# Wild mushrooms



## Bob-66 (Aug 7, 2013)

I picked chanterelles and boletes for the first time yesterday. Had some sauted chanterelles this evening with pork. I'm looking forward to cooking the boletes soon. Any ideas out there on what to do with rhem?


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## Dawgluver (Aug 7, 2013)

Mushroom soup!

I freeze or dehydrate Hen of the Woods.  They last a long time that way, should work with your mushrooms too.


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## CharlieD (Aug 7, 2013)

Love chanterelles fried or marinaded.And boletes are even more versatile. They can also be fried, marinaded, pickled, made into mushroom spread, dried. There tons of recipes. 

Where do you live? Next time take me with you. I love wild mushrooms.


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## Bob-66 (Aug 7, 2013)

I live in Atlantic Canada. There were tons of boletes. Picking mushrooms is new to me so I'm being cautious, relying on a friend who is more rxperienced, but I can imagine I could enoy it a lot.


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## taxlady (Aug 7, 2013)

Welcome to DC Bob, from your neighbour of Quebec.


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## Addie (Aug 8, 2013)

Welcome to DC Bob. Sounds like you come from one of the Maritimes. I have a special affinity for N.S. and P.E.I. You have come to a fun place where you will meet lots of friends.


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## CWS4322 (Aug 8, 2013)

Welcome to DC, Bob. I recently made a cream of mushroom soup that included some wild mushrooms. Dry them and you can enjoy them all year around. We freeze sulfur shelf mushrooms and add those to egg dishes.


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## CharlieD (Aug 8, 2013)

Dried boletes are a staple in vegetarian Red Ukranian Borscht. It is exelent meat replacement.
And the marinaded ones is a great chser to some frozen cold vodka before the borscht.


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## Kylie1969 (Aug 11, 2013)

Welcome Bob 

I would go with a stuffed mushroom, always tasty and you can fill it with whatever you like


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## Bob-66 (Aug 11, 2013)

The boletes I used to make a pasta dish which I didn't quite get right because i smothered the mushroom flavour with too much cheese. 

The chanterelles I used to make a nice omelette with roasted garlic and fennel leaves. That dish ended up being quite good.


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## taxlady (Aug 11, 2013)

Sautéed, chopped mushrooms mixed into room temperature cream cheese or quark makes a nice dip/sandwich spread. It also lets you really taste the 'shrooms, so you can get a good idea of what boletes taste like.


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## Kylie1969 (Aug 17, 2013)

Bob-66 said:


> The chanterelles I used to make a nice omelette with roasted garlic and fennel leaves. That dish ended up being quite good.



Sounds nice!


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## Aunt Bea (Aug 17, 2013)

When I was a kid we used to pick field mushrooms and puffballs.

We fried the field mushrooms and ate them for breakfast or my Mother would scrape the gills and fry them then make a cream sauce in the pan and serve them over cornbread or baked potatoes.

The puffballs were sliced dipped in egg then flour and fried.


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## Raspberrymocha55 (Sep 19, 2013)

My Dad's family picked puffballs and several other kinds of mushrooms. Alas, he never taught us kids. Where he grew up they wouldn't pick morels as they were considered junk mushrooms. Here in west central Illinois morels are the mushroom of choice.  So, I learned to cook them in the local style.  We love them.  

Split morels in half. Soak in salt water to remove ants/bugs. Rinse. Pat dry.  Dip in egg wash. Roll or shake in a bag to bread: corn meal, flour, cracker crumbs (I use all three, but it is whatever one's family uses.). Pan fry til brown in real butter mixed with a bit of oil to stop burning the butter. Drain on paper towels and try not to eat before serving the family!  I fry up 5 lbs at a time, and the family ignores the rest of supper.

My Dad is probably rolling in his grave over this!  but after moving south to this part of Illinois, I am learning a bit about the semi-southern cooking in this area. i.e.  Chicken and noodles is always served with or over mashed potatoes. (my Mom cringes at this!) Nevertheless, I love the "junk" morel mushrooms.


