Monday, June 22, 2009

mushrooms



photos (c) 2009 julie king
taken with nikon d-60

my relationship with mushrooms goes way back to my childhood when my grandma johnson took me to the woods to hunt them. we walked across the field at the back of the house and into the mysterious woods. mysterious because it was filled with a plethora of sights and sounds unfamiliar to my 5-year-old senses. baby squirrels played their chase game in the boughs of the trees. the forest floor was carpeted with tiny white spring flowers and lilacs. dried leaves from the previous fall crunched or squished underfoot. it was early spring and we were hunting the legendary morels, tall thin sponge mushrooms with all the crevices in the surface. they grew in the woods in a variety of shapes and sizes, some yellow and some black, some an in-between color. it took a very sharp eye to spy them but once you found a few it was easier to know "how" to look for them. you see, mushrooms like to hide out under dry leaves and in the center of a clump of early may flowers. whoever found the very first mushroom of the day would yell "i found one" for all to hear. now that i think about it, i probably yelled it every time i found one. what a thrill it was when you stumbled into a mushroom patch where there were dozens of the delightful delicacies just waiting to be picked and gingerly placed in the plastic bread bag brought along to carry the booty home. once we were home mom soaked the mushrooms in heavily salted cold water for an hour or so to ensure all the bugs had vacated the premises of their previous homes. each mushroom was then dipped in a mixture of egg and milk and then heavily coated with bread crumbs. quickly they dropped into a large iron skillet of hot butter to be fried up until crispy golden brown. we ate them as quickly as mom could fry them up -- yes, they were that good!!!! but as good as they were, for me they never compared to the thrill of finding them, especially that first one of the season!

these 2 mushroom photos were taken yesterday with my nikon d-60 in my dad's yard. there is a grove of old trees in the hollow in front of his house. these small mushrooms were growing at the base of one of the trees. i literally laid my hand on the ground with the camera cradled in my hand to get these shots. i rotated the zoom, pushed the shutter down, heard the "i'm in focus" beep and snapped away. call it beginner's luck, folks, 'cause i sure had no idea if it would work or not!! there's no photoshop work -- just the raw images.

my heart overflows with gratitude for all the wonderful comments you've all been leaving me lately! i'm off to get caught up on all your blogs!!! enjoy your evening!

12 comments:

Martha Lever said...

What a wonderful story--I can just imagine the fun I you had finding mushrooms and I bet you have never had a fried mushroom any better!! Your photos are incredible also!!!

Donna said...

What a great story, Julie ~ the fried mushrooms sound yummy!
Your photos turned out perfect!

Hugs,
Donna

me said...

Those mushroom photos are awesome! Wow! I used to go mushroom hunting years back. =)

steviewren said...

These photos are fantastic! The soft quality is so beautiful. Great story too. I love yummy mushrooms anyway they are prepared.

steviewren said...

ps I love the new banner too! Clothespins on the line. I have wonderful memories associated with that.

Jennifer {Studio JRU} said...

Great images! I *so* love mushrooms... what a great story you have!

Kristy Worden said...

I LOVE the clothes-pins!! Mushrooms are cool too, we have a lot of cool mushroom villages that spring up overnight on the edge of the golf course, can't say I share your enthusiasm for eating them though! Yucky!

Cindy said...

just like a treasure hunt. loved the story and your photos suit it perfectly with the softness. i love the banner image of the clothesline. i miss my mom's.

Lyn said...

MMMM sounds lovely!
The pictures are beautiful too
Love
Lyn
xxx

m said...

>Lovely pics but can;'t honestly say I like mushrooms at all. Well, there's more for you and others then!

Bekah said...

i love this!

Bekah said...

I love this!