I am jealous
:mrgreen:

Bon apetite c. Here's something easy you may want to try.
Sautee mushrooms, 1 small to medium onion & a bit of garlic in olive oil & season. Make sure there's a bit of extra space in the pan, you'll be making a sauce. Once mushies & onoins are cooked, clear a small space in the middle of the pan, add some more oil (tbsp) & a tablespoon or so of flour, mix & cook for a few minutes. Now that you've made your roux stir it in with the mushroom & onion mix & cook for another minute or 2. Add a cup & a half of milk, bring to a boil then reduce heat. The milk should thicken up nicely, if it's too thick add some more. You now have a nice creamy mushroom sauce to add to your favourite pasta. Enjoy.
As for preservation, shitakes dry just fine. I used to buy packages of dried shitake from Asian markets before I got into fresh ones.

Cheers

C1

Thanks cultured, I will try that recipe tonight! I will have a lot of mushrooms to eat for the next few days. Last night I tried some just plain fried up with butter. It was pretty good. I'll dry what I don't consume.

Took a few more pics before I harvested some last night:

I'm also very anxiously waiting to see if my first attempt at creating a tussue culture worked. I used your method of heating a knife with the alcohol on the bottom of a shotglass, and i cut a piece of the shiitake inside tissue, sealed it into the agar. I dont see any signs of contams after one day but I guess it will take time to know for sure.