The first wild mushroom hunt and meal of the year. In the first photo, Beck is picking the bright orange Lobster mushrooms. We found a whole patch of them on our walk down to the river. They seem to appear early in the fall, before chanterelles. They have a pleasant crunchy texture but not super flavorful. I like having them in the mushroom medley. They add a nice rich orange color to the dish.

Did you know that the orange Lobster mushroom is actually a fungus that colonizes other mushrooms, mostly Russulas? It grows over them completely like an alien form. That's why their gills are so shallow! Aurora says that there is no sure way of knowing which mushroom it colonized and so it is possible that the host could be poisonous. Though no cases of poisoning have ever been known (and it is sold in stores) so it's possible that orange Lobster alien only takes over edible mushrooms. The white Lobster actually colonizes Amanitas (some of which are deadly) and so should not be eaten! Yikes.

The little one is a small Hideous Gumphideus which I normally find later in the fall. It has a viscous skin on the cap that is very satisfying to pull off. It comes off like Elmer's glue when you smear it on the palm of your hand and let it dry. It survives well into the rainy season because its slimy skin repels water and doesn't get soggy or rot. I often find Hideous Gumphideus for Thanksgiving dinners. Other mushrooms that popped up along the path and ended up in our skillet were chanterelles, russulas, boletes, a little grizette and chicken of the woods.

I still haven't learned how to cook chicken of the woods. David Aurora, the mushroom guru, says that they are "delectable" but Beck and I found them detestable. I do think that the problem is in the cooking method and also in the fact that they have to be really young to be eaten. They are such pretty mushrooms and given their name, it is hard not to expect a lot out of them. This was the best kind of a mushroom hunt, when you go on a walk not expecting to find much and come home with dinner.