| T O P I C R E V I E W |
| theherblady |
Posted - Apr 19 2006 : 06:29:32 AM
Here in the midwest, the big thing in spring is hunting for morel mushrooms...This is the second year that I have had close access to the woods ~~ last year I was "skunked" but it was very dry..
Anyway~~ I found enough -about 20-for a nice "mess-o-mushrooms" for dinner last night...Dipped in egg and crushed crackers and fried in butter....Yummmmmmmmm!~
Jan |
| 22 L A T E S T R E P L I E S (Newest First) |
| windypines |
Posted - Apr 18 2008 : 08:13:22 AM
We found our first morel last year. Going in our yard, under an apple tree. Yippee. My husband likes mushrooms. Wish I could find a few more for him.
Michele |
| GaiasRose |
Posted - Apr 16 2008 : 09:22:06 AM
I usually sell for $50 a pound. They are a hot commodity up here! lots of people love them but few know how to find them, so one can get away with charging an arm and a leg....just like they do in selling truffles from Italy and France. Those are some pricey fungus let me tell ya!
[size=1]
~*~Brightest Blessings~*~
Tasha-Rose
Farmgirl Sister #88
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| Mountain Girl |
Posted - Apr 16 2008 : 08:18:43 AM
Tasha, The price of fresh morels are unbelievable. While in Spokane picking up our son from the airport we stopped at the organic market and they had fresh morels(probably from the coast) selling for $64 a pound! I don't think we were selling fast since they felt a little dry. Here in Colville I've seen them for $12 a pound and in Spokane Farmers Market for $20. What do you usually sell them for? JoAnn |
| Amie C. |
Posted - Apr 16 2008 : 06:09:21 AM
We have a mushroom festival at some of the local nature centers around here, but it's in September. I guess we don't have morels (or those in the know don't want to let the rest of us in on it!)
I wonder if you could save the spores and grow the mushrooms? My 8th grade class grew mushrooms as a project, using large trash bags full of straw with the spores mixed in. If my husband wasn't using so much of our basement, I'd want to try doing it at our house. Our junior high science teachers were really gung ho. One of them took us mushroom hunting, and another one demonstrated taxidermy! |
| Lainey |
Posted - Apr 16 2008 : 05:23:34 AM
Haven't had any morels to eat in a long time. When my paternal grandmother was living we would have a big mushroom Sunday dinner once a year, well depending on how many we would find. She used the egg batter method and they were so good! I haven't heard of anyone around here finding any yet this Spring. Usually we know they are out when we see the May Apples up. My great uncle, her brother, was known as the Mushroom King in the Germantown Ohio area back in the 70s. He really had a knack for finding them. I used to go out with my grandmother every year looking and would get so excited when we would find some.
There's a Mushroom Festival coming up in Irvine, KY in a few weeks. We are planning on going.
Farmgirl Sister #25
http://countrygirldreams.blogspot.com/ |
| lisamarie508 |
Posted - Apr 16 2008 : 05:14:16 AM
It's still a bit early and cold here for mushrooms. But morels are big here, too. We usually find them in burned out areas, but sometimes not. People come up here from the valley to hunt for them to sell. They get pretty mad at you if you wander into the area they are hunting/harvesting!
Farmgirl Sister #35
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| GaiasRose |
Posted - Apr 15 2008 : 8:23:56 PM
i don't eat them (I don't eat muchrooms at all...yuck!)but I hunt them and sell them. big bucks people pay for these delicassies!
[size=1]
~*~Brightest Blessings~*~
Tasha-Rose
Farmgirl Sister #88
Blogs: http://gaiarose.wordpress.com
http://womonandsprout.wordpress.com
http://youtube.com/profile?user=GaiasRose
Homepage:
http://ForestFaeries.etsy.com
"Joyful chaos, working in tune with the seasons, telling itme by the sun, variety, change and self-direction; all this wwas replaced with a brutal, standardized work culture, the effects of which we are still suffering from today." - Tom Hodgkinson in 'How To Be Idle' |
| miss wilma |
Posted - Apr 15 2008 : 6:53:23 PM
Every one cooks different I think I will try your way next time Heather, We didnt know what they were until we moved here, now its one of the first things to eat here besides polk greens and creesey greens but by dear husband would starve if I had to cook the greens so we have a good neighbor that cooks them for him
Farm Girl #96
http://www.picturetrail.com/misswilmasplace
http://misswilma.blogspot.com/ |
| PlumCreekMama |
Posted - Apr 15 2008 : 6:45:28 PM
We haven't had very warm temps yet, but a lot of rain. Haven't heard of anyone finding them around here yet. I love to dip mine in egg, then in flour, and fry them in butter.
