Having eaten a beautiful and delicious mushroom meal at the Stanford Inn to celebrate our anniversary and the Mendocino Mushroom festival we had one more thing to do before leaving…

The day prior Eric and I had collected some hedgehog and chantarelle mushrooms on our guided mushroom walk.  I cleaned the mushrooms as best I could and kept an eagle eye out for worms.  I washed the mushrooms even though we were told we didn’t need to.  We took our guides advice and sauteed them in a pan with no butter or oil on a high heat.  The water within the mushrooms quickly seeped out and the mushrooms shrunk to half their size.  I dumped out most of the water and continued sauteing.  I added a touch of salt and it was the moment of truth!  Do we trust our guide?  I sent off a text message to some friends at work bequeathing them my unfinished projects and sequined office supplies and dug in.

I am happy to report Eric and I have no ill effects and truly enjoyed our unusual mushroom’s earthy but not overwhelming flavor.  It was something I have never been able to buy in a store and have certainly never foraged on my own before.  This was an excellent way to end our time in Mendocino at the festival.

The Mendocino Mushroom festival was a delight.  It wasn’t a true festival under a tent somewhere that you pay a ticket fee to enjoy.  Rather it was merely a celebration of the mushroom where festival goers can celebrate in their own way.  We spent most of our time outside enjoying nature and the beautiful weather where some could have spent large amounts of money on numerous beer/wine and mushroom pairings throughout the region.

Thank you mushroom for being such an entertaining part of our weekend.  🙂