FFSC Website Support Where Did Things Go? In November 2025, we started moving this website to a new system. Here is a list of what is still being migrated. Learn More FFSC Account FAQs Having trouble entering info? Can't find your membership payment? We're here to help. Learn More FFSC Terms of Use This website is managed by the Fungus Federation of Santa Cruz , an independent 501(c)(3) nonprofit based in the state of California in the United States of Amercia (EIN 77-0085878). Learn More FFSC Privacy Policy FFSC respects your privacy. We don't sell your personal data to other parties. Learn More Website Cookies What are cookies, how to delete them, and other FAQs Learn More FFSC Accessibility Statement This statement was last updated on August 12, 2025. We at the Fungus Federation of Santa Cruz are working to making the ffsc.us website accessible to people with disabilities. Learn More

Culinary Techniques Wild mushrooms possess an amazing range of flavors and aromas! Beautiful packages of umami, they can be rich and meaty, subtle and delicate, and redolent of almonds and spice. Learn how to properly clean, preserve and prepare your foraged finds to make the most of those flavors. Matsutakes (Albion). Photo by Katherine Elvin Generally speaking, the best mushrooms are fresh mushrooms. If you're not cooking your mushrooms in the field: Don't clean them (aside from removing larger dirt chunks) until you're ready to prepare or process them. Store them in the fridge in paper or waxed paper bags--never plastic, as mushrooms need to breathe. Plastic bags will yield mush rather than mush rooms . Preserving the balance for future enjoyment is rewarding, and the method chosen will vary with different mushrooms and your personal preferences. Explore some ideas below! When you're ready to cook them, check out these Recipes ! Filter by Mushroom Close To Brush or to Wash? ... Generally speaking, the best mushrooms are fresh mushrooms. Refrigerate as soon as you get home, and don’t wash until you’re ready to prepare or process them. Freezing Mushrooms ... Cooking and then freezing works well for certain types of mushrooms. You should either sauté or microwave the sliced-up mushrooms before freezing them, depending on how you plan to use them. Drying Mushrooms ... Did you know that mature boletes, craterellus, candy caps, morels, and several other mushrooms can actually taste even better after being dried and then reconstituted? Salt Pickled Mushrooms ... We are fortunate to have the following instructions for salt-preserving mushrooms come from Galina Plizga, a talented and experienced mushroom preserver. Vinegar Pickled Mushrooms ... Mushrooms that have been properly pickled in vinegar can last for years. They be eaten as an appetizer, or incorporated into other recipes. Pressure Canning Mushrooms ... Pressure canning is a process for canning mushrooms while not utilizing vinegar to create an acid environment. Pairing and Cooking Mushrooms with Wine ... Everyone knows drinking wine with wild mushroom dishes is a delight beyond compare. Can we go a step further and think about pairing styles of wine with a particular mushroom genus?

Mushroom Photo Gallery Beautiful, interesting, awe-inspiring or just plain quirky mushroom images that our members have shared. Coprinus (inky cap). Photo by Stephanie Tucker Photography for ID Purposes You can also send us photos if you'd like help with identifying a mushroom you've found. Check out our tips on how to create photos for mushroom ID purposes. Many of our members explore the fields and forests with camera in hand, taking photos of mushrooms they find. We've collected a few of our favorites below. Browse our Featured Fungi pages, news articles and field reports, and social media channels for more photos from our members. Showcase a Photo Got a great shot? Whether it's coffee-table-book-beautiful, shows a field guide level of detail, or conveys the sheer joy of mushrooming, we'd love to see it!

Mushroom Recipes Our FFSC members love to share recipes! Whether you're looking for something new to try at home or for one of our potlucks, here are some tasty recipes to experiment with. Mushroom Bisque in a Teacup. Photo by John Spaur Filter by Mushroom Close Candy Cap & Sage Pork Tenderloin ... This savory Candy Cap dish delighted members at one of our long-distance foray dinners. Curried Green Beans with Sulphur Shelf ... Enjoy this tasty treatment for sulphur shelf mushrooms in coconut curry. Morel Corn Macadamia Fritters ... Thai-style recipe. Fritters can be served warm or at room temperature as an appetizer or side dish. Morel Crusted Ahi Tuna ... This one went super fast at one of our Wine & Mushroom gatherings! Mushroom Bisque ... I usually look at other recipes and then wing it, so quantities are guesstimates. The liquid needs to be varied to get the right consistency of the bisque. North African Pork and Beans with Candy Cap Mushrooms ... We most often think of the Candy Cap in a sweet context; this recipe provides a delectable savory alternative! Pasta Porcini ... This Northern Italian recipe comes from the year Deb taught school in Trieste, Italy. Porcini Soup ... Robin Morris shared this wonderful Porcini soup recipe. Enjoy! Savory Mushroom Clafouti ... I learned this recipe from the late Larry Stickney, a phenomenal guy who was instrumental in creating a culture of mushrooming in the Bay Area. Wild Mushroom Duxelles ... Spread on a baguette or crackers, or use it as mushroom duxelles to enliven a variety of dishes.

