Wild Mushrooms, Wet Weather, And Finally.... The Weekend!

Looks like a skull? 

Cheryl and I went out last Thursday for a brief run/bike through Corallville.   I had ulterior motives to disperse the Lobster Mushroom spores on various Milk caps and Brittle gills in the area where we frequently find them.   I was surprised and thrilled to find a couple large puffballs!

Oops!  Looks like this one is turning. 

At first,  I assumed they were immature Giant Puffballs. (Langermannia gigantea) but soon discovered they are a differant type altogether.  Behold!  Calvatia cyathiformis! I'm still a little fuzzy on the common name... but but both names I found would fit nicely.   The Pear-Shaped Puffball or the Skull Shaped Puffball.

Looks like sliced bread? 

I was excited to give them a try but I discovered that their size and shape did not obviously show whether they were still fresh.   I cut the first, smaller one, open and discovered it was already turning colors.   Thankfully,  the larger one was still fresh.

Looks like French Toast....

Take a closer look and you will see how it looks like French Toast or some other sliced bread.  You might think that it would taste similarly,  but it was soooo different!

Tastes like Beef...Bacon.  Meat? 

The texture was similar roast beef that was thinly sliced and grilled.  Chewy,  rather tough.  and kinda like bacon that was undercooked. 

The taste!   Meaty.   I can't really say what kind of meat, but something in the red meat family.  Steakum!  Perhaps.   Overall,  not bad with just a little butter and salt.   I later diced some up and had them with eggs.   You would think I cut up bacon and added i to Scrambled eggs.   I nice new discovery.

Heavy rain. 

Actually,  I may have found something like this before, but was unable to eat it because it had already turned bad.

Soon after I found that mushroom,  the rain began to fall.    And fall HARD!

Hungry cat. 

Little rain will not stop the hunger...

I got soaked riding back to the car, and Cheryl was nice and dry under the roof of the bathroom area.  It rained all the way home and we were shocked to find that the neighborhood cat was outside waiting for his treat.   You would think that the rain would have driven him to shelter, but I guess the free food trumped the cold and wet feeling.  The front porch offers at least a little shelter from the wind and rain.   Plus we have a blanket and bench he can hide under in a pinch.

Cheryl in Muscatine. 

This morning,  we were off to Muscatine again,  for that river bank run we love so much.   The temps held down to the 60's so Cheryl was able to complete a full 10 miles without any major meltdowns.   It is supposed to rain later this evening and on through the night,  but right now,   there is plenty of Sunshine breaking through the clouds.   Good thing we got our run in when we did.

Not much is planned for this evening.   Most likely rest and a little recovery for our last week on the Pearson Project.   I wanted so squeeze in a little post before I go total sloth for the remainder of the day.  Thanks for stopping in,  and hopefully,   we will find a few more mushrooms to blog about.  Until then..  Cheers!