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29 Sep 05 - 07:45 PM (#1572477) Subject: BS: I Ate A Giant Puffball From: bobad My wife, Claudia, was out walking with our dog in the fields out back of the house and came across a giant puffball which she picked and brought home. I sliced it into one inch slices and fried it up in olive oil and a little butter and we dined on it, one night with steak and another with broiled salmon. It fried up golden brown on the outside with the interior texture reminiscent of softish tofu with a delicate but definite mushroom flavour, quite a delicacy I must say. I'm wondering if anyone else has tried this and what is your opinion of it? |
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29 Sep 05 - 07:48 PM (#1572479) Subject: RE: BS: I Ate A Giant Puffball From: Peace Beware of the FALSE Giant Puffball. You are sure of which variety you ate, right? |
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29 Sep 05 - 07:50 PM (#1572481) Subject: RE: BS: I Ate A Giant Puffball From: Peace I have had some about 1" thick fried in butter and garnished with coarse black pepper, salt and it was really good. Key as you know is 1) don't overcook 2) use a very hot cast iron pan |
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29 Sep 05 - 07:51 PM (#1572482) Subject: RE: BS: I Ate A Giant Puffball From: Peace Cooking This mushroom is a choice edible. Trim away the cuticle (covering) if it's encrusted with dirt, and cut out any bad parts with a paring knife. Try not to wash this mushroom under water, or it will become too soggy to sauté. Slice the puffball, sauté it, steam it, or simmer it in soups, like other mushrooms. It's also great baked or grilled. It has a rich, earthy flavor with a texture of marshmallows. This mushroom doesn't dehydrate well. To store it long-range, cook it and freeze it. |
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29 Sep 05 - 07:53 PM (#1572483) Subject: RE: BS: I Ate A Giant Puffball From: gnu Watch which the deer eat and eat those. I would not eat any of the others, no matter how well the deer cooked them. |
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29 Sep 05 - 07:56 PM (#1572485) Subject: RE: BS: I Ate A Giant Puffball From: bobad Bruce That's exactly how I prepared it,fried quickly in a very hot cast iron pan. |
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29 Sep 05 - 07:58 PM (#1572487) Subject: RE: BS: I Ate A Giant Puffball From: Peace Bobad, good on you. People who slow-fry edible members of the mushroom family are missing one of the great cullinary treats of all time. |
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29 Sep 05 - 08:06 PM (#1572495) Subject: RE: BS: I Ate A Giant Puffball From: Peace Years back I had a fungus that came off a tree. Pat Sky chose it and we ate it with I can't remember what. However, it was good also. I have never taken the time to learn which mushrooms are edible and which aren't. Wish I had. |
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29 Sep 05 - 08:12 PM (#1572498) Subject: RE: BS: I Ate A Giant Puffball From: Peace This one is poisonous! from the following site: http://botit.botany.wisc.edu/toms_fungi/aug98.html |
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29 Sep 05 - 08:16 PM (#1572502) Subject: RE: BS: I Ate A Giant Puffball From: Charley Noble Peace- Some wish they hadn't! My grandmother knew her mushrooms but was always willing to experiment with less familar but interesting looking ones. One entire night her guests were kept "on the run" from their epicurian repast. She was appropriately apologetic in the morning. Giant puffballs can be great if they are fresh. Not so great if they're looking brown inside. Disgusting if they're only dust inside! Cheerily, Charley Noble |
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29 Sep 05 - 08:33 PM (#1572515) Subject: RE: BS: I Ate A Giant Puffball From: frogprince It's now about 35 minutes by my watch since Bobab last posted; is he still okay? |
