As in the makings for golden mushroom soup:

A prime sulphur shelf was waiting for us on the East River Road. This area usually is too dry to support sulphur shelf. Not this year.

We were on our way to gather up Aunt Harriette and bring her home for a roast chicken dinner (she liked the plum pie too) when I told Michael that the air smelt of mushrooms. Not 30 seconds later, Michael spotted the above lovely winking at us. Our first of the year. We will have part for dinner tonight. The rest I cut up and put in the dehydrator this morning.

The aroma of drying mushrooms has the sweet earthy smell of walking in the woods as the leaves begin to fall.

We also found a number of purple spore puff balls, which are about the size of a soft ball. They are tasty, but lack something in texture, being kin to marshmallows. They dry well, and then can be pulverized to make velvety savory sauces. They grow in sandy areas where the grass is kept short.

The few sulphur shelf left from last summer. They rehydrate well.

Wild foods appear sporadically, which make them all that much more appreciated when our paths meet.