I'll tell you, Annie has a sixth sense when it comes to sniffing out mushrooms. She has an eagle eye and a "sense" about where they are. This one wasn't hidden at all though, it was in plain sight growing in a front yard down the street near the Kung Fu studio she attends. It was one of three, this one being the biggest. It measures 5" wide and 5 1/2" high, and I'm guessing it weighs the same as a package of butter which is a pound. It has a wonderful earthy smell and it is perfect for eating at this time. I think sauteing it and making a wonderful soup with it is the way to go, except that Billy refuses to have any of us eat it until it is identified properly. All my books show it and describe it as a Giant Puffball. Any one out there want to second my identification? Michelle?
5 comments:
I would be afraid to eat it too. Do you have anyone local who could identify it?
I'm 99.9 percent sure that's a puffball, but, since I've never eaten one, I'd be afraid to recommend. One of the identifying features of a puffball is, that when you cut it, it is a solid mass. Sometimes people confuse "eggs" from the Amanita family for puffballs, which could be fatal. But, the baby Amanite, if sliced, looks like a baby mushroom in a shell -- much different than a puffball. You could put your find in a brown bag in the refrigerator and search out your friendly, local mycologist.
I would be very careful. There was a family in the Bay Area, years ago, that ate what they identified wrong, and that story did not end well.
She is so pretty.
You're fooling, right?
Yep, I agree with getting expert advice. I would be cautious too...better safe than sorry.
It is a cool puffball!
Nice photos... I heard of the family in Baby Area who ate a misidenified mushroom too. Not a good ending.
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