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29 Sep 05 - 08:58 PM (#1572533) Subject: RE: BS: I Ate A Giant Puffball From: Beer Couldn't resist opening this thread when I saw it. And who do we have Bobad and Bruce. Bobad I met and Bruce I hope to next July. Right? Charley I haven't had the pleasure. I have eaten approxmately 10 varieties so far and have always come back to the field mushroom. The little button ones like in the store. However the store ones that are culivated have little or no taste. But the wild ones are fantastic. Puff balls are my second favoriate. I've tried the "Morel" and "Chicken of the Woods" but despite what experts say(Two of the best tasting.) I always come back to the field mushroom. When I was very young, dad use to take me looking for mushrooms and now I'm glad he did. In 1988 I purchased a book titled "The New Savory Wild Mushroom". When I go out to look for mushrooms I always take it with me. When I find one that looks pretty interesting I cook it up and call my wife for a taste. Then I sit and watch her for a while. After about an hour, I figure it is safe so I try them and rate their smell, texture, taste and so on. Mushroom Poisons by Varro E. Tyler. To quote: "Only 1 to 2 percent of the approxmately five thousand species of mushrooms growing in North America are significantly toxic". He goes on to say that when experimenting you should eat a very small amount. For what could be fine for one person can have a very different effect on another. Just thought I'd share this with you. Bobad enjoy them as the season is just about over. Bruce I will be in touch very soon on another topic. P.S. Judy and I will celebrate our 34th. wedding anniversary Sunday. Despite being a mushroom taster, she is fine. Beer |
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29 Sep 05 - 09:02 PM (#1572540) Subject: RE: BS: I Ate A Giant Puffball From: Peace Happy 34th to you both, Adrien. Where IS Bobad? |
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29 Sep 05 - 09:04 PM (#1572543) Subject: RE: BS: I Ate A Giant Puffball From: Big Jim from Jackson A friend of mine's wife died of eating poison mushrooms. His second wife died of eating poison mushrooms, too. His third wife fell into the cistern and drownd---it seems she wouldn't eat her damned mushrooms! :-) |
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29 Sep 05 - 09:04 PM (#1572545) Subject: RE: BS: I Ate A Giant Puffball From: Peace LOL |
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29 Sep 05 - 09:26 PM (#1572561) Subject: RE: BS: I Ate A Giant Puffball From: Beer Thanks for the great laugh Big Jim. Beer |
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29 Sep 05 - 09:26 PM (#1572562) Subject: RE: BS: I Ate A Giant Puffball From: bobad I'm back and feeling allright except something is happening to the walls in here, they seem to be melting and changing colours, I'll have to look into that in the morning. Good to see you here Beer and to hear you are also a funghiphile. I too as a young'un would accompany my dad and grandfather hunting the wild mushrooms. Being from eastern europe they were really attuned to the varities and habitats of mushrooms as this was part of their cultural experience. My mother and grandmother would preserve them by pickling. Have you ever tasted pickled wild mushrooms? One variety (I don't know it's English name) would turn the marinating liquid viscous and mucousy sounds unappetizing but quite delicious. |
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29 Sep 05 - 09:42 PM (#1572573) Subject: RE: BS: I Ate A Giant Puffball From: Beer Never have tasted pickled mushrooms I can just imagen how they look. It seems the ugler they are the taster they get. Beer |
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29 Sep 05 - 10:38 PM (#1572600) Subject: RE: BS: I Ate A Giant Puffball From: Metchosin Another fungophile here. In fact my kids, when they were small, instead of saying "Money's mushrooms make meals marvelous" more often said, "Mommy mushrooms make meals scary". One thing that is a good idea, even when you are certain of the identification of the mushroom you are about to eat, when trying it for the first time, only eat a very small amount and then wait awhile to determine anything which might indicate an adverse reaction. Some people do not react well to even the ones that are considered quite edible. mmmmmm. ......should be some boletes about very soon. |
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29 Sep 05 - 10:55 PM (#1572609) Subject: RE: BS: I Ate A Giant Puffball From: Rapparee For a very long time I spurned all fungi. They were, after all, saprophytes and I really had no desire to eat something that grew and fed on the dead. Then, one day I realized that everything feeds on the dead -- that we're all saprophytic. I've enjoyed mushrooms ever since. Morels...wild...soak 'em in salt water to kill any bugs and fry 'em up in GOOD butter.... |
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30 Sep 05 - 09:31 AM (#1572656) Subject: RE: BS: I Ate A Giant Puffball From: GUEST,Fullerton Giant Puffball and chips cooked on a solid fuel stove on an old admiralty boat. Ah yummy memories. |
