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Tamara

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  • Gender
    Female
  • Location
    Kentucky
  • Interests
    Mushroom hunting - what else is there??? Actually, I'm also fond of historic architecture and its accompanying restoration.

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  1. I was able to see a ton of boletes and milkycaps (and many others) this weekend at DBNF. The Mushroom Observer link on my profile has a lot of photos.

  2. Looks like one of the "hot" (tiny taste of the latex burns your mouth) milk caps that are basically inedible. Although, like Vito said, more info would be needed to make a positive identification, or even put it in the milk cap camp. That said, if it does "bleed" latex, you might want to start with Lactarius psammicola and move out from there in your identification.
  3. My husband's Japanese aunt calls hens "the dancing mushrooms." When I asked her why, she looked at me like I was a little dense and said, "Because when you find them, you dance!"
  4. Also, I like to break these up into chunks and freeze suspended in homemade chicken broth: pour the broth hot over them, cool, freeze. Later I take them out and use the broth/cauliflowers in a sauce for stir fried vegetables over rice. The mushrooms really flavor the broth and I think the flavor lends itself to dishes that use fish and soy sauce, but doesn't overpower the vegetables. I'm sure beef or even vegetable broth would work just as well.
  5. Also, concerning the smell. I eat a "bi-color" that smells like fenugreek (one of the distinguishing features of sensibilis) which, however, does not stain blue quickly or deeply (one of the distinguishing features of bicolor). I have never had an adverse reaction from eating it and actually consider it one of my favorite edibles; however, I don't serve it to others and I don't eat huge amounts at a time. It dries up a treat, and the smell only gets better. Yeah, I bought the Bessette Bolete book primarily to get a handle on the bi-colors, and I can't say that I am anywhere near that. Still it's a wonderful read!
  6. Tasso! Yes, I did see that Michigan link. I didn't save it, but that was one of the things that made me re-think the uniqueness of the situation. I figured if Michigan had them, then it wasn't unheard of elsewhere, this side of the Rockies. Dave - the trees in the burned areas include Pines and Firs (also a few oaks). I will have to go back to my journals and/or the site to double check the specific kinds... if I can tell. Also, there were the Mountain Laurels... Thanks for commenting. It really has nagged at me.
  7. Hey Dave! I thought I'd answer your question on a different thread, as I didn't want to take away from the excellent conversation going on in "2015". Also, I'd love to hear from others about what they have or haven't seen concerning Burn-Site Morels East of the Rockies. I am pretty sure that I found burn-site morels in Kentucky. I was astonished as well, as I had gathered from my readings that they only occurred in the west, but there they were! In the summer of 2010 we had some forest fires in the Daniel Boone National Forest. The following spring, actually the third Saturday in April, 2011, I was hiking a favorite trail to asses the damage. I wasn't even hunting morels, as I've never found them on this ridge top at all, but when I happened to look down at the roots of some burned Mountain Laurel, I found that I was surrounded by what looked like a bunch of burned pine cones. There were just so many of them, and I don't usually see black Morels clustered. I collected at this spot and others for a full month. Some were lighter in color than the first I found, but all gregarious. I've never seen a single Morel in these spots since. I did post the attached picture to this website at the time, but as no one seemed surprised by the circumstances or the location, I figured that I was mistaken about the West vs East thing. I also sent a few emails about it to some other mushroom sites, but again didn't hear back at the time. I even saved some dried specimens back in case someone wanted to examine them. (I have since eaten them as there were no takers). The same thing happened in 2012 in a different, recently burned site. Since then we have had a break from fires (hurrah!) until the fall of 2014. When I checked this past spring, there were no Morels at the burn sites (recent or old). All this circumstantial evidence before you, has anyone else found what they thought were burn-site Morels east of the Rockies?
  8. Sorry, Dave, I was in a hurry and just threw out some "common" names there. Ironically, as Michael Kuo once pointed out, they are changing less often than the Latin names these days! Yes, I was referring to Lactarius subpurpureus. I hadn't seen them in this area before, but they were rather nice edibles. Polyporus Umbellatus occurs yearly in a couple of spots that I know of... except this year. I ate one the first year that I found them, but after reading how rare they are, I now just drop in for a visit. The Boletus pallidus or Pale Bolete is one of my favorites. Perhaps I shouldn't have said that they are rare... just well-liked by the deer as well. Anything resembling a patch of them tends to disappear overnight (if you're foolish enough to wait) with plenty of hoof-prints left behind to point to the culprits. This year there seemed to be enough to go around for both my pesky neighbors and myself. As for the King Bolete family member, I never did nail it down to a particular species. It wasn't as flavorful as the edulis or even the Boletus variipes, but it definitely was close. That may have been due to all the rain. Regardless, always a pleasure to see something new in an area that you think you know.
