Muscoda Morel Mushroom Festival

Did you know that Muscoda is the Morel mushroom capital of Wisconsin?
In May, they host an annual festival to celebrate that fact. Mike and I go every year. It's a small festival but there are plenty of fun things to see and do around town. This year we spent the most time at the craft fair. They had all sorts of Morel inspired decorations and plenty of the usual craft fair items as well. Mike bought me a sweatshirt and a super cute pair of tiny morel earrings. I'll post a photo of them on my instagram later to show you.
This year, the weather was colder than usual. So we spent the most of the day indoors. What better way to keep warm than with a Morel mushroom and leek burger from the Sportsman's lounge (and a cocktail or two). The burger was so juicy and the morels on top were prepared perfectly . The french fries were battered just the way I like them too. Honestly, I can't think of a more perfect meal to eat at a Morel mushroom festival. Go next year and try one!

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.