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30 Sep 05 - 09:48 AM (#1572674) Subject: RE: BS: I Ate A Giant Puffball From: Dave Hanson I regularly use shaggy inkcaps and ceps [ when I find them ]and shaggy parasol mushrooms , all delicious. I aint dead yet, eric |
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30 Sep 05 - 10:00 AM (#1572684) Subject: RE: BS: I Ate A Giant Puffball From: Allan C. There is no other mushroom that grows in a ball that is bigger than a softball, if not much, much larger. Where folks go wrong is when they try smaller ones that might end up being among other varieties. The giant, once you've actually seen one, is really very distinctively different from the rest. Personally, I found them to be rather lacking in flavor. |
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30 Sep 05 - 10:02 AM (#1572689) Subject: RE: BS: I Ate A Giant Puffball From: John MacKenzie Shaggy Inkcaps are nice but don't drink alcohol with the meal. I went out last Sunday and picked about 2 lbs of Chanterelles, some of which I ate fried in butter, and the rest of which I dried for future soup use. Giok |
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30 Sep 05 - 11:56 AM (#1572780) Subject: RE: BS: I Ate A Giant Puffball From: Beer Once saw a picture in a book of a Puff Ball besides a Volkswagon. It was much larger than the Volks. |
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30 Sep 05 - 12:14 PM (#1572791) Subject: RE: BS: I Ate A Giant Puffball From: Janie Beer--I am wondering if what you call field mushroom is what I call meadow mushroom--Agaricus campestris? It is one of my favorites. However, I always do a spore print first since it so closely resembles several deadly poison amanitas that are common where I live and share the same fruiting season. Re: puffballs--our rule of thumb--slice it cleanly down the middle. If there are no rudimentary gills, and if it is solid snowy white, it is safe. In our area we have to be particularly careful to distinquish between "gem-studded puffballs" and "earthstars." My husband and son love puffballs, but to me, their taste is cloyingly rich. I can eat a few--then I'm done with them. Janie |
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30 Sep 05 - 01:42 PM (#1572852) Subject: RE: BS: I Ate A Giant Puffball From: Beer Janie, You are correct. What I call field mushroom, is in fact the meadow mushroom. About four years ago I couldn't beleive my eyes when I looked across the road to a field that had just been harvest of it's corn. The field (and I'm speaking of acres.) was white. I picked buckets and buckets of them. I have tried different methods of storing them but none to my satisfaction. If anyone has had success in storing them please share your recipe. Beer |
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30 Sep 05 - 02:51 PM (#1572893) Subject: RE: BS: I Ate A Giant Puffball From: Janie Beer--I suppose that one could can them, like the canned cultivated agaricus you buy at the grocery. I would guess one should use a pressure canner to safely do that. We have sliced and dried them to use in soups and stews, which works pretty good for that purpose,and have tried freezing (yuck!). I bet pickled a. campetris mushrooms are good--sorta like marinated mushrooms? Janie |
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30 Sep 05 - 03:57 PM (#1572925) Subject: RE: BS: I Ate A Giant Puffball From: Beer I think Bobad could help here. He has pickled them before. I tried running a needle and thread through them and hanging them in the loft to dry. Like a clothesline. Didn't work to well. May find something on the "Net". Beer |
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30 Sep 05 - 04:08 PM (#1572932) Subject: RE: BS: I Ate A Giant Puffball From: Janie Yeh, it was Bobad's post I was thinking of when I wondered about pickling. I think you need to slice them thin to dry them. We use a food dehydrator. You can make your own pretty easily with a box, a baking sheet and a light bulb. We eventually bought a dehydrator however, because we dry a number of herbs and foods. They are not expensive...but I don't think I would get one if I didn't often use one. Janie |
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30 Sep 05 - 04:56 PM (#1572948) Subject: RE: BS: I Ate A Giant Puffball From: TheBigPinkLad Slice and fry in butter, cool and freeze. Keep for months. gnu -- deer and humans have very different metabolisms, be careful. metchosin - Jordan River is covered with chanties right now. You're welcome to the boletes, but if you should stumble on a sparassis crispa you don't want ... ;o) |