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## Addie (Sep 19, 2013)

Raspberrymocha55 said:


> My Dad's family picked puffballs and several other kinds of mushrooms. Alas, he never taught us kids. Where he grew up they wouldn't pick morels as they were considered junk mushrooms. Here in west central Illinois morels are the mushroom of choice.  So, I learned to cook them in the local style.  We love them.
> 
> Split morels in half. Soak in salt water to remove ants/bugs. Rinse. Pat dry.  Dip in egg wash. Roll or shake in a bag to bread: corn meal, flour, cracker crumbs (I use all three, but it is whatever one's family uses.). Pan fry til brown in real butter mixed with a bit of oil to stop burning the butter. Drain on paper towels and* try not to eat before serving the family!*  I fry up 5 lbs at a time, and the family ignores the rest of supper.
> 
> My Dad is probably rolling in his grave over this!  but after moving south to this part of Illinois, I am learning a bit about the semi-southern cooking in this area. i.e.  Chicken and noodles is always served with or over mashed potatoes. (my Mom cringes at this!) Nevertheless, I love the "junk" morel mushrooms.



I have the same problem when I am frying eggplant. It has been years since I have made eggplant parm. Only because there is no eggplant left after slicing and frying up two large ones. The food gremlins eat them all up and I can't yell at them with a burnt tongue.


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## Dawgluver (Sep 19, 2013)

Raspberrymocha55 said:


> My Dad's family picked puffballs and several other kinds of mushrooms. Alas, he never taught us kids. Where he grew up they wouldn't pick morels as they were considered junk mushrooms. Here in west central Illinois morels are the mushroom of choice.  So, I learned to cook them in the local style.  We love them.
> 
> Split morels in half. Soak in salt water to remove ants/bugs. Rinse. Pat dry.  Dip in egg wash. Roll or shake in a bag to bread: corn meal, flour, cracker crumbs (I use all three, but it is whatever one's family uses.). Pan fry til brown in real butter mixed with a bit of oil to stop burning the butter. Drain on paper towels and try not to eat before serving the family!  I fry up 5 lbs at a time, and the family ignores the rest of supper.
> 
> My Dad is probably rolling in his grave over this!  but after moving south to this part of Illinois, I am learning a bit about the semi-southern cooking in this area. i.e.  Chicken and noodles is always served with or over mashed potatoes. (my Mom cringes at this!) Nevertheless, I love the "junk" morel mushrooms.



Oh lordy, here, morels are more precious than gold.  I have not yet found a patch to closely guard.

Our Hen of the Woods source tree is no more, cut down in its decaying prime, and the house next to it has been sold   Hopefully our source guy can find us another HOTW.


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## Raspberrymocha55 (Sep 19, 2013)

I don't pick the morels, but I have friends who closely guard their picking sites.  They both bring us their extras, often 5 or more pounds!! And of course I feel obligated to take their castoffs!  LOL!!


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## taxlady (Sep 20, 2013)

Raspberrymocha55 said:


> My Dad's family picked puffballs and several other kinds of mushrooms. Alas, he never taught us kids. Where he grew up they wouldn't pick morels as they were considered junk mushrooms. Here in west central Illinois morels are the mushroom of choice.  So, I learned to cook them in the local style.  We love them.
> ...


They were probably common where your dad grew up. I lived up north in Quebec for a few years. The locals wouldn't eat partridge because they were easy to shoot. I had a Jamaican friend who loved conch, but when she grew up in Jamaica, no one would admit to eating it. That's what poor folks would go get out of the ocean for free. 

I love morels, but haven't had many opportunities to eat them. I once found three.


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## Addie (Sep 20, 2013)

taxlady said:


> They were probably common where your dad grew up. I lived up north in Quebec for a few years. The locals wouldn't eat partridge because they were easy to shoot. I had a Jamaican friend who loved conch, but when she grew up in Jamaica, no one would admit to eating it. That's what poor folks would go get out of the ocean for free.
> 
> I love morels, but haven't had many opportunities to eat them. I once found three.



When I was a kid, after a Nor'easter me and my friends would head for the beach to gather the lobsters and other shellfish that had been washed ashore. In my neighborhood, it wasn't a delicacy, it was food on the table. Rich folks didn't know what they were missing. Some of the best tasting foods come from the peasant population.


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## goodfood (Jul 11, 2017)

I pick a ton of chanterelles each year and usually DRY them. BUT - the result is the dried mushrooms will then be bitter - and this is known to be a fact by many. The solution (pun) is to soak and THROW out the water.

