Mother's Day Weekend

You know it's mushroom season when you see morels when you close your eyes to sleep.

This Mother's day weekend started with a cool saturday morning mushroom hunt. Mike and I, plus his brother Pat, spent hours trudging through the woods on a cushioned carpet of moss and pine needles with little result. The scent of pine needles and the previous nights rain was in the air so it was pretty peaceful until a cute little chipmunk ran out in front of me and making me scream. Twice. Please don't judge me.
We had much better luck after lunch.  Mike and Pat picked up a few sub sandwiches and enjoyed them picnic style by the lake. After that, we set out with a refreshed outlook. Our searching was much more successful.  the three of us found a couple of pounds of morels and even more pheasant backs. Which are a recent favorite by the way. We wrapped up our mushroom hunt by late afternoon.  In time to stop in and wish our mothers a happy Mother's day and spend a relaxing night at home.

Then, early Sunday morning, I woke up to the sound of Mike's creaking footsteps going down the stairs to run some 'secret' mother's day errands. I got out of bed to start my day but when my husband returned he scolded me to get back into bed. Apparently I ruined all of his breakfast in bed plans by waking up an hour too early. It was a sweet gesture so I went back to bed until my scrambled eggs and french toast was ready. After breakfast, Mike was nice enough to do the dishes. He even helped Layla pick a bouquet of lilacs for me. We wrapped up our day with plates full of Mike's home made spaghetti with cheesy garlic bread and lounged in front of the tv.

Mushroom Hunting on a Warm Spring Day

Mike and I had the day off yesterday. He needed to have a procedure done at the hospital because of his recent Crohns flare up. Fortunately, we were done by noon, leaving plenty of time to check our favorite morel mushroom spots.  Mike searched all the thick, thorny areas of the woods while I stuck close to the path and kept an eye on Layla. She was happily gathering sticks and collecting rocks. The weather was perfect, over eighty degrees and sunny. We weren't the only mushroom hunters taking advantage of the nice day. Despite the competition,  we still found about two dozen mushrooms.

A Mini Road Trip

Last weekend Mike, his brother Pat, and I drove down to Central Illinois to look for morel mushrooms.  We left at two in the morning so we could beat all the locals to the best spots. Contrary to the current Wisconsin weather, it was warm enough to walk around in shorts. The first place we arrived at was beautiful, all the trees are in bloom there now. We checked all the usual spots; south facing slopes, dead elms, and near creek beds and although we found two box turtles, we didn't find any mushrooms.
Our luck was the same at the next couple spots but it was ok because it was just nice to spend a full day with Mike. We stopped at a local diner for lunch and I managed to swing by a Starbucks on the way home so I could finally try the (once) new flat white. I'm definitely looking forward to taking more road trips with Mike through the years.

Tis The Season.

It's that time of year again! The Morels are popping! For the next few weeks we'll be in the woods almost every day looking for them. They're pretty hard to see, until you spot one. Then, suddenly you'll be able to see dozens. But you need to be very quiet and sneak up on them while you search so you don't scare them back into the ground. Then, once you spot them, you better run fast and dive for them before they suck back down into hiding.
Just kidding ;)
We took home about 50 small to medium sized morel mushrooms this weekend because it's only the beginning of the season. Some days it's possible to find twice that in one area alone.
If you're interested in hunting for Morels, the best place to start is by dead elms. Just make sure to do your research and be sure you can identify a true Morel before eating any mushrooms you find.
I like to eat mine for breakfast as the perfect compliment to asparagus in quiche. If eggs are your cup of tea, Morels are pretty good on pizza, or fry them to top a juicy steak with!
Any other recipe ideas?  Let me know. Also, feel free to share your mushrooming adventures with me.