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30 Sep 05 - 09:29 PM (#1573079) Subject: RE: BS: I Ate A Giant Puffball From: Charley Noble Mother has some enormous puff balls in her front garden but after frying up one with butter she's leaving the rest for the slugs. Yes, they're good but not that good that you'd want to eat a pound or so of them. Now chanterelles, they're different. Fried up with butter with some sour cream added late in the frying, they're heavenly and I probably could scarf up or down several pounds of them. However, you need a good set of running shoes, not to mention a good set of lungs, to be able to catch them in the woods! I can't seem to think of one folk song that has mushrooms in it... Cheerily, Charley Noble |
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30 Sep 05 - 09:39 PM (#1573084) Subject: RE: BS: I Ate A Giant Puffball From: Peace The Irish Jubilee Also "But we can be thankful and tranquil and proud For man's been endowed with a mushroom-shaped cloud . . .". |
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30 Sep 05 - 09:40 PM (#1573087) Subject: RE: BS: I Ate A Giant Puffball From: Peace Bobad has NOT posted since over 24 hours ago. |
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30 Sep 05 - 09:42 PM (#1573088) Subject: RE: BS: I Ate A Giant Puffball From: Peace Zoe Wood & Larry Evans - Fungal Boogie songs about mushrooms http://banqa.uaqa.com/hober/catalog/14307987.html |
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30 Sep 05 - 09:50 PM (#1573095) Subject: RE: BS: I Ate A Giant Puffball From: bobad Checking in to say I'm OK and doing the fungal boogie. |
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01 Oct 05 - 01:20 AM (#1573168) Subject: RE: BS: I Ate A Giant Puffball From: dianavan I, too, am hooked on wild mushrooms. My favorite is chicken of the woods. Unbelievable! They actually have chicken flavour. Also eat oyster mushrooms alot. Of course meadow mushrooms are always a welcome addition. Chanterelles? I have a secret patch and will not tell anyone where it is. Whether or not they are edible, I enjoy the Autumn walks searching, and finding the little beauties. If I'm not sure, I place the cap on a piece of white paper and put a glass over top. The colour of the spores are often the identifying factor. A good field guide is priceless. The most beautiful mushroom, aminita muscaria, is very poisonous but its always a thrill to find them. www.uh.edu/ ~szilagyi/A.muscaria |
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01 Oct 05 - 01:38 AM (#1573176) Subject: RE: BS: I Ate A Giant Puffball From: GUEST,Boab gnu----Deer have been known to eat Panther-caps. They seem to relish the "high" which seems to be concentrated in the skin. Watch it!! |
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01 Oct 05 - 03:32 AM (#1573196) Subject: RE: BS: I Ate A Giant Puffball From: Metchosin BPL, some years I don't have to go that far, we quite often have both the white and yellow chanterelles just outside the door, although I've seen nothing so far this year. Don't turn your nose up at a bolete, particularly if you haven't tried a Zeller's Boletus... beautiful texture with a slightly eggy flavour. I prefer my chanterelles with venison. |
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01 Oct 05 - 04:03 AM (#1573200) Subject: RE: BS: I Ate A Giant Puffball From: Big Al Whittle I never fancy them in case a dog has weed on them. |
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01 Oct 05 - 06:18 PM (#1573673) Subject: RE: BS: I Ate A Giant Puffball From: Sorcha Hmmmm. May have to re think my stance on fugus...and figure out a way to ttaste some other kinds.... |
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01 Oct 05 - 07:50 PM (#1573725) Subject: RE: BS: I Ate A Giant Puffball From: McGrath of Harlow Be careful though. There are some pretty poisonous ones that look very similar to the edible kinds. There is mushroom for error... |
