My word!

Psilocybin[a] (/ˌsaɪləˈsaɪbɪn/ sy-lə-SY-bin) is a naturally occurring psychedelic prodrug compound produced by more than 200 species of mushrooms, collectively known as psilocybin mushrooms. Wikipedia

My cousin’s daughter-in-law is a mushroom nut living in B.C. where there are lots of mushrooms. My cousin sent me a picture of a triumphant young woman holding up a thing that looked like a distorted cauliflower with elephantiasis. There’s another mushroom I saw on Chopped, the TV cooking show - called Hen-on-the-Mountain. I’ve never seen it in a grocery store. I remember reading the humorous memoir by Betty McDonald (1908-1958). The Egg and I was an account of her experiences as an egg farmer’s wife in which she also remembered mushrooms. She described her efforts to distinguish between safe and poisonous ones. Her conclusion, I still remember, was “Maybe it’s safe and maybe it’s not“, as she tossed it into the pan. Her book was published in 1945 and she lived until 1958, so i guess she didn’t eat any poisonous ones.

And that’s all I have to say about mushrooms….

More to come.