Thanks Julles for the link. I noticed on it that they were grown on a sawdust block. I've been reading a little more about growing them and find that the ones grown on sawdust are supposedly not as good as growing them on wood.
Also, finding a lot of info claiming they are a "cure all", blood pressure, cholesterol, etc.
..........but it never hurts to eat natural, healthy food. In the past year, I have tried to weed out "processed" food.
Years ago, there was a place near us where they grew mushrooms. Everyone called it the mushroom factory. I haven't been by there for a long time. Last time I was, you could still see the entrance to a long underground building. I always thought they were the button kind. This would have been back in the 50's.
I don't have any ideas on cooking them. I use the button mushrooms in lots of stuff, salads, omelets, stir fry. I'm hoping the shiitake will be even better. We hunt morels in the spring and lightly flour them and saute in butter.
Karen