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02 Oct 05 - 02:32 AM (#1573905) Subject: RE: BS: I Ate A Giant Puffball From: Long Firm Freddie Funnilyy enough I was watching Hugh Fearnley-Whittingstall cook a 6lb 8oz puffball on his TV programme, Escape to River Cottage. This is the recipe, taken from his River Cottage site in the seasoanl recipes for September section (I assume it might disappear as we're now in Ocotber, so I thought post the whole recipe would be best): Stuffed Puffball This is one of the most spectacular and satisfying wild food recipes I have ever cooked. The fungal flavours in the finished dish are intense, to say the least; it�s not for the fainthearted. But true fungophiles will appreciate it. The stuffing was based simply on the �catch of the day� when I went out foraging with my Bridport friends, Nick and Paddy. It�s a flexible affair, and you could use whatever combination of wild meat and wild mushrooms comes your way. Buttered steamed young comfrey leaves make a good accompaniment. Ingredients: Serves 2�10 (depending on foraging success) 1 large puffball (20�40cm in diameter)(8-16ins) oil for frying about a dozen wild garlic roots (or shallots), finely chopped breast meat from 1 pigeon (or more, as available), chopped about 500g chicken of the woods mushrooms (discard any woody bits, then chop roughly) a slosh of wine a few horse or field mushrooms, chopped parsley, sage, thyme, finely chopped a few potatoes, parboiled and roughly chopped a knob of soft butter salt and freshly ground black pepper Cut the top off the puffball and remove carefully; this will be your lid. Hollow out the interior of the puffball, leaving the sides and base at least 5cm thick (any thinner and they may collapse during baking). Roughly chop the flesh that you have removed from the puffball. Heat some oil in a large pan, add the wild garlic and sweat for a couple of minutes, then add the pigeon meat. Cook for a couple of minutes, until browned, then add the chicken of the woods. Add a sprinkling of salt at this stage to help draw the water from this fungus. If the mixture begins to look dry and is catching on the bottom of the pan, add a little water and a slosh of wine. Simmer gently until the liquid is nearly absorbed, then transfer to a large mixing bowl. Return the empty pan to the heat and add a little more oil. Throw in the chopped puffball flesh, along with any other mushrooms you have gathered, and stir-fry for a few minutes, until much reduced in volume. Add to the rest of the mixture, along with the herbs and chopped potatoes. Mix everything together well and season to taste with salt and pepper. Fill the puffball with the mixture and replace the lid. Smear the top and sides of the puffball with the soft butter and wrap completely in foil. Bake in a fairly hot oven (190�C/Gas Mark 5) for 2 hours. To serve, unwrap the puffball, remove the lid and spoon out the filling. Serve with pieces of the lid, sliced; further slices of puffball can be taken horizontally, as the level of the filling descends. I've converted cms to inches for those who aren't metric friendly - I'm not sure whether or not a 'slosh' of wine need translating, though! LFF |
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02 Oct 05 - 02:36 AM (#1573906) Subject: RE: BS: I Ate A Giant Puffball From: The Fooles Troupe Hmmm, I heard it as A friend of mine's wife died of eating poison mushrooms. His second wife died of eating poison mushrooms, too. His third wife died of concussion with a saucepan - she wouldn't eat the mushrooms! |
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02 Oct 05 - 04:07 AM (#1573928) Subject: RE: BS: I Ate A Giant Puffball From: Dave Hanson What's with the weird symbols freddie, makes no sense. eric |
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02 Oct 05 - 04:30 AM (#1573940) Subject: RE: BS: I Ate A Giant Puffball From: Long Firm Freddie Eric I must have been eating some of those 'special' mushrooms! Actually, something's gone wrong in the cut & pasting of some punctuation. Let's try again: Stuffed Puffball This is one of the most spectacular and satisfying wild food recipes I have ever cooked. The fungal flavours in the finished dish are intense, to say the least; it's not for the fainthearted. But true fungophiles will appreciate it. The stuffing was based simply on the 'catch of the day' when I went out foraging with my Bridport friends, Nick and Paddy. It's a flexible affair, and you could use whatever combination of wild meat and wild mushrooms comes your way. Buttered steamed young comfrey leaves make a good accompaniment. Ingredients: Serves 2-10 (depending on foraging success) 1 large puffball (20-40cm in diameter)(8-16ins) oil for frying about a dozen wild garlic roots (or shallots), finely chopped breast meat from 1 pigeon (or more, as available), chopped about 500g chicken of the woods mushrooms (discard any woody bits, then chop roughly) a slosh of wine a few horse or field mushrooms, chopped parsley, sage, thyme, finely chopped a few potatoes, parboiled and roughly chopped a knob of soft butter salt and freshly ground black pepper Cut the top off