The yellowfoots surprise me. I’m down at the creek, between the trail and the creek, really, when I stumble upon them. Call them winter chanterelles, yellowfoot chanterelles, funnel mushrooms, like the Fins do. Craterellus tubaeformis—their official name—arrive at my feet in a surprising bounty. Yellowfoots I had not been expecting. Not here in Michigan at least, …
Do oyster mushrooms grow on the same tree over multiple years? In fact, they do. Back in May of 2018, I’d been looking for morels in Mills Norrie park, on the Hudson River’s eastern bank, when I ran into two couples in the woods. It was clear they were doing the same thing I was: …
“What am I eating?” my friend Danny asks, picking at the leftover pasta and oyster mushrooms cooling on my stove. To which I explain how I had just been out picking mushrooms a few days prior. “These are mushrooms?!” I’d forgotten he’s been telling me he doesn’t like mushrooms for a few years now. It …
Throughout early May of this year I had a lot of success finding morels under tuliptrees. I’d been especially lucky finding morels under tuliptrees on southeastern facing slopes. That all came to an end recently. As I stepped from my car, heat enveloped me. It was pushing 80, hotter than I’d expected. This, I thought, …
Morel season in full swing and I am once again in search of hallowed ground. As a new-ish transplant to the Northeast, I don’t have a honeyhole to speak of. No spot has been handed down to me over familial generations; I haven’t had seasons of time hunting morels. Rather, I’m having to seek out …
With the snow receding, soil temperatures beginning to rise, and spring on the horizon my mind has been turning to morel mushrooms. Actually, it’s less of a casual thought and more of an obsession. Over the past couple of years, I’ve returned to Michigan for an annual morel hunt. My homeland may be one of …
Read more “Preparing for the Start of Morel Mushroom Season”
Earlier this month, I had the luxury of spending a week in Uruguay, exploring the country’s wines. Bounded by Brazil and Argentina, the Atlantic Ocean and the Uruguay River, this small South American country is big on flavor. Despite it’s relatively flat terrain—the tallest hill is roughly 1,600 feet high—the wines I tasted we remarkably …
Read more “What To Do When Your Winemaker Hands You A Random Mushroom in Uruguay”
Just a few weeks ago, in my story about finding my first Hen of the Woods, I wrote about not eating bugs. I’d be remiss to mention, however, that I actually have been eating bugs recently. In fact, I wrote an article on edible insects—on both drinking and eating bugs—for the October issue of Wine & Spirits …
Read more “Reflections on Eating Bugs (and Drinking Them, Too)”
About this time last year, I thought my foraging season was coming to an end. Still acclimating to the East Coast, I’d missed most of the Chanterelle season, hadn’t found my own hunting grounds, and by the beginning of October, the Chanterelles that had been there were done. Still, while visiting my brother and his …
Read more “My History with Hen of the Woods: How the Maitake First Bested Me”
Chanterelle season has arrived and I’m going crazy picking these gold-ish orange beauties. And, cooking as many as I can, as often as I can. While I’ve long favored simple preparations—I love chanterelle recipes that feature eggs as I think the flavors favor each other—my one true go-to is a stunning bread salad. A combination …
Read more “Golden Oldie: The Chanterelle Salad Recipe Returns”