Win for Mom Mother’s Day is Sunday! The Marin Independent-Journal is letting you know that you can submit “Mom’s Most Memorable Recipe” on twitter to @Mushroom Channel or right here at the Mushroom Channel, and win a chance to have it featured as the “recipe of the week” with a special tribute to your mom.

Vitamin D often low in mothers and newborns Are you pregnant? Reuters reports that more than one third of mothers and more than half of their infants have vitamin D deficiency at the time of birth. Additionally, data released at Pediatric Academic Societies annual meeting suggests that prenatal vitamin D supplements do not fully protect against this deficiency.

Mushrooms fight flu As you’ve seen, the recent concerns about influenza highlight the importance of eating a balanced diet, including foods that can naturally boost the immune system. Fresh Plaza reminds us that mushrooms have natural immune-boosting properties.

Food events Inside Bay Area is reminding you that the deadline to enter the “Mushroom Every Day, Every Way Recipe Contest” is May 18. Top entries in each category will receive $1,000. The grand prize winner will receive an additional $1,000. Hurry and enter today!

Nurture by nature: Mushrooms If your favorite pizza topping is mushrooms, you’re in luck! The University Daily Kansan reports that Asian countries have used mushrooms for centuries to strengthen the immune system and promote a long life.

Did you know that mushrooms are a part of cutting-edge nutrition research that is being conducted as we speak (err, read)? Here’s a quick behind-the-scenes look at a recent annual scientific conference, Experimental Biology, which was held in New Orleans.

Experimental Biology gathers more than 13,000 scientists to discuss the newest scientific concepts and research that will shape future research advances. For a scientist or nutritionist, this is an exciting opportunity to hear about the latest research and discuss with colleagues who are dedicated to bettering the science industry.

We’re excited to say that there were five different studies presented on the health benefits of mushrooms this year! While most of the research is preliminary and has not yet been conducted in human trials yet, we wanted to give you the scoop firsthand. And, admittedly, we thought it was pretty cool that our favorite fungi was getting some attention for mushrooms’ potential role in enhancing the immune function, the possibility of protecting against breast and colon cancer and collagen-induced arthritis. This research just continues to add to the growing body of science on the nutrition and health benefits of mushrooms.

Once there is more information and research available on these forthcoming topics, we’ll provide links for a more in-depth look at the expanding health benefits of nature’s hidden treasure: mushrooms.

She had us at hello. Quite literally the first thing we noticed about this week’s Recipe of the Week winner was her name- “Umami Girl.”

For those of you who may be new to the Umami frame of thinking, we like this definition from The Nibble:

“The fifth taste in addition to salty, sweet, bitter and sour. A taste sensation that is meaty or savory and closely correlated to foods like meat and mushrooms”

As mushrooms are one of the most recognizable sources for umami, you can see where our hearts may have been set aflutter from the beginning. We were further shown her kindred spirit through the fresh and fabulous spring pizza recipe she posted this week, tying it to the passage of season and time.

“Maturity is not all it’s cracked up to be. Except for the spring veggie pizza. It’s a pie worth growing old for.” – Umami Girl proving it’s entirely possible that one can be twitterpated with a food blog.

Happy Cinco de Mayo everyone- it’s Susie from We Are Not Martha!

I am all in favor of holidays that can be celebrated through food (that would be all of them). And what goes better with Cinco de Mayo than mushrooms?Nothing. Why? Because mushrooms make a delicious addition into any Mexican dish. I’ve always loved quesadillas with mushrooms, but never thought to fill a whole quesadilla with mushrooms. Until now.

When the main ingredients in your quesadillas are simply mushrooms and cheese, you really get the full flavor of mushrooms unhindered by any excess ingredients- who needs onion, tomato, and pepper after all? And meat? Forget it; the mushrooms are enough. The added chili powder helps kick up the quesadilla a bit, making it the perfect Cinco de Mayo (or anytime) dish.

What You’ll Need:

• 1 Tablespoon butter
• 6 ounces white mushrooms, sliced
• 1/2 teaspoon chili powder
• Bunch of coarsely chopped fresh cilantro leaves
• 2 (10-inch) whole wheat flour tortillas
• 4 ounces grated Mexican cheese
• 1/2 cup crumbled feta cheese
• Salsa (sour cream, guac, etc.)

Pre-heat your oven to 360 degrees and pop the tortillas in for a couple minutes, until they’re a little crispy, but still flexible.