the puffball and remove carefully; this will be your lid. Hollow out the interior of the puffball, leaving the sides and base at least 5cm thick (any thinner and they may collapse during baking). Roughly chop the flesh that you have removed from the puffball. Heat some oil in a large pan, add the wild garlic and sweat for a couple of minutes, then add the pigeon meat. Cook for a couple of minutes, until browned, then add the chicken of the woods. Add a sprinkling of salt at this stage to help draw the water from this fungus. If the mixture begins to look dry and is catching on the bottom of the pan, add a little water and a slosh of wine. Simmer gently until the liquid is nearly absorbed, then transfer to a large mixing bowl. Return the empty pan to the heat and add a little more oil. Throw in the chopped puffball flesh, along with any other mushrooms you have gathered, and stir-fry for a few minutes, until much reduced in volume. Add to the rest of the mixture, along with the herbs and chopped potatoes. Mix everything together well and season to taste with salt and pepper. Fill the puffball with the mixture and replace the lid. Smear the top and sides of the puffball with the soft butter and wrap completely in foil. Bake in a fairly hot oven (190degC/Gas Mark 5) for 2 hours. To serve, unwrap the puffball, remove the lid and spoon out the filling. Serve with pieces of the lid, sliced; further slices of puffball can be taken horizontally, as the level of the filling descends. |
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02 Oct 05 - 04:34 AM (#1573943) Subject: RE: BS: I Ate A Giant Puffball From: Long Firm Freddie Oh, and I think 190 degrees Celsius translated to 375 degrees Fahrenheit. LFF |
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02 Oct 05 - 05:42 AM (#1573962) Subject: RE: BS: I Ate A Giant Puffball From: Dave Hanson Got it. eric |
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02 Oct 05 - 08:21 AM (#1574006) Subject: RE: BS: I Ate A Giant Puffball From: GUEST Do be careful about taking advice on what is edible on here as nobody seems to be telling you if they are using English or American common names. The same name may apply to different fungii on either side if the Atlantic. Always verify the edibility of strange fungi with two different reference books. Some have been known to be wrong. As autumn comes on I will be checking the front lawn for shaggy ink cap (in England) - quite tasty if picked young and cooked VERY quickly. The texture is soggy and unpleasant if overcooked. |
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02 Oct 05 - 08:45 AM (#1574017) Subject: RE: BS: I Ate A Giant Puffball From: Rapparee I once picked one of these thinking it was an immature one of these. I'll promise you that that difference becomes immediately evident in a closed car! As my old Morphology of Plants prof said, "Smells like a dead horse, doesn't it?" Oddly enough, stinkhorn is edible. Feel free.... |
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02 Oct 05 - 03:17 PM (#1574200) Subject: RE: BS: I Ate A Giant Puffball From: Donuel Has anyone eaten the Philosopher's stone? |
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02 Oct 05 - 04:10 PM (#1574235) Subject: RE: BS: I Ate A Giant Puffball From: sapper82 My children know that if they find a puffball they are to bring it straight home!! Lovely cooked with smoked bacln! |
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02 Oct 05 - 06:19 PM (#1574294) Subject: RE: BS: I Ate A Giant Puffball From: Dave'sWife Here's a TRUE deadly mushroom story - my 3rd grade teacher and his first wife picked some in Upstate NY, don't know what kind. she died, he survived (after being quite ill) and when I was in Highschool, he married my 9th grade English teacher. happy ending! As for storing mushrooms for future use - only way I ever managed was to preserve them was to flash fry them in roasted garlic flavored olive oil and then store them in more oil - or - drying them in a dehydrator. Freezing fresh mushrooms results in slime. |
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03 Oct 05 - 07:24 PM (#1575034) Subject: RE: BS: I Ate A Giant Puffball From: bobad Ate another one tonight and it was even better than the first. |
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03 Oct 05 - 07:34 PM (#1575040) Subject: RE: BS: I Ate A Giant Puffball From: Dave'sWife Do you have a giant puff ball Mine in your backyard? would it not be ever so much more fun to wait until they dry out and then toss them off an overpass at unsuspecting vehicles? That's what we used to dowhen I was a child. |
