THESE people in New York called the news because they found a Puffball. They thought it looked like an alien egg and were shocked. Shocked! I'm shocked that people don't know a common fungus when they see it. Shocked. We used to love kicking these things around as kids. They get bigger than a basketball and make a huge cloud of puff when you bang them. My grandma would scold us because they're edible and she proved it. I didn't think they tasted too good, but, maybe it's an acquired taste. Whatever..it's just a damn fungus that grows all over the US. We get them in the yard too. Don't those people ever get outside? You know what it is, right? Have you ever cooked one?
26 comments:
well, where I live there are only these two:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Scleroderma_citrinum
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lycoperdon_perlatum
the first one is fun to kick, unless you are allergic. The second one is a tasty little bastard.
How do you cook it??
ps..I've seen yellow and white. All I know about mushrooms is, if it doesn't have gills, it's safe to eat. I love Morels and I wanna try chicken of the woods. Those are common here.
I find a couple of them every summer growing under some of my bushes. Yeah, alien!
I love these, love to find them in the woods when they have dried up and stomp all over them! I have tried cooking them when found fresh but not real impressed, kinda tasteless. I just sliced and sauted in some olive oil with dried Italian seasoning. Maybe some other way would provide more flavor.
Thats cool looking. Never seen them before.
rox
I have never seen puffballs before, either; they are rad. I would just let them be and see how big they can get!
Okay, two people don't have them in their area. I thought they were in everyone's yard. I'm gonna look up how people cook them.
I can understand mary_mary not having them in SoCal. But, I would think they are in Rox's area. She half way between you & me.
dirtydisher, gills or not is not a good criterium. True, no gills means you will probably survive, cramps, bound to the toilet, but alive. But doesn't make it any better. I mean, with some mushrooms you are dead after some few horrible days, but a bitter, ruined dish will haunt you for years ;)
and I cook them in butter. Pan, butter, not too much heat....
I had a friends dad who went crazy for puffballs, and we'd drive all over looking for them. Meh.. bland.
Ann
Finding them dried up as a kid was always a good time!
Never seen one... being in Oregon, I'm sure I should have but... now I can be on the look out for one (after I google and see if we have them here).
Finding puffballs was like finding treasure when I was a kid. We had them all the way up in Northern Ontario (approximately ten hours north of Niagara Falls). I only ever found dark brown balls. They were so gratifying to burst. Haven't seen one since then
The only wild mushroom that I have cooked is locally called an oyster mushroom. They grow on the north side of a willow. My dad and my husband used to get them for me and I loved them. If cooked with a roast, they were better than meat. I don't have anyone to pick them for me any more, so I guess I won't ever have them again. That makes me said.
never seen a puffball either!! not in iowa, nor ohio.....CJ if you had one in your yard today you could have showed me! eddie has pictures of this really cool looking fungus he found growing in a metro park and i just learned it's edible and tastes like chicken....i'm not telling eddie that though as with the year he's having it might make him sick.....
No puffballs, but I have a line that comes up every year. I kill them off. Don't like mushrooms so don't know nor care if you can eat them.
I know a few edibles I wouldn't be the least afraid of. But, you really have to be careful. Bastard is right. Those flat ones on tree trunks are easy to find and safe. Chicken, oysters, etc. Morels are the easiest to spot. The false morel is ugly as frick and I would never mistake that. I have tons of photos. I love finding them. Even the Amanita Musk and Death Angel. Fairy rings are incredible to look at. They're good for the environment, they help trees process food.
I'd like seeing your photos of the ones you find if you happen to think about it while your out and about.
Tia, early this summer I found two puffballs in the back corner of that area where the viburnum volunteers were growing. I'll have to take a look later today & see if there's more.
Woody and shady. They like that.
I've never seen one, but now I want to!
Go on a woods walk a few days after a rain. I love finding all kinds, taking pics and looking at where they grow. Diff ones like diff trees and habitat. It's fascinating to me.
I've found at least 6 diff kinds in the yard here.
I'm in Maine. I've never seen them or heard of them but if I did find one, I wouldn't think it was an alien egg! haha
I've lived in TX, AR, and PA and I USED to LOVE these things when I was a kid. I'm turning 40 soon and have not seen one or thought of them in FOREVER!?!?!? I loved to kick them when I was a kid!! I don't think my kids have ever encountered them. NEVER cooked them!!!!!
Post a Comment