It is okay to be a "Chicken of the Woods".

 July 15, 2022

Okay, so it is always okay to be a chicken in the woods, especially if you're not the outdoorsy type, but for me, I am always a little adventurous for my own (clumsy, not aware of my surroundings) good. However, I can tell you beyond a shadow of a doubt, I don't eat anything I find in the woods even if someone says it is absolutely okay!  I have a very "delicate constitution" and my histamine autoimmune disorder ensures that anything that doesn't agree with me may send me straight to the ER (I turn into a Who from Whoville), but the absolute beauty of these mushrooms made me want to tempt fate and my $35 co-pay to eat these (I think) Chicken of the Woods. So this tableau is inspired by the idea that I would find, forage, and eat these absolutely beautiful mushrooms... which up to this day, is only in my mind. I'm still chicken!

My husband and I took my golf cart off-roading in our backyard (no, my golf cart is not lifted and does not have beefy tires). The trip was exhilarating over the terrain (well as much as a trip through the backyard words can be on a slow golf cart, but we did cross a creek bed and shot up a steep hill) and the added bonus was seeing these wonderful shrooms in the woods!

I, of course, did not have my camera, so we sped quickly (maybe 15mph - whoa!) back to the house to retrieve it since the light was fading (of course photography is all about the lighting). On the way back to the house (I know it sounds like it was far, but oh no, not that far). We ran into the neighbor at the fence (please don't think it was like a ranch out west, although it sounds that way, but not the hedge fence of suburbia either - think something in between). We mentioned the mushrooms, and he said he was told never to eat them. My husband was almost positive they were Chicken of the Woods which are completely edible and in fact rather delicious because they (as the name suggests) taste like chicken.

After we took several pictures we returned to the house to try to verify exactly what type of mushroom it is. There are several varieties that are similar and two of those you should absolutely not eat. The one is toxic and the other will leave you in gastro-distress for two days, so I am still weighing the risk. If we flip this mushroom over (if we do go out and cut it down, I will share pics of the underside), and it is pores and not fins, it is good to go! The other caveat is you should not eat Chicken of the Woods if it is growing on dead conifer. We are pretty sure the dead branch they are growing on is oak, but we aren't absolutely sure because we do have pine trees in our woods. My aunt, who has been featured in many of my posts, wasn't sure of what is was either when I sent her a pic because it isn't an exact match, so my hesitation is very strong; although the allure of the adventure keeps plaguing my mind. 

We found several recipes that looked absolutely yummy. My plan for this post was to document foraging, preparing, and then finally eating these mushrooms; however, I am only brave enough to mess with filters for this post so far. If my husband talks me into and is prepared for a maybe trip to the ER or maybe two days racing for the toilet, I may be able to change the post to my original plan. Until then (and probably forever) we will have to be satisfied with enjoying these pics which I call All About the Orange, which incidentally inspired our color pallet when we go to paint the bathroom (at some point)!