Hen of the Woods

[Buckskin]

I just tried my first wild mushroom other than morels last night.  I found a Hen of the Woods yesterday and decided to try it.  I was nearly as good as morels!!! and much bigger.  The one that I found was about 8 pounds.  If any of you like mushrooms I suggest you give them a try.  They seem to be very common and you can find them now under either dead or live oak trees.

[jh45gun]

You have more guts than me. I know a lot of folks pick mushrooms but to me they are not that expensive to buy and I know they are safe. I knew a guy deceased now but way back when picked mushrooms for years with out a problem. He picked a batch and served them in a meal and his wife and the two folks that dined with them died and he said he damn near wished he did die he was that sick. I know the folks that pick them say its safe if you know what your doing but this guy said the same thing until he poisoned himself and killed his wife and two others. I know that morels are supposed to be easy to indentify but there are the false ones too that are bad for some folks and even with the Hen mushroom you picked or even a puffball I guess I just would not take the chance. One mistake may be the last one which would be my luck.

[Buckskin]

Your first bite of a new mushroom should be just that. A bite.  To see if you react negatively to it.  Then you can eat them in quantities.  False morels look nothing like a real one if you know what a real one looks like.  It looks farely similar but wierd.  And I believe they usually come up in the fall, so they aren't a problem.  The hen of the woods is as easy a mushroom to identify as the buttons you buy in the store, but actually have a flavor to them.  I also tried some shaggy manes and they had even better flavor than the hens.  I am not insane, and try only mushrooms that are easily identified.
If you have never tried a wild mushroom and insist on only eating those bland buttons, so be it.  You don't know what you are missing.  How do you know the ones you buy are all safe?  How about the rest of the food you buy?? Eat any spinach lately??  Life is to enjoy and risks are some of the best part of it, you just need to manage them correctly.  The guy that you knew was very reckless in feeding others mushrooms that he was not sure of and they had never tried before.

[jh45gun]

This guy was sure of himself he had picked shrooms for years. And if I remember right mostly morels but I could be wrong on that. Stores sell lots of different types of mushrooms now and yea I know you can get stuff at the store that could kill ya or at a restaurant too. Like they say crap happens. Speaking of Spinach I do not have to worry about that too much I do not buy it either. Not that high on my priority list LOL Glad you enjoy hunting them and eating them that is just not for me and I do like to harvest other wild things.