• Saturday-What'sUP December 9 - 06:53 am

Even though I haven't found any in my favorite spots yet, Frederic W. Koski and his friend Jeff are here to show us what the coveted black morel mushrooms look like in the hand and on the ground! Morel hunting is a fulfilling spring pastime, with a number of benefits including fresh air, exercise and the rewards of a tasty delicacy only found this time of year. If you've never been out on a "hunt", you need to make sure you know what you're looking for, so you don't pick something by mistake that can make you ill. I found an informative place to get you started in the right direction here: Morel Information Page. Happy hunting!!

Our Morel's look a little different here in Hillsdale County. But a little butter and a bag of morels and you are in heaven.

Oh how I wish!

yuck !!!!

how can you guys eat this...fungus ????

Oh,my gosh, Morels. I love them. Grand would coat them in flour and fry them. mmmmmmmmmm

Time to go hunting!!I've been picking about 25 plus years and love it. A treasured past time this time of the year...considering that condtions are just right, like the weather, moisture and warmer temperatures. Morel hunting is a private matter. You may think of it like having one's favorite fishing hole. When you find that first morel, there is always more right around you. I have a few useful tips for the novice. When picking, use a paper bag or basket. No plastic bags!! Clean them with water from the faucet. If not using right away...store them in the frig. in a wet paper towel placed in a plastic or porcelain open bowl. When you prepare for use, slice them horizonally, that way you will have enough to make it all worth while! I fry them with onion in olive oil and over a steak or eaten alone. I deep fry them in batter as you do breaded mushrooms and if I have leftover batter, I then make vidalia onion rings. I use the morels in omlets too. I gather enough and try to have at least one feast for my family of this spring treat. I can thank John Norcross(deceased) for his expertise and sharing his knowledge of mushrooms. HAPPY HUNTING!!!

This delight has a value of $45 a pound as paid by restaurants who serve the morel in their favorite recipes. It's like caviar to one's more elite morsel for the tastbuds..

Love morels but haven't had any for years. My favorite and "secret spot" for hunting them, when I was a kid, was a small apple orchard we had. Around some older rotting trees seemed to be the "hot spot" for finding them.

I am with you David Soumis (Davesou)! I can't even stomach the thought of eating that at all. Now the vidalia onion rings I can eat those!
Everyone has their own preference of what the like or don't like. Like they say, "To each his own."

I couldn't imagine a spring without mushroom hunting. I learned from my Grandmother, who was the gatherer of the family, more than a half century ago. My three kids could care less about it know but I have two grand kids who are carrying on the tradition. They are planning next week's excursion as we speak. I agree with everything that Chris Kramer has written and have little to add to it. Cutting horizontally is also important to show that you haven't inadvertently picked a false morel. Good morels can be identified by the fact that the cap and the stem are attached. i.e. all the same piece (see photo). False morels are two piece. Attached to the stem only at the very top. They are also reddish in color and smaller. Easy to spot in the field. I do know people who eat them. I wouldn't. Here is a good batch:
https://pasty.com/pcam/albus59/100_7591

There are other varieties like the yellows or blonds as my grandmother called them:
https://pasty.com/pcam/albus59/Picture_0366

And the whites seen here with a potato and egg:
https://pasty.com/pcam/albus59/Picture_0386

Here is a different variation of the black morel. Very good:
https://pasty.com/pcam/albus59/100_2447

When the trilliums are out it is a good time to go hunting. Enjoy!!!! https://pasty.com/pcam/albus59/100_2071

The link Mary has provided is excellent.

I have never been out hunting for mushrooms, I would have the luck to end up sick with the wrong ones. But I will eat them anytime.

Or having an out of body experience

By Brooke (Lovethekeweenaw) on Saturday, April 28, 2007 -
11:28 am:

I have never been out hunting for mushrooms, I would have
the luck to end up sick with the wrong ones. But I will eat
them anytime.

Not much of a toadstool fan, but I would like to try morels at least once. I think we need another rain here in MN first.
Mr. Deb

If I had to choose just one food item to be my favorite food in the world, it would be the morel mushroom.

Dad started us mushroom hunting at a young age. Love those morels! our spots still have snow or they haven't sprouted yet. Folks from CA come up here and really get grumpy if we show up in their area even though its been a secret spot for years. Money Money Money. Love them to eat not sell.

Ken, thanks so much for the pictures. That top batch can be sent to me at anytime. We don't get any down here--too dry.

I love mushrooms, but I'll be the first to admit that I'm a chicken for finding my own in the wild. I was not aware of the false morel that Ken mentioned, so I Googled it. I would not trust myself to be sure. I will stick to buying my mushrooms in the grocery store.

[And that does not even take into account the Hispanic grandma out in the Silicon Valley area who had been gathering her family's mushrooms all of her life. (I think she was in her seventies.) And then, I believe it was late last year, that she found a batch of bad mushrooms that she had thought were good. She served them for dinner. I believe that she lived a few days in the hospital before she died.]

Last spring I was amazed to find a huge morel mushroom growing alongside Red Jacket Road in Calumet - right in the middle of town! I didn't eat it though; being right by the road made it seem a little unsafe - or at least a little unappetizing.

A whole family died from eating the wrong mushrooms. They had picked for years.This happened in my husbands hometown in De.