Tag Archives: Bellybutton Hedgehog

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After one of our recent storms, Wendy Bailey found this branch down in her garden. It's beautifully decorated with Lichens and Turkey Tails.

Belly Button Hedgehogs are up, as are Winter Chanterelles. I've had a report that Sweet Tooth Hedgehogs are appearing too. And the first Black Trumpets. Here is a photo by Eric Kritz taken a few years ago of my friend, Rachel Kritz, holding a Sweet Tooth Hedgehog, a delicious edible mushroom.

And here Rick shows you the difference between a huge Sweettooth and the smaller Belly Buttons.

Thanks to Wendy and Eric for allowing me to share their photos with you here. Happy foraging!

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The smaller Hedgehog, the Bellybutton Hedgehog, has begun to appear. Hydnum umbilicatum is a delicious, easy to identify mushroom. Rather than gills, or a sponge like boletes, it has tiny teeth. On our property it grows under Tan-oak trees. Rick and I were happy to find a nice bunch of them yesterday.

This morning I dry sauteed some of the hedgehogs to get the water out. Then I put them in scrambled eggs with a little cheddar cheese grated on top. Delicious!

There are lots more of these mushrooms to come. They don't seem to mind the very cold weather we've been having this past week.

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Rick and I found a nice string of Matsutakes yesterday. We have sandy soil and that's what this prized edible mushroom wants to grow in. Below are three of them peaking out from pine needles and next to Salal, a plant they are associated with. Tan-Oak, Douglas-Fir and wild Rhododendrons are also close by.

You must make sure of your identification of this aromatic mushroom. It's important to get the complete stem to make sure there is no volva, a cup-like structure, at the bottom. Just looking at these photos brings the unique fragrance of these mushrooms to me.

 The Matsutakes that grow in the Pacific Northwest are also called White Matsutakes. They do not turn brown like Matsutakes do in other parts of the world. Below is a photo of the first Bellybutton Hedgehog we've seen this season. It's just a baby but it will grow in the days to come.

And we had wild weather today. Below is a photo of the storms clouds we saw from our deck in Anchor Bay this morning.  I call these days "wait five minutes days" because it can be raining one moment and then brilliant sunshine the next.

My best to you today!

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Our chef friend, Barbara Bourke, visited last weekend. Saturday morning we headed out for wild mushrooms. We didn't have to go further than our own property. We found Black Trumpets, Bellybutton Hedgehogs, a lone Golden Chanterelle, Candy Caps and Shrimp Russulas.

Barb decided to use the Black Trumpets in a scalloped potato dish. She chopped them and layered them in with the potatoes. No need to cook them first as the dish takes an hour in the oven.

And here is the finished product. I can attest to the deliciousness of this dish!

What a treat. Thank you, Barb!

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Robert Scarola photographed the first sunset of 2012 and a lovely one it was. Yesterday the Mendonoma Coast basked in warm sunshine. The temperature climbed to 70 degrees at our house in Anchor Bay, very unusual for wintertime. Today the warmth and sun has disappeared and light rain is falling. But our memories of the glorious first day of the year remain.

Thanks to Robert for allowing me to share his photo with you here.

Wild mushrooms continue to fruit. There has been a second bloom of Matsutakes, nearly a month after the first one.

 Bellybutton Hedgehogs continue to fruit in abundance.

 And they make for some mighty fine eating!