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News & Stories / Writings Lost: The Companion's View ...By now, the thunder was getting more intense, frequent and close. Henry still was not back. With the weather deteriorating rapidly, I knew something was wrong... Phil Carpenter • January 27, 2015 Caldor Fire Recovery. Photo by Katherine Elvin (Reprinted from FFSC's original Duff newsletter, 1998) Now that you have read Henry’s account of being lost in the wood, I’ll tell you my side of the story as the companion and the various thoughts that prompted my actions. Caldor Fire Recovery. Photo by Katherine Elvin Henry and I had driven up Friday night, slept on the ground and had risen early for a full day of hunting. The plan was to first look for morel at the burn north of our campground and then look for boletes on the way home that evening. We spent the majority of the day walking up and down the steep hillside between the two roads that bordered the burn we were hunting. We had been having mixed success in finding morels, but overall we were doing very well. At lunch, we had noted how quickly the predicted stormy weather was coming in. We also talked about the need to leave the area before it started raining since the road we were on was in such poor condition. We had gone out on another leg of the search, splitting up, as is usual for us. A little later we met again halfway down the ridge (again, as is usual for us) and discussed our “plans”. I was going to go down to the road below the burn and Henry was going to work his way further east at the same elevation. After working down the slope and finding little worth keeping me there, I worked my way back up, slowly moving eastward as well. By this time the wind had picked up and it was getting noticeably cooler. I was still picking lots of nice fresh morels but I heard some distant thunder and decided that it was time to get back to the truck and get out of there. I worked slowly back up the steep ridge, picking as I went. Something seemed wrong about the direction I was going. I felt like I was going too far east and needed to move more to the west. Even with that, I found that I was at least half a mile east of the truck. When I got back, Henry was not there. That really did not concern me since it is not unusual for Henry to be the last one in. I dropped off my haul of morels and went back out on a short loop to kill some time waiting for Henry. By now, the thunder was getting more intense, frequent and close. When I returned, Henry still was not back. Now I was concerned! With the weather deteriorating rapidly, I knew something was wrong from our earlier discussions about departing before the rains. I dropped off my basket and went to the area where we had met in the woods and searched the entire region east of there, both up and down that ridge. We have long-established calls, whistles, etc. that we use to “communicate” and I was using them but with no answers. I made my way back to the truck, hoping of course that Henry would be there. No such luck. That was the crucial decision point: do I assume that he is just really slow in getting back or do I assume the worst? Given the previous discussions, I made the fairly simple decision that something was wrong. At that point, it was about 4:00 and I knew that I needed more people to cover the area where he might possibly be. I never for a second thought that he was lost; I was convinced that he was hurt and unable to answer my signals. Henry and I had hunted together for many years and never in all those years had he ever been lost, and that was in parts of the world where it was much more likely to get lost. Remember that the area we were hunting was a slope between two roads: impossible to get lost, right?! Go uphill, hit a road, go downhill, hit a road – no problem; therefore no compass, no survival gear, no water and no extra clothes in case of bad weather. All that went through my mind in a flash and formed the basis of my decision to walk out and get help. I had to walk since Henry had driven and he had the keys. ( Lesson #1: Take a spare set of keys and give it to your hunting partner ) I knew that he needed to be found before dark and for that I needed help. Just as I wrote a note (just in case he DID come back late), the heavens opened with a vengeance. The next five hours were really frustrating since it took a long time for the search and rescue team to mobilize and get there from Placerville. All this time it was pouring rain and I was envisioning Henry in a heap somewhere in a T-shirt, freezing. Once the authorities were involved, I was not allowed to go back out to hunt (this was REALLY frustrating). I did take a couple of El Dorado County Sheriff deputies out in a search right at nightfall, only to have them announce that they would take up the search the next morning since they didn’t search the woods after dark. Their “plan” (standard issue, I guess) was to drive the roads with lights and sirens – a fine plan if someone is lost, warm and can get around to find the road again. Of course, I was jumping up and down trying to get through to those guys that all of that was worthless since he would already have come out if he could since he NEVER gets lost. I really believed that unless we continued to search through the night, by morning he would not have survived. My frustration level was really going off-scale and I started second-guessing my decision to get help in the first place. I felt like I had just wasted all the daylight left in the day and had nothing to show for it. If only I had continued to search by myself, I would have at least felt like I was doing something positive. All of that ended abruptly when I heard that radio call from the search vehicle that had gone off in the wrong direction but was successful in finding him. “Lost? What do you mean, he’s lost? You mean he isn’t hurt?” I had all these mixed emotions going at once: relief as well as disbelief that he really was actually lost and that they had actually found him. The fact that he was found strictly by accident only adds to the incredulity of it all. I must say that I really was impressed to see that Henry had come out with his basket – full of morels. But, you know, we never did have time to go look for boletes. Members Only Content Login Join FFSC Related Posts Reality Check: Dispelling a Myth Writings Previous Article All News & Stories Next Article