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03 Oct 05 - 07:47 PM (#1575053) Subject: RE: BS: I Ate A Giant Puffball From: bobad No I don't have a giant puffball mine in my backyard, my wife plucked this one off of someone's lawn bicycling home from work. And no,it's much more fun and gastrinomically satisfying to eat them. |
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03 Oct 05 - 07:47 PM (#1575055) Subject: RE: BS: I Ate A Giant Puffball From: GUEST,dragged up. We used to drop pink and white marshmallow sweets on to the roofs of red routemasters, as they went under a low-over-the-road foot bridge. We never had a telly. |
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03 Oct 05 - 07:53 PM (#1575058) Subject: RE: BS: I Ate A Giant Puffball From: bobad Pity. |
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03 Oct 05 - 08:37 PM (#1575085) Subject: RE: BS: I Ate A Giant Puffball From: frogprince Guest, dragged up: I grew up rather isolated on the farm, and sometimes rather desperate for entertainment, but I don't think I ever got down to where I would have thought that was exciting... |
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03 Oct 05 - 10:37 PM (#1575156) Subject: RE: BS: I Ate A Giant Puffball From: Dave'sWife Dried out Puff balls explode when you drop them on cars. That's fun - just aim for the roof though if you don't want to go to jail. |
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04 Oct 05 - 07:08 AM (#1575333) Subject: RE: BS: I Ate A Giant Puffball From: Richard Bridge Dropping puffballs on cars is very dangerous to car-owners who may swerve or emergency stop and only the terminally stupid do it. Phallus impudicus, (technically amanita phalloides) the "stink-horn" produces and evil dark slime over the "glans" which is effective to attract flies to spread the spores. According to all the English fungi books I have read, the only two really really dangerous fungi in the UK are amanita muscaria and amanita pantheris (the death cap and the panther cap). Fly Agaric (the red and white spotted one) is hallucinogenic and somewhat dangerous, but so unmistakable. No-one has mentioned "Poor Man's Beefsteak" - or "Horse Mushrooms" - or "Yellow stainers". I've never tried the first, but have eaten both the others with no ill effects (some people have different metbolisms and get very gyppy tummy from them) although I find the taste can be overpoweringly strong if you use them incautiously in stews. |
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04 Oct 05 - 07:45 AM (#1575355) Subject: RE: BS: I Ate A Giant Puffball From: GUEST frogprince it was damned exciting! |
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04 Oct 05 - 11:28 AM (#1575530) Subject: RE: BS: I Ate A Giant Puffball From: Pied Piper I've never tried Giant Puffball but ther's some lovley Shaggy ParasolMushrooms in the local Churchyard. Yum Yum PP |
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04 Oct 05 - 11:28 AM (#1575532) Subject: RE: BS: I Ate A Giant Puffball From: Ebbie In Oregon about 25 years ago some kids dropped a goodsized rock from an overpass onto a car. Went through the windshield (windscreen) and hit a woman passenger. She will be forever disfigured- and that's after multiple surgeries. After that there were some copycat efforts (Have you noticed that people are insane?) so the state put up tall fences on the overpasses. I'm glad this is not a kids' forum. I doubt we'lll go out and do the stupid things that kids might. |
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04 Oct 05 - 02:23 PM (#1575684) Subject: RE: BS: I Ate A Giant Puffball From: frogprince Maybe if I saw what the "pink and white marshmallow sweets" were really like, I would get the idea... I get a picture of, like tossing gumdrops; wheee? Somewhere around the time of the Oregon incident that Ebbie mentioned, someone in the detroit area dropped a cement block through a grade school teachers windshield. She went through years of reconstructive surgery, only to get infection after one operation and die. I can imagine myself, as a fool kid, tossing something like puffballs at cars. A kid who would never think of throwing something like a rock would do it, never thinking through the risk of startling a driver into an accident. God, where would you go from there? On one hand, how could you just let the kid off with little or no consequences? on the other, how could you treat him the same as an animal who heaved an obviously deadly object? How did we get from fun eating mushrooms to this grim stuff? |
