January isn’t the month for fungi. Yet two years back (2017), the weather being unusually mild, I found these little gems, all in a row.
Don’t miss the orange-capped specimen (lower right) trying to hide : 11th January 2017
And, as a bonus … these brackets are most often seen as solid-looking colourful fans. Yet here, in winter-growth mode, those outer loops become almost translucent.
Not often seen, turkey-tail brackets in winter-gowth mode. 11th January 2017
crispina kemp 
Hmmm. What’s for dinner?
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If those three, I don’t know which is edible, if any. But if I had to chance one it would be the bracket. Though it would probably be chewy. 🙂
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We’ll make ‘calamari’ then and everyone will think its squid…. hahaha
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Rather I’d use it as tinder to light the fire. That’s the one-upon-a-time use of many of the brackets.
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That is a most gorgeous trio….
You can use the fungi as tinder?
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The bracket-types exist all year round, but after the growing season, when they kinda moist, they dry out. In fact, some will become hard in less than a day. The second photo here is a rarety, being a bracket all soft and growing.
Anyway, once dry they make excellent tinder. In the days of need. That’s the origin of the phrase, Touchwood. There bracket fungi (and there are a lot of species) were generically called ‘touchwood’. They take the spark rapidly; you gently blow to create the flame. And lo! You touch it to wood. And how to get that initial spark? Either with a fire-drill (a bit like a lathe) or by knocky a hard stone (flint’s good) against something like meteoric iron. Lot’s of hard work, even for the experienced. Which is why once you have your fire you don’t let it go out. 🙂
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Yeah… I’ll just use a match, if that’s ok with you 😉
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I’ve had to learn all this for when Kerrid needs to light a fire. More relevant in the first book.
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Of course. Makes total sense 😉
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That turkey-tail bracket is well-named! And that reminds me, I have a large packet of dried tree ears (which is a type of bracket, I have learned from your posts) in my pantry waiting for me to cook it. What will it be… my favorite Chinese garlic chicken stir-fry, perhaps? Mmm.
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I love cooking with fungi; though only from those bought. There’s a stall on Norwich market that seels an amazing selection. Yea, many do well in Chinese food, but others, with heavier flavours,do better in meaty stews (sorry, you’ve a veggies, aren’t you. But you know the kind of foods I mean) 🙂
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Mm, I love meaty stews! Although these days I tend to use less red meat in a dish and supplement it with lots of (healthier, lower calorie) mushrooms, which help add their own quasi-meaty flavor. I probably eat mushrooms more often in lighter dishes, like chicken and/or pasta, where the flavor of the mushroom can stand out more. And yes, I only eat mushrooms I buy, too — much safer!
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I don’t eat red meat. Never have liked it, though it’s more the fat than anything else. Beef fat makes me gag. And did as a child.
No, I’m fish, chicken and occasionally pork. Oh yea, and bacon. And whenever possible, organic, outside bred, responsibly caught etc. It’s how I was reared. Why change for the worse? 🙂
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