In a frying pan, melt your butter and put mushrooms in pan. Cook for about 6 minutes, until the mushrooms start to brown. Right about now your kitchen will start to smell amazing. Add in your chili powder and the

chopped cilantro. And now it will smell even more amazing.

Put your tortillas on a baking sheet lined with foil and cover one half of each tortilla with the Mexican cheese, mushrooms, and feta cheese.  Feta cheese isn’t exactly traditional in Mexican cooking but trust me, it delivers just the extra sharpness these quesadillas need.

Feel more than free to use lower fat cheese too. You know I usually do, but for a Cinco de Mayo celebration, I decided to go all out. Fold the tortillas over and put in the oven for about 8 minutes, until the cheese is nice and melted.

Slice the quesadillas into wedges, top with lots of salsa and more cilantro if you please. This recipe serves 2, so you might want to double, triple, or quadruple it if you’re having a fiesta.

It would also have been quite fitting to have lots of guacamole with these quesadillas. And perhaps some margaritas. Happy Cinco de Mushroom! Er, Mayo.

If you liked this recipe, be sure to check out We Are Not Martha’s other recipes on the Mushroom Channel: Portabella Mushrooms Stuffed with Hummus and Feta and their video post on Stuffed Mushrooms as an Easy Party Appetizer.

Every so often we get a question about ideas for cooking with a specific type of mushroom. This makes complete sense as they are each so very different but the one we seem to get the most questions about is the giant in the family.

Portabella (always sounds like a beach town in Italy to me) mushrooms may be the largest mushrooms at your grocery store but they’re also among the most versatile.  Slice them for pizza or fajitas, grill them up like burgers at a cookout or stuff them for an easy meal in minutes.  We saw this video from the fine folks of Raley’s (a California retail chain) and thought it was a great way to kick off our first full week in May.  Your regularly scheduled Featured Contributor post will be brought to you tomorrow for a special Cinco de Mayo edition!

Full recipe can be found on the Raley’s website.

While Twitter has been in the spotlight recently for Ashton Kutcher’s million followers and Oprah joining the “twagon,” we’re proud to say the Mushroom Council has been a member on Twitter since January. On a daily basis, we’ve been answering people’s mushroom questions, collecting new recipe ideas, and tweeting about the latest and greatest mushroom news.

Are you tweeting yet? If not, we have a great opportunity for you to get involved!

In honor of Cinco de Mayo, we’re asking for your help in our quest to find the next best Cinco de Mayo dish with mushrooms. For example, mushrooms take on a healthy South of the Border twist in the Grilled Mushroom Quesadillas. Submit your recipe ideas to us on Twitter (@MushroomChannel) and earn a chance to be our featured “Recipe of the Week” right here on the Mushroom Channel!

All recipes need to be submitted by May 5 to be considered. The winner’s recipe will be announced and posted the following week.

Portobello mushroom steak sandwich Need we say more?! ABC7 Chicago cooks up a mean mushroom meal with this Portobello mushroom steak sandwich. Test it out and let us know what you think.

Low vitamin D linked to severe asthma Web MD reports that low levels of vitamin D may be linked to severity of asthma in children. The study is published in the American Journal of Respiratory and Critical Care Medicine, and examined the blood levels of vitamin D in children with asthma. Lower levels of vitamin D were associated with more severe asthma.

Top 10 ways to enjoy mushrooms Need some fresh ideas for how to use mushrooms? Produce for Better Health has 10 new one for you, stop by and check them out!

Tip Day equals money-saving ideas It seems we’re all looking to stretch our dollar these days, and to help the San Gabriel Valley Tribune gives you some good tips on stretching your mushroom dollars.

Yes, please: Making mushrooms taste like bacon Philadelphia Citypaper is giving you the “insider scoop” over at ScienCentral. Natural Gourmet Institute chef Elliot Prag recently shared his process for making shiitake mushrooms taste like bacon. God bless you, chef!

Real flu fighters The San Francisco Chronicle clues you in on some great tips to help battle that lingering flue. Number two on the list is vitamin D. Vitamin D is a powerful hormone that regulates your immune system, making your immune system work both harder and more accurately! Rising vitamin D blood levels may be one of the reasons influenza tends to disappear in the summer.

Super mushroom veggie pasta Looking for a healthy pasta dish? Diet and Fitness Tips has a great suggestion for you to try this week.

Grilled Philly cheese and mushroom sandwich It’s baseball season! Kenosha News shares a ballpark recipe that will not only score a homerun on cost; it naturally contains vitamin D, the sunshine vitamin that you may be missing if you slathered on the sunscreen before the big game.