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Two years ago I found my first lobster mushroom. That day I scoured the woods with my sons and found at least 30 lbs of them. To date, they are the tastiest mushrooms I've ever had. Just went out today with my sons and we probably found >60 lbs. Sadly, more than 90% of them were already past their edibility life, but that still left us with about 7 lbs of good ones (after cleaning them). Note to self- "Go in late July/ first week of August." The lobster mushroom isn't just a mushroom. It's a mutation of either a Milky or Russula that has been parasitized by an ascomycete. It then retards the fruiting body of the mushroom, making it unidentifiable. The gills become ridges, it deforms the shape and gives it a lobster tail appearance. The best thing about them is that when they mutate, something happens to the meat that makes it much more delectable than the original host mushroom. I find them in coniferous forests usually on a western slope near(and on) trails and paths that are well shaded from the afternoon sunlight. They really don't seem to need a lot of moisture to grow, but I find most of them in the vicinity of tributaries and lakes or ponds. If you've found them in other habitats, I'd love to hear about your experience.

Delicate find... Fairy Sparklers aka Xylaria tentaculata.

The Bolete is Xanthoconium separans

I cleaned, separated, and lightly browned half of my stash in a little oil last night so as to get an unadulterated taste. The overall impression was very similar to a hen of the woods (Grifola frondosa)...quite flavorful and just a little chewy. It would perform well in any recipe devised for a hen. Cauliflower mushrooms are not very common and I was totally delighted to stumble across these two. You can bet that I will remember where I got it and will be coming back, hoping for more. Bruce