Thursday, August 19, 2010

Attack of the killer puffball

Well thank God for my friend Ronna, author of Wild in the Kitchen, who fried up one of these suckers yesterday. Were it not for her, I would have thought this thing I found in our woods was a weird white pumpkin, or a gigantic kidney stone, or perhaps a small alien landing craft:


It's a FREAKING enormous GIANT PUFFBALL (Calvatia sp.)!
A bleedin' 3 lb 11 oz MONSTROSITY!

The giant puffball ate my brain!

Okay, the previous shot was not entirely accurate (although the puffball did want to eat my cerebellum.) It's not quite THAT big. The above shot is more realistic. (Anyone see How to Get Ahead in Advertising?)

I found this big white baby while walking the dogs in the woodlot. Sophie thought it was her soccer ball and waited for me to kick it for her. Do I kick culinary delicacies around the woods, Sophie? I THINK NOT!


"Cat-mummy, why are you taking photos of yourself again?"


"Holy catnip! What the *^&!@#!!$ is THAT?"

Guess who's having Puffball Schnitzel tonight? The recipe is at the bottom of this page. I had Ronna the 'shroom expert look at my puffball to ensure I don't need a liver transplant tomorrow!


6 comments:

  1. Yegos that is a monster!

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  2. Wow, that's a record-sized puffball!!!!!! Amazing!

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  3. O.K. This is just too much! What the heck kind of fertilizer is being used in your area? I've never seen anything like this before. Be sure to post tomorrow and let us know how it tasted. You are braver than I to eat it that's for sure.

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  4. kidney stone? SERIOUSLY? Can't imagine the face of the poor fellow having to pass that one out ;o)
    Want to see pictures of your dinner please :)

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  5. Paula, apparently they are more common than I thought. Did you see Ronna's blog today? 12 puffballs in her forest!

    http://ronnas.blogspot.com/2010/08/puffball-schnitzel.html

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  6. Hoot-a-toot, it was quite delicious. Not strong-tasting but very good with a nice texture. ANd yes, that would be an extraordinarily large kidney stone!

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Thank you for all your comments, which I love to read!