Happiness is having a mushroom hunting neighbor

[Eric Krewson]

I have lived in this area for 38 years and only seen one small morel mushroom in all that time, I assumed we were just too far south for them to grow well. My neighbor's son focuses on a project and is relentless in its pursuit, lately he has taken up mushroom hunting. He called yesterday and told me he had found a patch of about 300 morels and would bring me some.

I have never eaten a morel but will today.

[bjrogg]

Yummy.

Wash em good. They can be a little gritty with all those nocks and crannies

Bjrogg

[Buckskinner]

Oh my, you are in for a treat!  We're not in a great spot for morels due to dutch elm disease but we find some every year from a pound or so up to about 10 lbs if good weather.  If we have sufficient moisture and no quick hot spells we do pretty good.  Find them around what we call piss elm, not sure real name and some fruit trees.

My favorite way of cooking them is to lightly dust in flour and fry in butter until browned to your liking, one of my favorite things to eat in the world.   If we have lots I will dehydrate for adding to other dishes throughout the year.

[BrianS]

Nice

[PaulN/KS]

They can be hit or miss here on my place but last year was a "Hit". The wife and I found a couple nice patches of the big yellows.
Sauteed in butter or with bacon. Yummy...! 

[Eric Krewson]

I went to my favorite walking trail this morning, it is a paved three mile loop through the woods. I decided to cut cross country to see if I could find any morels, wild hogs have come on the scene at the trail a few years ago. I found when I got more than 100 yards off the trail the hogs had the ridges rooted up, I doubt if they passed on an morels they found, I didn't find any even under  some of the slippery elm trees I found.

I was walking down a gravel cut off road and saw another slippery elm right off the road, sure enough there was a lone morel under it, my first, I searched the surrounding area but didn't find any more.