv.citybilly]

Chicken of the Woods

Creole shrimp with yellow rice and wild mushroom: Chicken of the Woods

 

[sceva]

with wild mushrooms I stick with Morels (Sponge mushrooms) They are delicious and are very distinctive. As far as I know there are no poisonous ones that mimic them.

 

[Watchman]

with wild mushrooms I stick with Morels (Sponge mushrooms) They are delicious and are very distinctive. As far as I know there are no poisonous ones that mimic them.View attachment 6107

Not so. There are false morels too. Some are poisonous, others only mildly so and only to some people.
A true morel can be black, yellow or grey. But all true morels will be completely hollow inside. If you slice them lengthwise, there won't be anything inside. Some of the false morels have a "webbing" inside, so avoid those.

I have been a fan of wild mushrooms for quite some time. I've enjoyed Chanterelles, Morels, Shaggy Mane, Chicken of the woods, Coral Mushrooms, and especially oyster mushrooms and Spiny Puffballs, which both grow in large numbers around my house. I probably pick over 100 pounds of Oysters every year, and I give most away.
I eat at least 25 pounds myself!

I don't recommend eating any wild mushroom uncooked. Always be 110% sure before you eat any wild mushroom that you have identified it correctly. There are many excellent books that have color photos, as well as detailed descriptions, and geographical regions where the species grow (and on what mediums).

Good hunting!

 

[Bennj1]

My grandfather came to America from Italy in the 1920's. He used to hunt for truffles with pigs there. I recall when we were young he would take us to some of the state parks in NJ and PA where he would pick mushrooms. He lived to a ripe old age and none of us got sick from eating them. He was a pretty good cook like you wv.cityboy. Your photos made me hungry, and I just got done with dinner.

 

[wv.citybilly]

There are false morels too. Some are poisonous, others only mildly so and only to some people.

True.

False Morel (Gyromitra esculenta)

 

[eveled]

I’m enjoying this thread a lot. I’ve always been fascinated by wild mushrooms. Thanks for sharing.

I’m not a spelling Nazi, but before you comit to a T-shirt design have someone check your spelling.