h2g2 The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy: Earth Edition

Damn. I already wrote this entry and then it disappeared.

We went out gathering mushrooms this morning, because they are erupting up everywhere at the moment. It was a lovely cool, crisp morning. The place was deserted. I think everyone with a bit of sense and a nice warm bed was making use of the latter.

My friend is well acquent with the dark arts of fungus, being a mycologist who I'd have complete trust in, so I was sure I wouldn't end up killing myself or orbiting Neptune inside my head.

We got some giant puffball, some suspicious, trumpet-looking things, and some ceps, so it was a decent haul. I was even more suspicious of the trumpety ones when I learned that one of their common names is "trompe de mort", but I was assured this was nothing to worry about...!

For tea this evening we had toasted ciabatta topped with all of these and some chestnut mushrooms that were already in the fridge, done in cream and brandy with a bit of garlic and black pepper. Very tasty. The flavour of the woods on a plate.

Fungi are weird, weird things, though. They look like life forms from another planet a lot of the time!

Here's what the suspicious-looking "trumpets of death" look like:

https://ctzan.files.wordpress.com/2013/11/sam_1932-a.jpg

Grrr. I'll try that again: http://ctzan.files.wordpress.com/2013/11/sam_1932-a.jpg

That's a mushroom from Mordor When you started frying it did an elvish script appear running around the outside of the trumpet? Did you turn invisible after you ate it?

Have you started calling anything 'My Precious'?

I haven't started fading yet, I don't think...

It was a bit of a leap of faith to eat those...while I believe it that they aren't poisonous, they just look like they should be!

(Now you've got me singing to the tune of Pennies From Heaven:

Every time it rains, it rains
Mushrooms from Mordor

You've made me hungry. I could eat some of those. Yum!

We get 'setas' here, (imported I guess) but I find them a bit bland. They need loads of salt. I think you'd call them oyster mushrooms.

I'm quite envious of you being able to go and pick some tasty woodland stuff.

It's a thing that not many people really do here, strangely, given the proliferation of fungi you get sometimes.

In Russia and a lot of eastern Europe, collecting mushrooms is a really big thing. I suppose people here are just cautious about picking the wrong things. I'd be a bit wary myself if I was relying on my own identification skills!

I was already in the mood for mushrooms, and now you're making me hungry .

Tomorrow night I plan to make chicken-mushroom soup. I've already chosen a recipe.

Speaking of tasty fungi, I highly recommend this hilarious saga regarding The Tree Brain, by Steve (Don't Eat It).

http://www.thesneeze.com/mt-archives/cat_brainwatch_timeline.php

That's not a fungus, nor is it a brain. It's a secene form the film "Pink Floyd The Wall," the one with the marching children.

You're a brave man, gunga-din. But that meal does sound good.

It was tasty, yes! I'll probably do it again with safer shop-bought mushrooms.

I think I'm safe now - if anything mad was going to happen it probably would have happened by now.

Whatever doesn't kill you makes you stronger.

Or turns you into a mushroomwraith

That's weird, I was just watching Pink Floyd, The Wall, last night.

mmmm I like the mushroom postings.

Hullo KB, I don't know if this is your NaJoPoMo journal, I'm on a tour through the list of all the NaJo entries, great tour it is too, it has taken me a week already. . Just in case you are wondering why this strange lady just stumbled into your journal.

Anyway, NaJo or not, I do like a mushroom debate. I've never seen those trumpets of death before, I wouldn't eat them on toast, or even not on toast.

I was photographing this splendid mushroom in the park the other day. It is orange with white spots, kind of a roundy shape, with a thick pale yellow stem. I thought it was the fly agaric at first, but I don't think it is.

It's still in my camera, in fact. Think I'll keep it in there, , in case it escapes. I wouldn't eat it. I'm going to try to identify it when I have time.

I think there are a couple of others like fly agaric that are easily confused with them, and some might be edible, but I can't remember for sure.

Keep them imprisoned in the camera just to be safe, and make sure mama doesn't take your Kodachrome away!

heheh, you had me checking that lyric there. What?? A Paul Simon song I didn't know. Ohmigod, what's happening to me?

Well that's spooky. The Food programme on Radio 4 this week is all about... http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/b04n2hv2

"It's a lattice o'coincidence".

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vRJ5cCP0ZPE