New Mexico Mycological Society
September - October 1997
4 October 1997
September Meeting
Our meeting in September started out at the Natural History
Museum.
However, after standing around for twenty minutes or so outside the locked
doors of the building, we all accepted John and MaryLee Sparks' gracious
offer to adjourn to their house to continue the meeting. Members devoted
the meeting to sharing their ideas and experiences on cleaning and
preserving (and cooking)
different
types of mushrooms.
Pat Brannen passed along some of Carlo's suggestions. Boletes can be
cut into chunks, which are spread out on a cookie sheet and placed
immediately in the freezer. Once frozen, they can be moved to a plastic
bag for freezer storage. The same technique applies to chanterelles which
have been cut into ¼" slices. When one is ready to eat the
chanterelles, they can be taken out of the freezer and placed in a
marinade of olive oil and lemon juice. It was an observation that
preparing chanterelles with something acidic, such as the lemon juice,
enhances their flavor considerably.
October Meeting
For our October 7th meeting, we had invited Peter Herman, a professor of biology at New Mexico State University to
talk about endomycorrhizae. Unfortunately, he cannot make it to this
month's meeting. We hope that he will be able to join us for the November
meeting instead.
For the program this month we now plan on watching a film entitled
Dr. Bonner and his slime molds. It promises to be exiting. So
bring your popcorn or dried bolete slices or whatever, and come prepared
to enjoy the show.
The time has come again to begin selection of new officers, so
during the coming meeting we also need to establish a nominating
committee. Next month we will hold elections.
NAMA Foray
Larry Renshaw and members of the Colorado Mycological Society put
extraordinary effort into hosting the 1997 NAMA Conference in Copper Mountain. The weather
behaved itself nicely, and attendees had a wonderful time. Since most of
the activity was at 10,000 feet and above, some of the flatlanders were a
bit winded, but everyone seemed to manage. Introduced by Dr. Jack Murphy
and initiated this year was a comprehensive plan to catalog and save
specimens in a "voucher" collection at the Field Museum in Chicago. Another item of
importance to NMMS was Pat Brannen's re-election as Regional
Trustee (Region X, which contains the 4-Corners states and Wyoming).
Pat Brannen, Maggie Rogers, and I (David Wallis) attended the Trustees
meeting held before the Foray. Pat attended as Regional Trustee, Maggie
as NAMA secretary, and I went as Trustee for NMMS. Maggie started out with
a highly entertaining reading of last year's minutes. The meeting lasted
another eight or nine hours.
Chama Foray
Exceptional! Special thanks to Bob Wilson, who pulled together
a thoroughly enjoyable foray. Two collecting areas near Chama produced
lots of chanterelles, Boletus edulis, and Sarcodon
imbricatum -- Oh yeah, and hundreds of Amanita muscaria for
decoration. Collecting of other species probably suffered because most of
us were too content to greedily stuff every available container with
boletes and chanterelles. Carolyn Buskirk and Roslyn Block
did a wonderful job of cooking up the mushrooms brought in from the
field.
Tom Volk
gave an informative and entertaining talk about morels and their life
cycle. It's unfortunate that morels don't grow in New Mexico, because
those attending Tom's talk would have a much better understanding of where
and when to find them if they did. Tom wrapped up the foray with a simple
yet informative walk-through of the collection tables, providing insights
with which even the most seasoned mushroomers were impressed.
NMMS also expresses thanks to our guests
from the Mycological Society of San
Francisco, whose participation and enthusiasm added yet another
dimension to an already delightful foray. And thanks particularly to Fred Stevens, who compiled a
list of the species identified at the
foray.
Field
Trips
I have gone out the last two weekends to the Jemez. Last Saturday (the
20th) produced lots of Shaggy Manes and some choice
Leccinum. Picking was not quite as good Sunday (the
28th). I have not heard any recent reports from other areas,
but I think that the season is pretty much over.
Rich Therrien suggested that next year, in order to minimize
confusion, we schedule all the field trips for Saturday, and members who
would prefer Sundays (or weekdays for that matter) can make arrangements
separately. I see some definite advantages in going with this idea. Let's
discuss it at the upcoming meeting.
Myxomycete Workshop with Dr. Harold Keller
- a query from Doris Eng -
We would like to know how many people are interested in a possible
two-day workshop on myxomycetes (slime molds) to be given by one of the
best teachers I have ever met. Dr. Harold Keller was one of the speakers
at the recent NAMA meeting in Copper Mountain and gave a wonderful
workshop there. He is willing to come here at some time around May. The
workshop would probably take place on a weekend and the charge would be
minimal, just enough to cover his expenses. He is doing this simply
because he enjoys teaching. Dr. Keller's enthusiasm for his subject matter
truly makes learning about myxomycetes a joy. The workshop he gave at
NAMA was only too short and it is my belief that NMMS would truly benefit
from having him here. It would certainly open a whole new world in the
wilderness for all of us.
A discussion of this matter at the next meeting would be very helpful
for planning purposes. Knowing how many people are truly interested and
willing to be committed will be very helpful in considering the
feasibility of this project. If you cannot attend the Oct. 7 meeting,
please call or email me (Doris) with your ideas or
expression of interest.
Recipes
I received several recipe submissions this month. Thanks to Maggie
Rogers, who sent me one for Sherried
Cream of Chanterelle Soup, and to Ellen Reed for two more: a Chanterelle sauce for grilled
salmon and a Bolete Casserole.