You have seen me.. (Santa Barbara)

Oh wow how I’ve loved the seasonal timing of this year’s weather events! There’s plenty of juice for my cells to swell to generous sizes (1” to 2.
5” caps) and copious grandeur (highly gregarious - find one find many) scattered under Southern California’s ubiquitous coastal live oak.
With red’s ranging from Valentine’s Day red to a deep merlot, you will find my entire body to be uniform in color (cap to stem), semi-rigid and firm in structure (not watery or soft; I break and flake in chunks), and scattering in safe haven - from tree canopy to tree base - among the warm and comforting oak leaf litter.
Fry me or dry me; I like to be treated delicately with heat at low levels to preserve my deeply embedded aromatic compounds.
Some say it wafts through their nose reminiscent of maple syrup, vanilla, or fenugreek.
Once you get a whiff of me, you will know I am truly unmistakable.
Found something cool? Reach out! https://docs.
google.
com/forms/d/e/1FAIpQLSeGrvlHGR0hFO5dFRwsr5R4d-LnaaYqPfsplhTA3GmnMisOhg/viewform?usp=pp_url Mushrooms, fungi, and more - Penn @ Phoraged