But I still wonder - as does everyone I've spoken to - what's going on here? The same is NOT found with 'winter mushroom' (Cantharellus tubaeformis) which are collected from the same places at the same time - and in the same 'family.' 

Anyone know?


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## CharlieD (Jul 12, 2017)

Wow, this is some old thread you dug out. I don't think chanterelles are good to be dried. Marinated in vinegar solution, boiled and fried as the side dish along with some potatoes and meat. Dried? No, they are just the wrong kind of mushroom for that purpose. On the other hand the boletes are excellent dried. They are the best to use for a hearty mushroom soup in the winter time.


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## blissful (Jul 12, 2017)

We received more than 4 inches of rain last night, which means, water in the basement until the pumps catch up. There are poisonous mushrooms cropping up now, all over the place. I know a morel and I know a puff ball, but I don't know mushrooms. I'm not a risk taker, so they are all poisonous.


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## goodfood (Jul 12, 2017)

"I'm not a risk taker, so they are all poisonous."

I basically agree but the 2 types I mention and collect are totally identifiable and have no 'look-alikes'


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## goodfood (Jul 12, 2017)

"Dried? No, they are just the wrong kind of mushroom for that purpose."

The Google pages have 100's of entrries for dried chanterelles. The drying really works - I was just curious to hear if someone knew where the bitterness comes from - it's easily ditched with the soak water and the product emerges just fine. Freezing works well but too many to put in there - the vinegar takes over from the neat natural flavor of the chanterelles IMO.


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## Sagittarius (Jul 12, 2017)

Bob 66, 

The only way I eat my Boletus, are sautéed  with  Spanish Evvo, sautéed with a little minced parsley, a bit of sea salt fine grain,  and a clove or  2 of minced garlic ..  

Since, I reside close to the Pyrenées separating Spain from France, they are foraged or picked from the forests in autumn & Winter ( October - March ).     

Chanterelles, are common here in Spring. I do same ..

I do not like to disguise the taste of Boletus or any other wild forest mushroom as I am a true enthusiast. 

I also adore, Black Trumphets and Morilles from same region ..

I like to have them as a starter ..   

They pair best with venison or beef, in my opinión or in a Risotto di Funghi .. Risotto with Mushrooms ..  

Welcome to Discuss Cooking and have a nice day.


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## di reston (Jul 12, 2017)

I live in an area where we get mushrooms virtually all year round. We also get white truffles and, year, black truffles, but the white ones are particularly sought after. Here's my recipe for truffle and mushroom risotto:

Per portion:

70g wild mushrooms
10g porcini (boletus edilis)
10g black or white truffles
40g finely chopped onions
2 large cloves garlic
home made vegetable or chicken stock (The water from the dried boletus edilis is particularly good)
black summer truffles or white Alba truffles
2 -3 tbsp Mascarpone or Philadelphia Light
1 handful grated fresh Parmesan cheese.
Butter
500g Vialone rice
Dry white wine

Chop the onions and garlic very fine and sweat in butter, then add the rice and cook until the rice is slightly browned in colour. Have the mushrooms rough chopped or sliced and ready to use. If you're using dried porcini, have them ready soaked, roughly chopped, and keep the water for later. Add the mushrooms to the soffritto,then the wine, to taste, then add the stock a little at a time. When the stock has been fully absorbed, stir in the Philaphelia cheese, and then add the Parmesan cheese. Sprinkle over a little more Parmesan before serving.

If I want to do a chicken and mushroom casserole, I add some bacon lardons and fry off chicken pieces after doing the soffritto. That's nice as well. Any suggestions for making it better gratefully received.


di reston


Enough is never as good as a feast     Oscar Wilde


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## CharlieD (Jul 12, 2017)

I did not mean that you cannot dry them. Of course you can. But they are just not good dried.


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## goodfood (Jul 13, 2017)

> But they are just not good dried.



Well, that has not been the experience I've had nor *many, many others.*

I get, fortunately, plenty of chanterelles each year and use them fresh, unfrozen and dried...The dried are, in many cases, even better as not 'slimy' as when fresh - they also have more flavor as it is then concentrated.

It was just this 'bitterness' that can be eliminated with throwing out the soak-water. And my cusiosity about what's going on there.

