This one's for you G!

Well, this weekend I finally got a good chance to go mushroom hunting.  So how did I do it?  Well....

I drove out to the middle of nowhere (random roads) and looked for an interesting section of woods, without any "No Trespassing" signs.  Now, in the days where I knew people locally, we'd always call and ask permission to hunt on their land.  But those people are about an hour and a half away, and about half of them have passed away now. 

So I got out of my car, carrying my camera and a wal-mart sack in my pocket. 

I walked through the woods... snapping pics of assorted wildflowers along the way.
 
 

I snapped pics here and there, looking all the while for mushrooms.  But the area looked like lots of people had been there searching before I had, so I didn't really have much hope.   But as I was walking, I noticed something in the distance:

Mayapples!  Mayapples are some neat little plants that come up at the same time as mushrooms each year.  Underneath them, you can find some beautiful flowers on their stems. 

I remembered that we always seemed to find mushrooms in the areas where mayapples grew, so I drew closer... and closer...

And do you see what I saw??? Here, look just a little closer!

What's peeking up from beneath those mayapples?

Mushrooms!

Mushrooms!

And MORE MUSHROOMS!

So what did I do with these wonderful creations, you might ask.  Well, I picked all 11 of the mushrooms (leaving the roots in the ground so they'll come back next year)  and put them in my little sack.  

When I got home, I rinsed them really well, and cut them in half.  I rinsed them out again, and put them in a bowl of salt water to soak (kinda like how you do fresh brocolli from the garden... and for the same reasons LOL)

Sunday after church I RUSHED home, threw on old clothes (I was wearing black, which you'll see was a problem in just a sec) and got the bowl of mushrooms out of the fridge.  Took them out of the water, and put them in a bowl of flour (see now why black clothes were bad? LOL)  I made sure they were lightly coated in the flour, and then put them in a skillet of oil.  I made sure they were crispy on the first side, then turned them... used a fork to take them out when they were done, and I put them on a plate with paper towels (to drain the excess grease).  I salted them good, and then picked one up and ATE IT!!!!

I gave one to the roomate, and then put the rest on a clean paper towel.  I put them on a plate, covered the plate with more paper towels, wrapped that all in newspapers, and wrapped all that in a towel that was nice and hot from the dryer. 

I packed all that in a plastic sack, got in my car, and drove the 45 minutes to my dad's house, praying that the shrooms wouldn't get soggy or cold on the drive.  Gave them to my dad (he's in a nursing home at the moment, and can't hunt his own), he seemed happy and the nurses were entertained by how I'd kept them warm LOL    He told me that next time I just needed to bring more hahahaha