I get a lot of bitter boletes around here and that looks like one. I have given it a quick taste and immediately spit it out to be sure. You'll know

Those are definitely black raspberries! 😁😂 Yes, they do look like chicken of the woods that are past their prime.

A friend sent me this 3 days ago. They're all over the place now

I haven't been out yet, but my experience in northwest Indiana is that we are currently in the beginning of the season. They should be up.

I've seen reports all over Southern Indiana. I was in a prime area latitudinally with Indianapolis last weekend and not one,, but the ground temp was 43° F. Next weekend the blacks and grays should be decorating the woods. I live north of Indianapolis and the sandy soil here is prime. With the recent rain at the right temperature, makes for a promising outlook.

I tried freezing them raw and also par boiling them, then freezing and partially cooking them in oil, then freezing. None of those worked well. The texture and flavor was compromised.

That reminded me of some chickens I harvested a few years ago

I know we should be in that season here, so the hunt for the elusive Frondosa commences. I enjoy learning about other's successes also!

It does have some likeness to it and it's possible that it's not matured yet. What does it look like now?

At what stage do you decide that a honey mushroom is too far gone to harvest and eat? I've found that less than 10% of them in my area haven't been invaded by larva within the first day of them surfacing. I've only cooked the ones that hadn't been obviously eaten and the flavors were not as pleasant as I've heard many others speak of. I wonder if people are actually enjoying the flavor of the worms, thinking it's the mushroom 🤷‍♂️

Judging from the size of the stalks, and caps, next to the ground ivy, those are too small and grayish to be honeys.

Those are not chanterelles

Way cool!

Laetiporus Cincinnatus Chicken of the woods. When the rosette structure matures, I slice the shelves of while they are tender and young and saute them. 🙂