One 'trick' too is when using them 'fresh' - to let them dry a bit 12-24 hours. The texture improves amazingly for some dishes and soups.

But the question I posed is already producing results as we all now have what looks like a very good risotto recipe from the Piedmont!


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## CraigC (Jul 13, 2017)

Sagittarius said:


> Bob 66,
> 
> The only way I eat my Boletus, are sautéed  with  Spanish Evvo, sautéed with a little minced parsley, a bit of sea salt fine grain,  and a clove or  2 of minced garlic ..
> 
> ...



The OP you just replied to hasn't been here since 8-12-13.


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## goodfood (Jul 13, 2017)

> The OP you just replied to hasn't been here since 8-12-13.



To whom is this addressed? Aren't all replies here 'general' - and attention to any particular poster then mentioned in actual text?


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## CraigC (Jul 13, 2017)

goodfood said:


> To whom is this addressed? Aren't all replies here 'general' - and attention to any particular poster then mentioned in actual text?



The person I quoted. They replied to the OP directly.


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## goodfood (Jul 13, 2017)

Sorry - I'm a 'newbie' - could you please explain? It can't be a private message as you saw it - how do 'we all' see it?


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## CraigC (Jul 13, 2017)

goodfood said:


> Sorry - I'm a 'newbie' - could you please explain? It can't be a private message as you saw it - how do 'we all' see it?



I'm not sure I follow. I quoted a post that is in this thread.

If you are asking how I know when Bob66 was last active on DC, go to the first post and click on his user name. That will open a box that lets you choose several options. If you click on "public profile" it will open that information. It will give you the date when the user was last active on DC.


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## goodfood (Jul 13, 2017)

OK - I got the strands of spaghetti unentangled - pardon the intrusion


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## CraigC (Jul 13, 2017)

goodfood said:


> OK - I got the strands of spaghetti unentangled - pardon the intrusion



Intrusion? There wasn't any. Look at my last post again. I edited it so you can see how I found the OP's last activity.


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## CharlieD (Jul 13, 2017)

goodfood said:


> Well, that has not been the experience I've had nor *many, many others.*
> 
> I get, fortunately, plenty of chanterelles each year and use them fresh, unfrozen and dried...The dried are, in many cases, even better as not 'slimy' as when fresh - they also have more flavor as it is then concentrated.
> 
> ...



To each his own.


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## goodfood (Jul 13, 2017)

> To each his own.



Exactly!


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## Sagittarius (Jul 16, 2017)

CraigC said:


> The OP you just replied to hasn't been here since 8-12-13.




I had no idea that this gentleman is no longer a member.


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## dragnlaw (Jul 16, 2017)

Not to worry Sagittarius, everyone who reads these posts benefits from others ideas.

My parents had a place of about 40/60 acres outside of Toronto. They also had a friend who would come out 'during the Chanterelle season' to pick.  My mother swore the woman didn't even look, she could just smell them...  She would pick a bunch, come back to the house and make the most amazing pie from them. My mom & dad would just die with happy happy happiness.

She was quite a pro, not even sure if she wasn't a professor, think mom told me she had written a book on Chanterelles.  Wish I could remember her name. Supposedly quite well known.


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## medtran49 (Jul 16, 2017)

Ina Garten had a show on Food Network today that used sautéed crimini with sherry vinegar in a salad with prosciutto, arugula, dried tomatoes, shaved parm with a vinaigrette type dressing. Loked really  good and I  bookmarked it for a quick easy meal


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## Sagittarius (Jul 20, 2017)

*Dragnlaw*



dragnlaw said:


> Not to worry Sagittarius, everyone who reads these posts benefits from others ideas.
> 
> My parents had a place of about 40/60 acres outside of Toronto. They also had a friend who would come out 'during the Chanterelle season' to pick.  My mother swore the woman didn't even look, she could just smell them...  She would pick a bunch, come back to the house and make the most amazing pie from them. My mom & dad would just die with happy happy happiness.
> 
> She was quite a pro, not even sure if she wasn't a professor, think mom told me she had written a book on Chanterelles.  Wish I could remember her name. Supposedly quite well known.





I had no idea that the starter of this thread has not been on D.C.  since 2013 or so .. 

Anyway, back to mushrooms  !!

