Wild Mushrooms

It's that time of year in Mendocino County and I've been out foraging for wild mushrooms.  The coastal area generally has a much larger selection of edible mushrooms and a much longer season.  I love to walk the woods, rain or shine and see what I can discover hidden amongst the leaves.  Mostly what I'm finding lately are white chanterelles and matsutakes.  Later we'll get black chanterelles, also knows as trompe d'mort - those French have a sense of humor.  They are not poisonous and are in fact, quite delicious.  Usually our season starts with boletus edulis, also known as porcini in Italy or ceps in France.  We just call them boletes.  Not a good year for them, though, and the local Italians are disappointed in a sparse crop of Amanita Calyptrata, which they call Coccolee.

Tomorrow I'll give you my favorite recipe for chanterelles, but time now to go make them for my quilt group holiday party.