Coyans in the Czech Republic

Tak Hodne Hub So Many Mushrooms

It is a national pastime in the Czech Republic to go mushroom hunting. Children are taught which mushrooms are edible and which are deadly. They make so many wonderful dishes out of mushrooms and they grow in abundance during the fall months in the forests surrounding our house. We have been invited on many mushroom hunting excursions only to be denied the privilege by our full to bursting schedule. This past saturday we were free so we decided to head out on our own, without mushroom expert, and see what would happen. Bekah made for us a guide of edible and dangerous eastern european varieties, and with basket in hand...off we went. The day was gorgeous, crisp, cold with leaves falling around us and the pleasant snapping sound of the mushrooms being wrenched from the ground. There werenumerous different kinds many which we could not identify. Some were fully bright blue, purple and pink...WOW! We arrived back at home with a full basket and hungry tummies, so we enlisted the help of our friend in the identification process. Lenka informed us that all but one lonely mushroom were wholly inedible, some even deadly. So, all of that work for naught but a morsel...ah, well, it is a good skill to be learned and maybe next season we will be expert houbary (mushroomers).