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What’s up, Hive? Something of a different blog tonight. Sorry in advance, there won’t be any pinups in lingerie. Around 2018, I decided to go vegan in solitary with @guthrie, who wanted to stop eating meat. It was short lived for him, but I was already feeling some of the benefits of the diet and chose to stay with it. I found many of the meat replacements that made the transition relatively painless, like Impossible Burger, Oatly Full Fat milk and of course, living a mile down the road from the world famous Herbivorous Butcher. I’ve spent the last few years experimenting with vegan recipes as I love to cook.

There was one elusive ingredient that always intrigued me. Laetiporus sulphureus. Chicken of the woods. I need to explicitly state that I hate mushrooms and always have, but I’ve seen foraging YouTube videos with people that say the same and love these! The idea got in to my head that I should at least try it, and over the last few weeks, it’s been nagging at me. We’re in peak season for this mushroom here in Minnesota. I called a dozen co-ops and even a few mushroom wholesaler, but it’s near impossible to buy them unless they randomly show up at a farmers market.

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I finally decided to just call @lovejoy and get the crash course on foraging for these. He gave me some tips and I found a conversation land with oak trees […they only grown on hard woods]. I made @guthrie come with me and while he was catching frogs and toads, I was looking for the mushrooms. I found several imposters, even on that nearly passed for Laetiporus sulphureus; this was the mock oyster, but although not poisonous, I guess tastes pretty bad. Finally, after only 40 minutes, on the edge of a creek bed, I found a downed tree just absolutely covered in chicken of the woods!

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@guthrie helped me collect them. Over 10 pounds for my first haul. Far more than I need for myself. I cleaned them and cut them, then arranged them on my cutting board, dipped them in Just Egg and dredged them in flour and spices. I have to admit, they are incredible, even for a mushroom hater. I’m blown away. I ran some to @mada on my way to @caffetto, and tomorrow I’ll be dropping off an entire cluster to @ghostfish as I’m sure he and @velveteendream will enjoy them. To new experienced and new foods! Thanks for reading and have a great night!

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