Lobster Mushrooms!

Today My husband and I were lucky enough to add another mushroom to our arsenal; The lobster! This incredible mushroom is different than any other mushroom we’ve found. The unique color and texture of a lobster mushroom is due to the fact that it is actually a fungus that has attacked and taken over another mushroom, changing it’s appearance and texture until it is unrecognizable!

I find the whole process incredibly interesting, and altogether fascinating! Here is a link to more information about this crazy shroom:

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hypomyces_lactifluorum

Here in the southern Rockies the lobster mushroom can be found around 9,000 ft in Ponderosa forests. They pushed up through the thick layer of pine needles like buried treasure!

Once you brush away the dirt and needles the beautiful mushroom is easy to cut. Be sure to cut it and not pull the whole thing out.

Here is a mushroom I found in the process of changing into a lobster. So cool!

The mushrooms have a slight shrimpy smell, and even look like lobster meat! I can’t wait to see what they taste like!

Comments

Elk Breakfast Sausage

I love breakfast. I love mornings when we have time to make a big breakfast, and sit together at the table to enjoy it. This time of year it is cold early in the morning, and I relish those days when we can wait just long enough for the sunshine to start spreading across the dining table, warming up the house. Of course, breakfast is not usually set to such ideal conditions. We are usually rushing to get ready for school and work, and don't often have the luxury of time and relaxation. That means that quick healthy breakfasts are coveted by this busy mom! When we processed the elk I recently harvested, we ended up with a lot of cuts of meat best suited for the grinder. We decided that along with our standard burger, we wanted to make breakfast sausage as well. I use so much burger throughout the year, in pasta, casseroles, chili, and a ton of other meals. But we often overlook breakfast in our planning. Not this year! In the past when I have made bre...

A Morel-less May

This has been a rather disappointing spring, as far as foraging is concerned. For the past several years, my husband and myself have been honing in on the exact environment the magical morel mushroom grows in. This unique mushroom is truly a treasure. Prolific in more eastern parts of the country as a yellow morel, the rocky mountain version is dark and mysterious. It grows around 8,000 -10,000 feet elevation on steep slopes covered in scrub oak. We will often find them in clusters, just pushed up from the earth. Morels will pop up all through the month of May here, right around my birthday, and I look forward to it every year. A gorgeous Morel from last May After a long mushroom deprived winter, it is a joy to get back into the woods, foraging for these delicious beauties. This year we grew increasingly more worried as May approached. Our winter was almost non-existent as far as moisture is concerned, and we crossed our fingers for ...

The Real Deal

No matter what I have harvested before, as my first New Mexico Deer hunt approached, I began to feel like, "this is the real deal!" When draw results were released, and I found out I had drawn a deer tag in the northwest corner of our state, I was ecstatic! And then I was nervous. This is what I had been working towards, but was I really ready? Was I really a huntress,or just kidding myself? Every time I wrestled with these questions, the answer I felt inside myself was, you are ready, this is real, this is you . When the actual weekend of my hunt was upon me, I felt it all, excitement, nervousness, pride, trepidation... And then it was Friday afternoon, my workday was over, and the time had come. I had been building towards this moment for so long, I couldn't wait. As with most things involving children, getting out of the house took forever. Nick had gone ahead, and found a campsite. I packed up for myself and the kids, and dropped them off at a friends house. Then t...

Forest and Farm

Search This Blog