New Mexico Mycological Society

At this point, we plan to continue holding our meetings at the at the Natural History Museum. on the third Thursday of every month at 7:30. This month's meeting will be on Thursday, the 16th. During the meeting we might have a discussion about changing the meeting time. For the program this month, co-Vice President Doris Eng plans to have a "round table discussion" about the culinary aspects of mushrooms. The joy of preserving, preparing, and eating the fine fungal fruits seems to be something which most NMMS members have in common. Doris encourages members to come to the meeting prepared with any ideas, preserving techniques, favorite recipes, suggested cookbooks, or anything else they would like to share with the group.

This meeting would also be a good time to bring up suggestions or desires for future programs.

As many of you may know, Bill Isaacs is seriously ill. One of Bill's ambitions has been to publish a book, including the paintings of Catherine Ferguson, Wild Mushrooms of New Mexico. Unfortunately, because of this illness, he may not be able to do so.

Bill has been a true friend to those of us who are interested in things mycological in New Mexico. In fact, many of us owe our interest and much of what we know to Bill's teachings and support. Thus it was with a feeling of appreciation that the NMMS voted to do what it can to help Bill and Catherine finish this book.

The book is not meant to be a field guide. To quote a few lines from the Introduction, "Mushrooms in the Southwest sound a bit like frogs in the Sahara Desert. Nonetheless, there are a prodigious number in our region."

"This book is not a guide. There are ample guides in book stores to obtain instruction in safe practices for eating, identifying, classifying, etc. Rather, we assume that you are interested in natural history and/or mushrooms....This book is designed to introduce some of the more characteristic, curious, and unusual species to a growing, interested public."

Having been afforded the privilege of reading some of the preliminary draft, I believe the following well describes much of the work's attractiveness.

"The descriptions are minimal but the ensuing discussions pass along anecdotes, tall tales, and various miscellaneous information that go along with mushroom collecting. A major part of the book is devoted to Catherine Ferguson's watercolors."

I would add only that the "various miscellaneous information" is a brief yet entertaining glimpse into Bill's amazing fund of mycological knowledge and insight.

The $25 membership fee is due this month. Those who have not paid can pay at the meeting or mail a check to Peg Hooton

George Rodgers wrote, "Your Newsletter (relating the finding of Marasmius oreades in your yard) got me thinking it would be interesting to run a series on what species members were finding in their yards." I encourage members who would like to participate in this sort of project to send a list of their findings to David Wallis.

George also sent the following recipe and comment. "A few years ago I gave a German born neighbor some Suillus lakei. She used them in a beef stock based soup....The soup was delicious. This past summer I found lots of lakei, and some of them I used to make a simple soup. My receipt follows:"

1 19oz can of Dinty Moore beef stew
3 cups of whole milk
1-1/2 Tbs of Tomes beef soup base
6 medium to large Suillus lakei diced and sauteed

Heat all ingredients; then add lakei and let simmer for 15 minutes.