http://plumcreekmama.blogspot.com/ |
| miss wilma |
Posted - Apr 15 2008 : 5:03:24 PM
Jo Ann I cook just like frying fish Wash morels , slice thru middle, Put on bowl of cold salt water, soak over night rinse well, drain, roll in cornmeal with a little flour. Sprinkle with pepper. Put oil on skillet and fry just like fish. They do taste a lot like fish, We love them
Farm Girl #96
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| Mountain Girl |
Posted - Apr 15 2008 : 4:03:25 PM
Morels are pretty easy to identify but you'd be surprise at how people can easily get confused. My husband has taught mycology for years and can't see how they can but they do. If you find a mushroom you think is a morel you can cut it half and it should be hollow. Miss Wilma, how do you cook up your mushrooms for a meal? Stuff them, saute them in butter?? JoAnn P.S. Remember there are old mushroom hunters and there are bold mushroom hunters but there are no old bold mushroom hunters: ) |
| electricdunce |
Posted - Apr 15 2008 : 3:44:57 PM
I know morels are delicious, but I'm scared of wild mushrooms, i think i read too many mystery books as a kid where people got poisoned by mushrooms....We always get a few big puffballs here in the fall. The Extension said they are ok to eat, but I just take pictures of them...Karin
Farmgirl Sister #153
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| miss wilma |
Posted - Apr 15 2008 : 2:34:27 PM
My husband went out 2 times after the rain got enough for 3 dinners here then we took the rest down to my dad. We call them dry land fish, Sterl likes to look for them as well as he does ginseng
Farm Girl #96
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| Mountain Girl |
Posted - Apr 15 2008 : 2:08:25 PM
Just received an e-mail that the first (reported) morel has been picked in the Spokane area near an undisclosed hiking trail. Anyone else find any yet. JoAnn |
| theherblady |
Posted - Apr 20 2006 : 05:26:19 AM
What a great tradition Rhonda!..I forgot to mention....Mushroom hunters are very protective of disclosing their "secret spots"...or even sharing their woods....!
Jan |
| abbasgurl |
Posted - Apr 19 2006 : 3:19:25 PM
My husband's extended family all comes together at my inlaws home on Mother's Day for dinner & a nice long visit. After dinner the mushroom hunters go out into the 150 acre woods & hunt Morels. Those who can't hunt stay behind & anxiously await our return. Most years there are bags & bags of mushrooms that get divided between the families. We've been doing this for 20 years, and it's really neat to see the new "shroomers" who learn what to look for each year! The old-timers seem just as excited as the rookies! My husband seems to have inherited the mushrooming gene-he always knows just where to look. He even tries to sneak off so no one sees the direction he is heading! LOL Only my kids know his "secret spot". It's a wonderful tradition AND a great way to walk off the huge dinner that's served...not to mention the promise of those morels the next day at breakfast! 
Rhonda
Rhonda
...and I will sing at the top of my lungs, and I will dance, even if I'm the only one! |
| AnneElizabeth |
Posted - Apr 19 2006 : 1:18:17 PM
I can't wait! I'm in mid-Michigan so it will be another week or two before I can get some up in my favorite areas (Gaylord being one). My kids love it too and we have so much fun just being in the woods. If you've never found them before, there are morel mushroom festivals and sometimes they provide "guided" hunts where you can learn from an expert. The most popular one I can think of is Mesick which is in mid-may usually.
I used to dry them, but my favorite way of saving them is to saute in butter then freeze. They are perfect in winter to top a steak...just reheat and add to the sauce or the steak, mmm. |
| theherblady |
Posted - Apr 19 2006 : 1:11:58 PM
Marianne~~ I guess it is just "the thing to do" if you have woods nearby..My dad used to look for them...but we never had them for dinner or anything. Growing up in the country in the midwest- most everyone knows about morels..There is only a small window of time to find them...Like Cyndi said...they need quite a bit of rain and warm temps to come up and even then , they arent easy to find. Its sorta like an adult easter egg hunt! Some people (with more time on their hands than me) sell them for like $15 a pound! It's like finding gold when you find them...The first one is hardest to find~but then, you get "mushroom eyes" and can spot them more easily.
Mary Ann- I dont know if you could spot them from atop a horse...I was on my hands and knees last night!
Jan |
| MullersLaneFarm |
Posted - Apr 19 2006 : 09:38:16 AM
IT is the time for Morels!! With the rains we've had and then the warm weather, it is PRIME hunting time.
I'm getting hungry just thinking about them!
Cyndi
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| Horseyrider |
Posted - Apr 19 2006 : 07:38:50 AM
I found them in the woods behind the house some years back, but haven't for quite a while. I'll have to saddle up and check again; we've had some rains recently. Wish I had a shorter horse; I take the tall ones out, check out where the mushrooms are, and come back later on foot. It's very difficult to get on and off, they're so tall.
I need a shorter horse for trail riding! Big saddle bags, a halter bridle, and I'd be deep in shroons! |
| ladybugsmom6 |
Posted - Apr 19 2006 : 07:34:23 AM
ohhhhh, how i miss hunting mushrooms. i grew up in the woods and used to hunt with my grandpa, then often on my own. the first time my husband had them hewas shocked at how good they were, but now understood why people paid such a high price for them! but now i am a city dweller, waiting for my day in the country! enjoy the shrooms for us!
-Tami
happy spring |
| Mari-dahlia |
Posted - Apr 19 2006 : 07:29:08 AM
sounds wonderful! I went to a mushroom hunting class once and was so overwhelmed that the only thing I learned was not to hunt for mushrooms. I think the people who are most successful at it have done it since they were small. Who taught you how to hunt?
Marianne |
