Customer Reviews

Edible Wild Mushrooms of Illinois and Surrounding States: A Field-to-Kitchen Guide (Field-To-Kitchen Guides)

5 star:		(18)
4 star:		(1)
3 star:		(0)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

After purchasing so many mushroom guides with muddy, poorly-lit [or drawn] illustrations, mind-numbing lists of obscure sub-species, and detailed accounts of taxonomic histories from the dawn of time, it is wonderful to open this new guide and actually learn useful stuff about mushrooms.
The book is perfectly organized, with clear descriptions and first-rate photographs of common toxic and then edible area fungi and their habitats, and is extremely helpful in identification.
I would strongly recommend this guide to both experienced and novice mushroom hunters.

With the outstanding photography and detailed descriptions, even beginners should have no trouble identifying some of the most delicious mushrooms in the midwest. This is one of the best regional guides that I have seen. I bought 2 extra copies to send to friends in Illinois.

This book is so much fun! It's a great read, and knowing about edible mushrooms really enhances our family hikes, not to mention our meals. I bought this book just in time for morel season this spring, and we've been eating wild mushrooms of various kinds ever since. (We just finished a hen-of-the-woods, and have a bag of oysters ready to fry up for supper.)

This field guide is so much better than other mushroom field guides because it deals with only two categories of mushrooms: the edible ones and the inedible look-alikes. There are lovely pictures on almost every page, and helpful hints to let even a beginner feel totally confident with identification. The style is friendly, often funny, and very readable--I've found my 7-year-old curled up reading this book several times.

The recipe section has some basic recipes and some way out-there recipes (morel tiramisu, anyone?). The book does deserve the name of "field to kitchen guide," but the emphasis is definitely on the "field" section--first things first, after all. I'm hoping for a more recipe-oriented sequel someday!

I purchased this book for my mother as she is a Morel Mushroom hunter. She loves hunting for mushrooms. I thought this book would give her information on the morels as well as other mushrooms. My mother loved the book. Anyone who loves hunting mushrooms will love this book.

Great book, the pictures are outstanding and the recipes are great. We take walks in the woods and always take this book with us. Morels used to be the only mushrooms that I would harvest, but with this book I feel more confident in harvesting some of the more easily identified mushrooms.

This book has many great color photos and detailed descriptions. A must have if you are planning to forage for wild mushrooms in and around Illinois

My husband reads a LOT of nature books. I got this for him but I liked this one too. This is an excellent guide to the basics of mushroom identification, great explanations, great photos. It focuses on some basic mushrooms, the best thing is it shows the alternative possibilities of what other mushrooms each mushroom could resemble.... great for "differential diagnosis". Maybe the best first mushroom book for someone who really wants to learn mushroom identification.

This book is a "must have" for any midwest mushroom hunter. This well-researched book is filled with great up-to-date information, pictures, recipes and humor as well. Pick up a copy, you won't be disappointed. There's more to Illinois mushroom hunting than just morels...

This book is wonderful, with its high quality photos and overly descriptive write up on edible and look alike mushroom, it is sure to be a reference guide for whenever I go any where in the area. I cant wait until it gets warm enough to go out and put it to work, I have always been a morel hunter and have run across other mushrooms that I had no idea if they were poison or great. This book takes the guess work out of it. I remember mushroom hunting as a kid with my father and we picked what he called elephant ears. With this book I now know what I am looking for.

This is the best mushroom book I have used. Pictures of good and bad mushrooms alike. I have started eating chantrelles since buying this book.