A 5 pound Oyster Mushroom!

When I went out to get the mail this morning, I found this beauty on a tree stump in our yard!  Not knowing if it is safe to eat, or even worth eating, I talked to my daughter who has some knowledge of mushrooms and also researched online.

This is an "oyster mushroom."  Beautiful!  Smells so nice and when I weighed it, it came in at 5 pounds!  I fried up a little of it for lunch in butter and am going to dehydrate a lot of it.  So delicious!  Free!  I feel so blessed!

Here it is sitting in a basket on the stove.  It took quite a while to clean.  It is now all washed and draining on a towel on the table.  By the way, it is a myth that you should not wash mushrooms.  They don't absorb water.

Wow.