Chanterelle Time!

It has been humid and afternoon thunderstorms have been cropping up in the afternoons once it gets really hot.  I thought that it might be a good idea to mow the lawn before the grass gets too tall.  I had about a two hour window to get it done before the potential rainfall was to start.  We aren't the kind of folks that have a manicured lawn.  Sometimes we put the cows in the yard and let them mow the grass for us.  It would embarrass the kids when they were younger for us to have cow patties in the yard.

Before I mowed, I had to do a little reconnaissance.  I don't want to mow over and ruin a precious commodity that grows in our yard from time to time - Chanterelles!  They grow time after time in a certain part of the yard.  It's our 'honey hole' and we got back to it again and again.  It's like fishing from a stocked pond!  I walked out to the spot and lo and behold...  There they are.  Chanterelles.  Only two, but there will be more to come.

Chanterelles are wild, edible mushrooms that are delicious!  We like to go out and forage for them.  At first we were scared of eating wild mushrooms, but then we just learned about the primary wild edible mushrooms in our area and how to identify them and we leave the rest alone.  In our area, the main wild mushrooms to enjoy are oyster mushrooms and chanterelles.

Here's how you spot chanterelles.  First, they are bright orange.  They WANT you to find them.  Next, they are shaped like a funnel or a flute.  Then, they grow directly out of the ground - NOT out of wood.  Finally they don't have true gills - they have folds that run down the cap toward the base.  One other characteristic is that when cut, they smell like apricots.

I clipped these off with some clippers.  I didn't want to pull the mycelium.  Mycelium is the root-like structure (threads) of the mushroom.  The mushroom itself is the "fruit," but the mycelium spreads out and helps decompose organic matter, absorbing nutrients from the environment.  The chanterelles will continue to produce in this area and I'll come back time and time again and pick them.

You don't want to store the chanterelles in plastic.  It's best to store them in a paper bag.  All I had at the moment was a paper towel.  We'll bring these in, wash them up, and sauté them in some butter and garlic and maybe a little cream for a delicious, if not decadent snack.

I'll go ahead and mow the grass now that I've determined that there are no more chanterelles that I'd run over, but now I'll keep my head on a swivel to spot these bright orange delicacies that grow in our yard.