Monday, September 06, 2004

Attack of the Giant Puffballs

Scott and I found a couple of giant puffballs the other day on our
walk through the nature preserve here in Peoria. He had a plastic
sack in his pocket, so we stuffed them in the sack and he carried
them out to the car quickly so we weren't detected by the
rangers . . .

He cleaned and froze most of the puffballs, but saved a nice big
chunk for mushroom soup. I have this recipe that works great with
puffballs and is easy to make. We had it last night for supper. It
was great. So we went back today to check another spot.

We parked the car and right in front of us in this little patch of
woods were three giant puffballs. We gathered them and put them in
the trunk. Later we saw two more inside the woods, and then another
not far from those. Scott put them in the sack. We walked on a bit
more and found two more, with a third not far away. He carried the
sack that was filled back to the car and came back for the others.

We then drove through a cemetery looking for sulpur polypores and
spotted two more giant puffballs on the edge of a wooded bluff. We
got out to gather them and saw five more in the woods going up the
bluff.

We had a trunk load of giant puffballs, all in prime condition.

Now we just have to work them up. I think I'm going to make a puree
that we can later make into soup or sauce and freeze it in gallon
bags.

Whew! I'm sure glad Scott likes to cook!



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Giant Puffballs were everywhere today!
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Amanita virosa with matrix metering . . . It was dark in the woods today; had to change the ISO setting to 400 and use my little tripod to get any pictures.
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Gills of the unknown mushroom from previous post. These were growing in a cluster on the side of a log.
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Unknown gilled mushroom . . .
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Jeweled puff balls aren't very good to eat but are pretty!
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Amanita with spot metering . . .
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Gill view of the unknown amanita.
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Another amanita, but I can't identify it.
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Russula, some are edible but others make you sick. I'm not eating it . . . .
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Boletus albisulphureus


Boletus -- didn't stain purple, but I'm not eating it. We think this one is Boletus albisulphureus based on the key at mushroomexpert.com. Click on the name above the picture to link to that key.
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Amanita virosa --
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Amanita virosa -- so poisonous!
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Amanita virosa, the destroying angel, do not eat it!
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Jack O Latern mushrooms are poisonous and will make you sick, so don't eat them!
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Jack O Latern mushroom gills . . .
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Jack O Lantern mushrooms with something small growing in the crevice. . .
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mmmmmmm, Puffball!
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This Giant Puffball made a delicious soup!
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Wolf's Milk Slime Mold --
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