Tag Archives: mushroom forage

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On a recent mushroom forage with Rozann Grunig, Karen Tracy and Rick, we discovered Black Trumpets just emerging.

They are hard to spot, aren't they? They look like black holes on the forest floor. This delicious edible mushroom is also called Horn of Plenty, Black Chanterelle and Trumpet of Death. Their Latin name makes me laugh, as it sounds like a spell Harry Potter might use - Craterellus cornucopioides.

We left these mushrooms to grow more. We did find many Candy Caps and Hedgehog mushrooms and one beautiful Matsutke to fill our baskets. Thanks to Rozann for allowing me to share her photo with you here.

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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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On Sunday Rick and I joined in a mushroom forage led by David Arora in Mendocino County. It was a treat to learn from the person who wrote the definitive books on mushroom hunting in the United States and Canada.

As we've had little rain - until today - the mushrooms were rather sparse. But we did find edible White Chanterelles, Queen Boletes, Shrimp Russula, Coccoras, Laccarias, The Prince and Milk Caps.

Here David is showing some of the foragers the Shrimp Russula.
Rozann Grunig found Laccarias during the mushroom forage.

 After the forage, we went to his house where he showed us the Death Cap.

 Rick and I had brought a beautiful Red-capped Butter Bolete to give to David. We invited him to come to our property the following day to photograph the remaining ones. He also photographed this group of Coccoras at our place.

David Arora's two must-have books are "Mushrooms Demystified" and "All That the Rain Promises and More." You can get them at my favorite bookstore, The Four-eyed Frog. http://www.foureyedfrog.com/

And to learn more about David Arora and planned forage events, here's his web site: davidarora.com