Here We Go!

Puffballs. These mysterious white spheres of spores are growing in my backyard. Yes, there is fungus among us.

When I was little we used to find these in our woods and make a sport out of hunting them down and kicking them into a spongy little oblivion. Then someone told my dad you could cook them if you find them in "the right stage." We never found them in our woods after that, so I was pretty thrilled to step out on the back deck today and see them rampantly scattered as if they decided to form their own little garden. Well, actually our meter reader should get the credit for bringing them to my attention. It freaked me out when I glanced out the sliding door at noon and saw a man with a clipboard hiking cautiously through our back yard. He said he was just trying to figure out what these things are.

So I got online and did some research after I called and told my dad. All he knew was that they are supposed to be firm to be edible. After consulting Google, I found a few pages that indicate they are safe to cook up as long as they are still white.

I've never seen them this big, so I had to take pics. There's still a slew of them out there, but I took my flashlight out and brought three in as my "test subjects." I am going to observe the large ones for awhile. (If you wonder why there is a diet cherry coke bottle in between them, that is the closest thing I had around for perception of size.) I did get the guts to cook up a smaller one that was about the size of my head. I just ate a few pieces, fried in butter and olive oil, and it was pretty yummy. I'd like to do more with the others, but I'm going to wait and see if I live through the night first.