Hoosierfunguy

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.  ?

I'm interested in the answer

The whiter looking one appears to be an older, more weathered and sun-bleached chanterelle.  If you're looking to make positive IDs for consumption,  Bruce has posted some excellent resources on prior "ID help" threads. I wouldn't eat an older one and even the younger Chants, I cast off the ones that have multiple worm holes visible in the stalk (when sliced). Chanterelle mushrooms are a choice edible and delicious! You should only eat mushrooms that you are 100% positive ID their identification and even then,  use caution ⚠️ 

One of the easiest ways to differentiate Jacks from Chants is the flesh of the Chanterelle is white,  while the flesh of the Jacks is yellowish orange.  And of course, Chanterelles don't glow in the dark...lol

I haven't gone out much but one day in the woods I did harvest a lot of them in a short amount of time because they are so abundant. 

What Bruce said.  Early in my mushroom identifying days, I falsely Identified a Green Spore Lepiota as a Parasol. I was sick for 2 days and wished it was a lethal one that would just get it over with because it was so extremely painful. 

It's also called "The Vomiter" ?‍♂️

If you don't have a glass slide for the spores to drop on, a spore print is good to take on a split surface,  like half black paper,  half white paper to see the color. 

Congratulations on your first find 9f the highly sought after morel! How many seasons have you searched for them?

Surprisingly,  I found a fairly good haul of some very fresh large yellows yesterday, under Elm and Cherry trees, showing that the cooler than average temps have extended the season a bit this Spring (at least in Northern Indiana).

I've been finding these around my yard for a couple of seasons.  Did you get a positive ID? I just found these ones yesterday

We're at the end of the season.  I was down there last weekend in Shades State park and went through some prime area and found nothing.  Another group of hunters found 6-7 after 5 hours,  so it's likely only going to be fairly productive north of Indiana from here on out.  

I had never seen these before and just this last week I noticed them adorning my juniper trees. They have a tangerine color to the jelly like tentacles that come from the growth on the branches.  They're not healthy for the trees,  but they look really cool.