You are right, we do benefit from information and in many cases, just enjoy the posts on the topics one is interested in  .. 

Havea  lovely day ..


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## Addie (Feb 7, 2019)

*My new toy of life.*

This thread is the closet I could come to happiness.

I went to PT this morning and was told that my new wheelchair will be there by noon time.

Sure enough, the mechanic wheeled it in. He measured me from head to toe the last time I saw him. He even measured the width of my backside. Today he is my favorite person. 

It is real tiny. I sat in it while he made adjustments to accommodate my height. It is so cute and tiny. Looks like a large toy on wheels. But it fits me to a T. No more backaches that bring tears to my eyes. He even slanted the foot rest to the angle I was having to  hold my foot. 

I am so happy. Monday I go for the cast and then my prosthetic. I can hardly wait. The first thing I will do as soon as I am stable, will be to walk to the bus stop and go down the square to buy me some clothes. I bought one  pair of slacks on line. I sort of guessed at the size. . A size 8. Cut and hemmed them with tape. The dang waist is too big for me. I have to go down another size. I will them. I had to cut the legs a bit shorter than I usually do. I will have to learn how to walk with the prosthetic first. And I don't want to be tripping over long pants. Climbing stairs is going to be quite a challenge. 

HAPPY, HAPPY, HAPPY is me!


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## Cheryl J (Feb 7, 2019)

Addie, I'm glad you are happy with your new wheelchair.  

But...just wondering....why would you post this in a 6 year old thread about *Wild Mushrooms*?


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## Addie (Feb 7, 2019)

Cheryl J said:


> Addie, I'm glad you are happy with your new wheelchair.
> 
> But...just wondering....why would you post this in a 6 year old thread about *Wild Mushrooms*?



I know there is a happiness thread somewhere. But I tried using the word "happiness" with other words. I used the search engine at the top of each page.  This thread was the closest I could come to happiness. 

Right now even though I am ecstatic, I am so tired. I went to PT and did my workout to strengthen my muscle. It wore me out. Just doing five minutes. I ran out of patience real quick looking for the happiness thread. I actually fell asleep sitting in the chair. Nappy time for me.


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## Cheryl J (Feb 7, 2019)

Maybe this is the one you were searching for....?

http://www.discusscooking.com/forums/f168/last-thing-that-made-you-smile-13002.html


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## taxlady (Feb 7, 2019)

Cheryl J said:


> Addie, I'm glad you are happy with your new wheelchair.
> 
> But...just wondering....why would you post this in a 6 year old thread about *Wild Mushrooms*?


What Cheryl wrote. Also, great news Addie.


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## Cooking Goddess (Feb 7, 2019)

Good news, *Addie*. BTW, if your medical descriptions get a bit to authentic for a happy thread (or a dinner thread  ), you can keep us up to date on your progress in "*The Sick Room*" thread. After all, the best part about being sick is the recovery.


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## pepperhead212 (Feb 7, 2019)

Glad to hear that you are so satisfied with your new wheelchair, Addie. Usually, things like that take several trials and a lot of tweaking to get them just right.  Hope everything continues in this positive way for you.


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## Roll_Bones (Feb 7, 2019)

Love Ya Addie!


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## Addie (Feb 8, 2019)

Thank you everyone. I spent more time in the hospital last year than I did in my own home. I lost track of the surgeries. I even lost track of time. I was shocked to find that it was already August when they allowed me to come out of the induced coma. 

But now it is the happy time. I did my mourning for my leg and all the crying I was going to do. I had a wonderful social worker who wisely brought me through it all. 

I have several friends who have also lost a limb. They seem to be doing all right. And I just know, that with determination, I will also. Next month I will be 80 years old. I have the sneaky feeling my daughter is up to something to celebrate. A new leg, a new milestone, a new future. I do know she is going to send for the dynasty kit to follow just how much Native American I have in me. My father was a half breed. Oh how I hate that expression. But that is what he called himself. His two sisters would yell at him for using that expression. After all they had the same blood in them. I recently found out that my uncle who served in WWI was severely discriminated against due to his Native American blood. I asked the VFW where I could find his military records. They kindly sent for them for me, and were rather shocked to find out his heritage. Sure made for some very interesting reading. There is a shopping Square in Eastie named after him.


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