Chanterelle heaven......and the way we eat

It's been high hog heaven here in the Cascades the past 3 weeks. I've been out picking chanterelles (cantharellus cibarius)6 times now and seem to always find a good spot for meaty mushrooms. (I've discovered that these large specimens are actually cantharellus cascadensis.)  We've been having a few cool days of rain followed by a few sunny warm days, which seem to really make the chanterelles grow. The mushrooms in the picture are a larger variety that I've only seen in one spot. They each weigh upwards of 2 pounds!

They've been roasted, sautéed, braised, and grilled. And now I must say that I'm getting a bit tired of eating them, though not in the way one feels after a winter of eating kale a thousand ways. No, it's more of a feeling of great pleasure that comes with picking foraged food from an old mossy forest. I've eaten enough now. Next week I'll probably go out and eat some more.

I've been drying loads in anticipation of a long winter. It's really amazing how a big box full of sweet smelling mushrooms can reduce themselves to almost nothing when they come out of the dehydrator. Last week after a half hour of picking I had about 20 pounds and decided to cram as many as I could in a box and send them to my good friends Jonathan and Nicole in Massachusetts. Apparently they made the cross-country trip and were enjoyed that night over polenta. Hopefully J & N opened a bottle of their delicious hard cider to wash it all down.

Next on the list comes the winter chanterelle (aka...yellow-foot) cantharellus xanthopus. I saw them popping up all over the place when I was out a few days ago.