Morel Mushrooms

Here's another wonderful thing about where I live. WE HAVE MOREL MUSHROOMS in the woods around our house. And this year was a BANNER year for them.
Morel Mushrooms are a VERY BIG DEAL around here.

Elliott and John picked this big bag of mushrooms in a few hours on a Sunday afternoon.

The mushrooms appear on the first days of summer. They come up after a few warm days, when the grass is green and the Jack-in-the-Pulpits are blooming. The hunting is good just as the snakes are waking up from their winter sleep. (which is why I don't go mushroom hunting)...

I love so many things about living in a seasonal world. When I think about it, (and I was really old before I thought about it) -- I LOVE living in a world where important things happen just once a year. In Iowa, the first winter snow is magical. When the leaves turn orange, our woods are glorious, but only for a few precious days. Last month, our asparagus was terrific, and we ate it until we were sick of it...but we won't have asparagus again until next May.

This year, LILLY decided she LOVES MUSHROOMS. Fortunately -- my sister Deena is the BEST MUSHROOM HUNTER on the Bluff. Every year, she gives me a nice mess of mushrooms.

When I told Lilly we'd be having mushrooms for supper, she was very excited.

She put on an apron and we got to work...

Properly preparing the mushrooms is important. First, you slice them in half, and soak them in salt water (to kill ants, etc.). Then, you dry them completely...and shake them in a bag of flour to coat every delicious morsel...

You could fry them in butter right now -- or you could dip them in an egg wash and roll them in bread crumbs...

Lilly was so excited! She set the table, folded the napkins...

Our finished mushrooms. We went for the tri-fecta. Flour, then egg, then bread crumbs. Fried in butter (with a little oil, just to keep things from burning)!!

The table looked wonderful...and this is the last picture we got that day. Moments later -- we pounced on those babies!! DELICIOUS...