Gary’s dad and his girlfriend came to visit last September from BC. They were driving around Canada and the U.S pulling their new trailer and we had dinner with them one night at the trailer park. Gary was catching up on family history (mostly cars!) and the kids were getting restless so we decided to go for a walk in the woods. We found the usual sticks and rocks and an old dump full of bike parts and garbage but nothing too exciting. As it was starting to get dark and everyone was getting hungry, we decided to head back to the trailer and were stopped in the woods by an older gentleman who’s trailer (home) was situated beside the path to the woods. As usual, I can never get past an older person without them talking to me and this time was no exception. This little, round man walks up to me and says “Do you like puff balls?” “Excuse me?” I reply, not fully understanding what he is asking and somewhat concerned that he is propositioning me in front of my children. “Puff balls,” he repeats. At this point, I am thinking that perhaps he is just a lonely old man looking for someone to talk to and I ask him what he is talking about. He tells me that in the woods there are these white balls, about the size of a beach ball and they are a delicacy to eat. (His wife was apparently in the trailer, frying some in butter for dinner). He points us back in the direction of the woods and the kids and I go searching for these puff balls. It doesn’t take long before Duncan is running through the woods yelling that he has found them and sure enough, a little off the beaten path are these white balls on the ground, bigger than our heads. Duncan grabs one (the biggest he can find) and we head back to the trailer to show daddy, grandpa and grandma. Apparently, these Giant Puff Balls are from the mushroom family. They grow in the late summer to mid-fall and can be as small as a baseball and as big as a basketball. They are mostly edible and are often fried in butter or cooked in soups. Duncan, being the Fear Factor freak, takes the first bite, raw!!! Once we are sure he is not going to keel over and die (the good parents that we are) we all decide to take a bite. They are earthy-tasting and a little spongy, almost like styrofoam, but we are told they are much better fried in butter. The puff balls made it home with us but we never got a chance to cook them up. The kids are looking forward to next fall when we can hunt for them again. Perhaps by then, we will be able to find a recipe and really check them out.