  9. Strangely a good year for Morels, but then I have an old elm tree dying and my property usually only supports the vaguely fruiting Tulip Poplar Morels. Not a single burn-site morel after a fire. That's usually the best "pickings" for me personally. Bad year for Oysters and Honeys... usually a go-to mushroom, as it were. Excellent year for Chanterelles. Actually found a couple of patches where I got tired before I finished picking. Never happened before. Bad year for Black Trumpets Bad year for Boletes in general, yet I found a good amount of Pales... which are usually rare in my neck of the woods. Not a single King Bolete in my usual patch, yet I found a huge amount of something "in the family" a good two months earlier (July during that cold, summer rainy season) than usual and in a place I've never seen any sort of mushroom before. Bad year for Agaraicus of any kind (even after afore mentioned cold, rainy July). Not a single Hen of the Woods in my usual patch. No aborted Enteloma or Lobsters. So/so year for Suillius of all kinds. Great quality of Chicken of the Woods. Usually too dry/tough, even when young. So/so year for Tawnies and Corrugated Milk Caps (a staple for me) yet I found a good amount of Indigo, and Wine-sap milkies and I've never seen those in this particular area before. Not a single Cauliflower or Umbrella Polypore. All told, a rather strange year... even given how unpredictable the hunting tends to be in the foothills of the Appalachians, here in Kentucky.
  10. Also, try the crevice tool of your vacuum cleaner! I tried this last year on some burn-site morels I found that were full of ash and sand. I, of course, washed the attachment well in hot sudsy water first, then hooked it back up to my ShopVac and away we went!
  11. Hey Stormbourne, Don't be too cast down! I felt exactly as you do, until I got over my unfounded prejudice for gilled mushrooms (i.e. the only "real" mushrooms are gilled mushrooms). There are so many delightful polypores and tooth fungi, that are easy to identify. Getting to know friendlier families of mushrooms like Sparassis (Califlower) or Laetiporus (Chickens) will give you experience, and with experience confidence. I didn't get adventurous until I dug into the Boletes. Not that there aren't some nasty characters in there, but narrowing down my field of "expertise" gave me the experience I needed in taking spore prints, noticing context, and comparing niggly details which becomes so much more important when dealing with the world of gilled mushrooms. Once among the gilled brethren, I found Lactarius to be a negotiable family, and easily isolated from other gilled mushrooms. I guess what I'm saying is finding families that you are comfortable with can be a great boon to your confidence... and your culinary enjoyment! I know some collectors that just never become comfortable within certain families, but they can identify what they're NOT comfortable with. Also, once I found some favorites that I was sure of, I lost some of the urgency associated with "never" finding edibles. It's soooo much easier to say, "Oh, well, I really can't be sure about this one," and be patient in your identification process when you've got a freezer full of great, safe edibles. Not that this helps you with identifying these particular mushrooms, as I am terribly inept at compost pile dwellers and their ilk. So now you know: I'm a complete gas bag, but I mean well!
  12. I agree. Last year I was shocked (my apologies to everyone on this site who witnessed my online hyperventilating) to find burnsite morels in Kentucky. I had always read that it was a Western thing, so I literally stumbled onto them while hiking a favorite trail that had suffered a burn the previous year. I say, if you're in the vicinity of a burn anyways, it wouldn't hurt to take a look. I'm curious to see if it was a one time out event, or if I find some again this year. Also curious to see what others from this side of the country find by way of burnsite morels.
  13. Hey Luigi, Those appear to be Shaggy Manes, hands down. I've always been a bit surprised by the comparisons made to Alcohol Inkcaps (Corprinus atramentarius), as I don't think they much resemble, at least until they both turn into inky goo. I guess it's because I found and identified the Alcohol Inkcaps first. Once you see them, as well, you'll see how different the two are. On that note, as long as I have stayed away from booze for a few days, even the Alcohol Inkcaps have been good. Being broke helps in that area!! I also saute them up for my father, as he is a total tee-totaler, and he loves them. Has anyone heard that the Alcohol Inkcaps are in anyway dangerous if consumed by those who don't drink? I've even heard of some uber-sensitive folks having a reaction with the Shaggy Manes in connection with alcohol. I just figure that where the Coprinus family is concerned, it's just best to forgo the booze for a few days. Not a problem in a dry county where I am surrounded by Baptist friends whom I don't like to offend!! By the by, Shroomsgonewild, those pictures are great. Very helpful.
  14. Hey! I kept waiting for some of the Honey Mushroom experts to put in their two cents worth, but as that hasn't happened yet, I'll put my oar in and declare that these look like Armillaria to me as well. Of course you probably already have this link, but I'll throw Tom Volk's authoritative key out there again: http://botit.botany.wisc.edu/toms_fungi/armkey.html I assume these had a white spore print? I am a big chicken when it comes to Honeys and have yet to try them (still haven't found the "shoe laces"), although I did work up my courage enough to try some ringless Honeys last year and they gave me a bit of a mild stomach ache. That should make you take my Honey vote with a GREAT big grain of salt.
  15. I know Dave has had tons more experience with Hens, but the one that I froze raw (after being pulled apart and cleaned) was great. The trick I read from David Spahr's instructions is to heat your pan up hot, before you even get the Maitakes out of the freezer. They need to go directly from frozen to fried... no thawing in between, or at least a flash thaw, if there is any such thing. He also rates them very highly dried, see: http://mushroom-collecting.com/mushroomcooking.html. I have yet to try that.
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