this one grows on trees doesn't it?

I am so predjudiced I can't imagine anything better than a morel! Does look tasty, will look it up in my book when I get home.

Is that you with that tasty fungi?

depending on the book you use. It does grow on or close to the base of a tree. This one was found under a fallen tree on September 29. I have never found one actually growing "on" a tree.

You are right that morels are wonderful. I usually saute morels in butter, but for the chicken mushroom, I bread it and fry it up like fried chicken. Mmmmmm. Probably not the healthiest way to cook it, but I don't find them often enough to make that an issue.

And yes, that is me with the mushroom.

I have only known one person in my life who actually showed me where he finds morels.

I regret not getting involved in this before me father passed away, because he was always out looking for mushrooms and must have had some great spots.....although I do remember a story about a bull.

I love mushrooms, especially wild mushrooms. Porcini are probably my favorite, but I have never tried anything like this.

I showed this one because, first, I had a picture of it, and second, it cannot be confused with any other mushroom. If someone is going to eat wild mushrooms, it is good to start with an easy one. Plus, this is my favorite.

One problem with boletes is that there are some that are not very tasty, although I know of none that are really harmful. One is presumably a dangerous mushroom...which leads to cautions to avoid any bolete with orange/red pores (underside sponge-like area). Most are edible and a few are choice.

learning about mushrooms is my winter project.

you really must have the Audubon Field Guide to North American Mushrooms.

It has very good information, including whether the mushrooms are edible, good or choice, or poisonous or fatal. (Study those fatal ones until you know them in your sleep, and just stay away from any mushroom that could be mistaken for them. Poisonous usually just do not sit well and can make you uncomfortable but will not kill you---not that you shouldn't avoid them.)

It tells you how to do spore prints, which are important to really learning some of the mushrooms. It tells you how to cook the different kinds. It lists any look-alikes, so that if you "think" you have found a certain species, you can determine if that is what you have. So for the most part, this is a good handy reference.

For a winter project, read up on things like how to do spore prints. Also familiarize yourself with the different types of mushrooms, like gilled and boletes, as well as whether the gills run down the stem or not. Notice that some mushrooms have rings on the stem. And some mushrooms are irregular in shape. Once you are aware of all the details you can look at to determine the species that you have found, it will be much easier to identify them in the field.

When you go out for mushrooms, bring paper sacks or a basket, or both. Baskets are nice to keep them protected, and the sacks can keep different mushrooms separated. Never put them in plastic bags.

See if there are any mushroom clubs around you. I find that they are very helpful to beginners and often they have foraging walks and identification talks.

Oh, and good luck.

How do you prepare it?

I'm terrified of making a mistake with mushrooms; this one looks so distinct but I'm still a scaredy cat about it all...

for any other. It is solid, orange to yellow top, and underneath it is white. No other mushroom is like this. It is called a chicken mushroom because it can be used just about any way you cook chicken. My personal favorite for it, and how I cooked more than half of this one, is to bread and fried it like fried chicken. I also made a stir fry over pasta using some of this instead of chicken. This one was perfect. It was fresh and solid....and these ones will keep longer than most mushrooms that must be cooked within a day.

This is not the first wild mushroom I ever ate, since my father was a forager, but this was the first one that I trusted to eat that I found myself. My uncle (father's brother) was with us when we found it and he would not eat it, since he didn't know this kind. The color was odd to consider eating, but I was absolutely sure of the identification.

And don't worry about being a scaredy cat, most people are, and most people that I know will not eat my mushrooms (even though I have been doing this for years now and have never gotten sick----yet). I am constantly told that they will hear about me being one of those people who end up in the hospital or dead. OK. Sure. But I am careful and will not eat anything that I cannot identify positively. I also have gone to mushroom talks and identification classes as well as making friends with some experts who I will go out with to learn how to recognize mushrooms. And constantly use the field guides.

it is a chicken mushroom. Around here, we call chicken of the woods "sheepheads". They are the same type of mushroom, only they are brown colored. They are also solid and have that fringed/layered look. Neither have gills---they are both polypores. They also both grow on stumps or close to the bottom of trees or right on the ground at the base of trees.

Personally, I prefer the chicken or sulphur mushroom, but most people seem to like the chicken of the woods/sheephead. I think that it is the color of the chicken mushroom that turns some people off. It kinda creeped me out the first time too, but then again, I was willing to give it a try since the books said it was choice.

If you find one, enjoy!