What are Forays? A foray is an outdoor hike where we explore diverse habitats and learn about fascinating fungi. We identify and photograph the mushrooms we find, and we collect mushrooms where permitted. Braving the California winter on an FFSC local foray FFSC forays are designed to be both educational and a great way to connect with nature and fellow fungiphiles. This is one of the safest ways to learn about hunting and identifying mushrooms! You get to see many different types of mushrooms that others collected (when collection is permitted). Plus, the foray leader and experienced members can help you verify what you think you found. How Do FFSC's Forays Work? After you register for a foray, the trip leader will send you details about where to meet, etc. On some forays, we explore a forest as a group. On others, we each go in different directions and then reconvene at the end of the day to look at what everyone found. If you're still new to mushroom identification, our science advisors and other experienced members can help you identify what you found. Learn more about the different types of forays we offer: Local Forays Long Distance Forays After the Hunt Mushrooms fascinate us, and we love to hear and read tales of the hunt. Here are some ways members share their experiences: Field Reports: We publish field reports on this website. Field reports typically list all the species that we identified, or they recap how a hunt went. Most field reports are only available to FFSC members (with a few exceptions). Personal Stories: Many members post brief recaps of their trips and discoveries in our News & Stories pages, on our Google Group community mailing list, and/or our Facebook Group. Visit our Contact FFSC page for info about how to access our social channels. Photos: We occasionally choose interesting and/or beautiful photos from our members' postings and feature them in our Mushroom Photo Gallery . Members Only Content Login Join FFSC

Auriscalpium vulgare. Photo by Dan Tischler Auriscalpium vulgare Dan Tischler The ear-pick or pine cone mushroom is a member of the order Russulales , making it a close relative of Russula and Lactarius species along with Stereum and Hericium . Camera Olympus TG-4 Focal L. 6mm Aperture f/3.2 Shutter Sp. 1/100s ISO 200 Flash Off Photo taken on January 19, 2019 Mushroom(s) ... Previous Photo Back to Gallery Next Photo

Mushroom flower. Stalked polypore. Photo by Alex Russakovsky Mushroom Flower Alex Russakovsky On a yearly trip to the Mendonoma coast that we always dedicate to the memory of Ryane Snow . Spent some days under pouring rain hunting for edibles, however not much to report. About 200 chanterelles (3 different varieties), 15 matsutake, 20 honeys, a couple of pigs' ears. Camera (Not provided) Focal L. Aperture Shutter Sp. ISO Flash Photo taken on December 7, 2019 Mushroom(s) ... Previous Photo Back to Gallery Next Photo

Have a better photo? Photo by Fungibartl If you have a better photo, why don't you submit it? If you have a great mushroom photo, how about sharing it with FFSC visitors and members? Visit Showcase a Photo for more info. Camera Apple iPhone 12 mini Focal L. 4mm Aperture f/1.6 Shutter Sp. 1/10s ISO 125 Flash Off Photo taken on December 4, 2022 Mushroom(s) ... Previous Photo Back to Gallery Next Photo

