Wednesday, May 4, 2011

Guest Post: More Morels, Please!

I first met Jeanette last spring when she was representing Indiana wines and the Indiana Wine Trail at the Tourism Media Marketplace.  Given her connection to Indiana wines, it's easy to see why we hit it off.  We've since connected on Twitter.  I think you're really going to enjoy her post- I had never heard of morel mushrooms until I moved to Indiana.  I've lived here a decade and have yet to try a morel, in fact.  After reading this post, I'm really eager to have the opportunity someday!

It’s a great pleasure to be guest blogging for Liz today; however I do feel a bit guilty in my choice of topics. You see, I’ve followed Liz’s blogs for her healthy advice, great kid nutrition information and even her running adventures. So I worry that I may lead all of her faithful followers astray when I introduce one of my favorite springtime adventures.

My husband, better known as The Farmer at my blog FenceRow to FenceRow and my 3 kids; Panda, Monday and my Lion Cub, enjoy heading to one of our wooded properties that adjoin many different farm fields we plant each spring with corn or soybeans. We are on the lookout for treasure- morel mushrooms. You can’t travel to any church service, coffee shop or farm commodity meeting this time of year without someone asking you how many mushrooms you have found.

My Farmer has taken the girls on a few different trips to the woods. With the amount of rain that has fallen and the few hours of sunshine we have had, The Farmer has been convinced the woods should be providing many more mushrooms than he has actually found. So imagine my surprise when he came home one night and told us all to grab a bag and follow him.

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So our yard had not yet been mowed, thanks to the rain we have had. But the sunshine had produced morel mushrooms. A lot of them!

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Both girls found quite a few hidden amongst the dandelions.

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After spending a bit of time searching our yard, we brought our bags inside and counted 66 mushrooms in all!

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Our favorite way to eat them is to wash them in salt water, rinse in cold water, dip in flour and fry in butter!

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By no means is this a healthy meal, however we only indulge in this meal as we find the mushrooms. Thus far our 66 mushrooms have made a few meals. And I do run a lot to work off the calories this meal provides. Not to be left out, my Lion Cub, who is only 8 months old, has discovered a taste for mushrooms as well!

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Don’t worry, I only took my hand off the sandwich to take the picture. He didn’t eat this whole thing!

If you have a better recipe for morel mushrooms, I’d love to hear it! Leave me a comment on my blog, FenceRow to FenceRow, and tell me how you eat this spring delicacy!

That pic of Lion Cub with that sandwich in his mouth is priceless!!  I bet that'd make a great pic for  caption contest.  I hope you will leave Jeanette some comment love, visit her blog and follow, and so on.  Most of all, I want to hear your morel stories and recipes, too!  I love hearing people talk about morel hunting but I rarely hear about the eating side of things.  I'm betting there are healthy ways to enjoy morels, too.  Although I think Jeanette's way sounds mighty yummmmmy! 

4 comments:

designHER Momma said...

I LOVE morels. Only found like 8 so far, but feel like I died and had gone to heaven.

sauteed in butter, salt, pepper and a shallot.

oh so very good.

Karen M. Peterson said...

I've never tried morels, but they sound delicious!

Anonymous said...

My husband went mushroom hunting at his grandma's farm the other day and came back with a bunch of morels! We cook them up the same way, but my mother-in-law always makes sure to tell me not to feed them to my toddler. And she wouldn't let me eat them while I was pregnant. I don't understand! My son eats other mushrooms all the time. Does anyone know anything about morels and kids?

Unknown said...

Rachel - I have no idea why you couldn't fee the morels to your son. Obviously I was :) I've eaten these mushrooms since I was old enough to walk the woods with my Dad and hunt them. And I don't show any lingering effects of having anything wrong...at least anything out of the ordinary!