Anyone who has ever seen Oyster Mushrooms will probably recall their unique habit of growing in a cascade along a tree trunk, in a upward or downward direction, depending one one's point of view. One mass of them I observed for several consecutive years grew on a dead or dying sycamore tree.

This is one mushroom, according to experts, that is almost impossible to confuse with any poison variety, however, I still do not recommend anyone gathering or collecting them based on an online mention. Always be certain of what you collect before ingesting it/them.

I first tried dicing, then stir-frying them, and although they were good, they seemed somewhat tough. Next I tried incorporating them on a pizza and all I can say is WOW. That will always be their future destiny in this household now. In fact, these oyster mushrooms were the focal point of one truly delicious pizza.

Attached are two pics, a "before", and an "after" shot. The "after shot" is the fresh-from-the-oven Oyster Mushroom Pizza. The "before" shot shows the ingredients. An entire quart of tomatoes was cooked down into the thick tomato-paste-like pizza sauce seen in the skillet, and another quart of tomatoes is shown for comparison. The hunk of cheese shown is raw Organic Valley cheddar, although one can use one of many types of cheese, including homemade. The most important thing, for this writer at least, is to bake the pizza without the cheese, then immediately after removal from oven, the grated cheese is sprinkled atop, where it will soon melt. In this way you can still enjoy the benefits of raw cheese.

The thin crust on the right is 100% stone ground whole wheat flour and water, rolled out to a crust of the thinness desired, and prebaked at around 425 deg. F, about 5 minutes per side.

The oyster mushroom can be seen at 11 o'clock on the ingredients plate, along with the various other items including elephant garlic, shallots, dried peppers, and dried tomatillos. We grew all the ingredients, except wheat, cheese, and mushroom, but this year hope to experiment with a wheat-substitute rumored to be used by some with gluten intolerance.

Hope you enjoy seeing the pizza as much as we enjoyed eating it.