Theresa sliced up one of the
puffballs, which was white and firm inside (from the book: "make sure they are not yellow or they will be bitter") and fried them with some butter and onions.
But after a lot of door slamming and crying her mum caved in, turned to her sewing machine and transformed a 'sensible'' A-line skirt into a
puffball.
But with the weather having taken a turn for the worse (the driving rain is now coming down in monsoon proportions), the small group sheltering in the Housesteads' gift shop is hoping the expedition can be abandoned and the giant
puffball located by more direct means.
Heather Campbell with the giant
puffball, tipping the scales at well over five pounds, found growing on her fields Picture: JEFF PITT jp061008
puffball-2
Giant
puffballs should be firm and not soft (if your finger makes an indentation on the outer surface, leave it in the field, as it's already lost the peak of its freshness.
Fungi range in size and complexity, from microscopic organisms such as yeasts to the larger mushrooms and
puffballs.
Karl Lagerfeld gets creative with everything from huge
puffballs of feathers and fur, to a funny pastiche of a chair.
Puffballs, which are found worldwide, grow in the autumn and can be edible then.
Most giant
puffballs generally grow to between 10cms and 70cms (3.
Each
puffball releases 7000billion spores, and if all the spores from one
puffball were to grow into
puffballs themselves, they would carpet an area the size of the UK, with plenty to spare.
And although you wouldn't have thought there was much money in stinging nettles, seaweed or giant
puffballs, he supplies posh restaurants such as The Ivy and Jamie Oliver's Fifteen, so he probably does all right for himself.
Lets hope impounded
puffballs aren't afforded refugee status.