Support Login & Password FAQ I have an account. How do I login? (1) Click the Person icon 👤 in the upper right corner of the website's menu to get to the login page. (2) Login by using the same email that you used for your FFSC membership. (3) If your password doesn't work, click the "Forgot password?" link to reset your password. I can't login. Is this your first time logging in after October 2025? If so, you will need to click the Forgot Password? link on the login page. (The new system doesn't know your old password.) Also, when you login from now on, you'll use the email associated with your FFSC account to login from now on. your old username (from October 2025 or earlier) won't work for logging in anymore. I created a new login on this website. Where did all my old info go? If you already had an FFSC website account as of Nov. 3, 2025, your account was moved to this system. However, some of the old information (such as your past purchases) is still being moved. It should be available later in November. If you created a new account here instead of resetting the password for your existing account, please contact us so that we can help you. My password doesn't work. Make sure you are using your email as your username. On the login screen, click the Forgot Password? link to reset your password. Please note: Passwords created prior to Nov. 5 2025 will not be recognized until you reset your password. If that doesn't work, please contact us for help. On November 4th or 5th, 2025, I received an unexpected email about creating my password, but I've had a password years. Was that email legit? We moved our website to a new system in Nov. 2025. All existing paid-up members received an invitation on Nov. 4 or Nov. 5 to create a new password. If already reset your password since then, you can ignore the email. Or, if you're not comfortable clicking unfamiliar links in emails, you can use the "Forgot password?" link on the login page to reset your password instead. The "ffsc.us/user/reset/..." link I got a while back no longer works If you received an email before November 2025 with a link to login, that link will no longer work. Instead, follow the instructions above under "I have an account. How do I login?" to create a password. Then follow the instructions under "Membership FAQs" below to join the club. Membership FAQs What's the difference between the two membership plans? The "subscription" plan renews your membership dues automatically each year (PayPal will automatically charge your payment method). The "1 Year" plan does not automatically renew. (You need to remember to login and pay your membership dues each year.) See Why Join FFSC? for a detailed list of benefits. My "1 Year" membership expires soon. How do I renew it? When you buy a "Household Member 1 Year" plan, you will not see a Renew option in your account until the day after your current 1-year membership expires. If you want to pay before your current 1-year membership expires, you can log in to your account and then just purchase another "Household Members 1 Year" plan. During Checkout, we suggest you change the Start Date to be a date on or after your current membership year 's expiration. My "Subscription" membership expires soon. How do I renew it? If you have a subscription (auto-renewing) membership, it will automatically charge your credit card on file 1 year after the date you purchased it. If my membership expires, will I need to register all over again? No, you won't need to register again (unless you've been away for several years). After your membership expires, you can just login and then pay your membership dues to regain full access to all benefits. If your membership expired a couple years ago and you can't login, see the Login and Password FAQs above. (If that doesn't help, you can contact us for assistance.) My membership expired in 2025 and I don't see an option to renew it. What do I do? If your membership expired before November 3, 2025, you might not see a record of your expired membership. In that case, click Join FFSC in the Store menu to rejoin and pay your membership dues. How do I join the club? Visit the Join FFSC link in the Store menu, or go directly to the Choose Your Membership Plan page. From there, choose whether you want to subscribe to an auto-renewing plan, or whether you prefer to remember to pay each year. (The price is the same, and you can cancel your subscription before it renews.) I filled in all my info, but it won't let me submit the payment Your browser or security software might be mistaking the redirect to PayPal as an ad pop-up. 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Your latest active membership info is in the FFSC Membership tab of your account. (Product Orders are only for stickers and other merchandise.) My Profile and Privacy How much of my profile is visible to other people? To preview what other users can see in your profile, login and then visit the Public Profile tab in your account. To show or hide specific details: (1) Go to the Account Info tab of your account. (2) Scroll down to Profile Privacy Settings. (3) Configure what's visible and what isn't by toggling the globe (public) and lock (private) icons next to each input field. I don't want any of my profile to be visible to other people. How do I make the whole thing private? (1) Go to the Account Info tab in your account. Scroll to the bottom. (2) Use the arrow to expand the Profile Privacy section. (3) Click "Make Profile Private". Click to enlarge My Account Pages In the Account area, I see navigation tabs, but they are blank. What should I do? 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Drying Mushrooms Did you know that mature boletes, craterellus, candy caps, morels, and several other mushrooms can actually taste even better after being dried and then reconstituted? ... Caption Advantages of drying mushrooms Doesn’t require freezer space. Some mushrooms actually improve with dehydration. For example, drying is good for mature boletes, craterellus, Suillus spp ., candy caps, pine spikes (yes!), winter chanterelles, Russula spp ., Marasmius oreades , and morels. Disadvantages of drying mushrooms Can be detrimental to quality and texture of certain mushrooms. For example, drying is not so good for chanterelles, oysters, lobster mushrooms, and amanitas. Objective: Storage/Prep Total Time: Suggested Mushrooms: See code Equipment and/or Ingredients Dehydrator Vacuum sealable containers Method Drying Directions Slice cleaned mushrooms approximately ¼” thick. Dry in dehydrator at lower temperature (100°-115°F) until potato chip crisp. Cool before packaging for storage. Alternate drying methods include utilizing screens in the sun or over heating vents inside. (A little candy cap aromatherapy, anyone?) Storing Dried Mushrooms Some people like to store dried mushrooms in glass containers on the shelf. Others prefer storing them in the freezer to discourage bugs that may have survived dehydration. Still others pack in Mason jars and vacuum seal with a Foodsaver attachment, effectively suffocating the little buggers. This way jars can be stored on the shelf but insect activity is minimized or eliminated. Dried mushrooms can also be powdered in a coffee or spice grinder for later use. Many favor separating bolete tubes from flesh, then drying and powdering the tubes. Previous Technique All Techniques Next Technique