Foraging 101: Puffballs

Puffballs! So much fun to kick around and watch the 'smoke'. However, they're also good for eating.

We always find some puffballs in our pasture come autumn. They don't look like any other mushroom, and so are easily identified and distinguished from other mushrooms. Puffballs can be very small (I found one this year that was the size of a grape) to huge. Like as big as a basketball! The puffball pictured was a tad bit overripe (see how it cracked like an overripe tomato?) but still definitely good to eat. I like to pan-fry my puffballs in butter and add lots of salt and herbs, as they tend to be somewhat bland in flavor.

Happy Mushrooming!
-Bethany