-Magdalen Lindeberg

Students in PLPPM 2010, Magical Mushrooms, Mischievous Molds were treated to a end-of-semester lunch time feast on May 9th.  Featuring food and drink made from a wide variety of fungi, the feast is a traditional end to the class and reinforces the many ways that fungi enrich our lives. Among the offerings were ginger beer made by Mary McKellar, and oatmeal stout by the Cornell Zymology Club.  Mushroom quiche, grilled maitake and oyster mushrooms, and Portobello stroganoff were catered by H&J Hospitality and cheeses were supplied by Lively Run Goat Dairy Farm and Creamery.

The class, taught be Kathie Hodge in the SIPS Section of Plant Pathology and Plant-Microbe Biology, is a fun, approachable introduction to mushrooms and other fungi, and is designed to be accessible to students who aren’t life science majors. Developed by George Hudler in 1991, the class draws an enrollment of over 300, so preparing the feast is no small feat!