what we done with them

When you love morels as much as we do, it's hard to know when to say when. Looking for them without finding them, looking for them and finding three or four, looking and finding 650-700...harvesting them, cleaning them, preparing and eating them, giving them to people, drying them.. Every step of the process is rewarding, and no matter how many we find, the desire to find more is strong.

Since this is the case, I have developed many morel recipes, all which one could substitute another mushroom depending on the season. A few years ago I made a pretty radical dip. We hadn't found any asparagus, and we really had a TON of morels, so I made another, similar dip. Here it is

Morel Dip 2

3 lbs fresh, clean, chopped morel mushrooms

1 package cream cheese

6 oz parmesan cheese

1 med white or yellow onion, minced

2 large cloves garlic, minced (three or four ramps, including green leafy parts can be substituted)

2 ribs celery, minced, including leaves

1 small package imitation crab meat, roughly chopped into penny sized pieces

1/2 t crushed red pepper

1/2 t freshly ground black pepper

1/2 T sea salt

2 cups white wine, sweeter types like pinot grigio, riesling, or some chardonnay

1/4 stick of butter

-Saute the onions, garlic (or ramps) celery, peppers in butter till translucent. -Add the morels and toss to cover with oil. -As morels become soft and limp, add the wine and allow to reduce in half -Lower heat, add "crab meat", half the parmesan cheese and stir -Chunk cream cheese into the pan a tablespoon at a time, stirring constantly to mix -Pour everything into a casserole or pyrex container -Cover the top with the rest of the parmesan cheese, a grind of black pepper, and a pinch of red pepper flakes Bake at 375 deg for 25-35 minutes.

I also made a breakfast frittata that was delicious

Sweet Potato and Morel Frittata

2 lbs fresh, clean, chopped morel mushrooms

3 green onions, chopped

1 small sweet potato, peeled and sliced into rounds

a handful of chopped spinach

2 cloves minced garlic

10 beaten eggs

1 T salt

1/4 t black pepper

1/4t thyme

1/4 c milk

3/4 c cottage cheese

1/4 c olive oil, or coconut oil

Preheat to 375

-Saute the green onions, garlic morels, spinach, thyme and black pepper in one T of oil

-Let cool in pan. Transfer contents of pan into town scraping the sides so there is nothing clinging to sides of pan. Put remaining oil into pan and put in preheated oven.

-add the beaten eggs, milk and cottage cheese to the mushroom mixture in bowl, stirring to completely blend

-Carefully remove warmed oil from oven and pour egg/mushroom mixture into it. Lay sweet potato slices over surface of mixture.

Bake for 25-40 minutes, or till golden in color, and a knife stuck into center comes out clean.

And finally I couldn't help but try

Morel Fettucini Alfredo with Smoked Andouille

1 lb fresh, clean, chopped morel mushrooms

One container cream cheese

one cup sour cream

1/2 stick butter

5 T milk

2 minced ramps or shallots

3 large cloves garlic, minced

1 1/2 C parmesan cheese

4ox andouille sausage sliced into moons 1T salt

1t pepper

1/4 t nutmeg

1/4 t allspice

Walnuts

-In a large pan sauté the garlic, sausage, shallots/ramps in 1 T butter. Cook till edges are just browning, then add garlic

-Remove the sausage and set aside where no one can see and devour it

-Add mushrooms and toss till they cook down. If the oil looks sparse add a few splashes of olive oil

-Add salt, pepper, spices, and remaining butter.

-Whisking constantly, add sour cream, chunked cream cheese, and the milk one T at a time.

-When the sauce looks smooth, add the parm cheese, a little at a time, reserving a little for the top. Toss sausage in sauce. Serve with parsley or crushed walnuts over pasta of your choice.

So that's what we have been doing with the insane number of morels we found.

4/15/2008 Cora Lee!

Dan and Adrienne's new baby, Cora Lee is the sweetest little girl ever!
She was born Saturday the 5th and weighed 7lbs and 6oz, the same as her big brother Danny, (and as my brother and I). Her face is such a perfect blend of her parents, and the nurses had attached a little bow on her head (I would have NEVER thought was cool before I saw it!) and she looked like the "ideal" baby girl. I couldn't figure out how they had attached that bow and was shocked when Adrianne said they use some sort of glue. If I were a labor & delivery nurse the last thing I would think of to do to a newborn is glue junk on it's head, but it DID make her look like a doll.



Seeing Cora and Adrienne at the hospital the next morning was surreal; it felt like we were JUST there. Seeing Fox and Danny run around the room screaming and raising hell when it seemed like yesterday that THEY were in those little plastic, rolling beds made me feel sorta dreamy.

Those two boys were going crazy! Danny was so reluctant to get near Cora at first; he didn't even want to have his picture made with her. He and Fox spent most of the time stepping on the pedal of the "soiled laundry" bin and making the lid raise and crash down. They were hysterical about it and there was no parenting method we could employ to get them to stop, so we just let them play knowing that if any of the laundry flew out, at least we know who soiled it.

Cora was healthy and pink for the first twenty or so hours of her life, but then her red blood cell levels went haywire and they ended up having to stay a little bit longer, and then having to bring home a light bed for phototherapy. Jaundice is a common issue for newborns.



For some reason bright lights help break down built up bilirubin in the skin which occurs as a result of a not fully developed liver, or jaundice. Poor Cora had to stay in this little baby tanning bed ALL the time with the exception of feeding and changing. It was so hard for Adrienne because all she wanted to do was hold Cora and let her sleep comfortably. In an attempt to make the experience a bit less horrific, the nurses (again) glued velcro tabs on Cora's temples to attach little, padded shades to her head so she could sleep. (This was exemplary of the sort of cause that would warrant gluing something to a newborn's head..) They also drew closed eyelids and lashes on the glasses which I thought was a good aesthetic decision.



Last weekend when I took these photos it was so nice and warm outside; we tried to spend as much time as we could out in the yard. The trees were blooming and the breeze was warm... Adrienne stayed inside with Cora and tried to relax, even though it was a bright as the sun and gave her a headache. From outside it looked like they were either growing pot or smoking it.



Adriannes parents came to visit from Pennsylvania and I'm sure that was mucho helpful.

This weekend the weather was awful. It became really windy and knocked a bunch of trees out, then a cold front. After making a Saturday style breakfast Fox and I went outside to play and then walked to the park, then later Jason took him mushroom hunting and came back with a bunch of morels. Culinarally speaking, our weekend was more decadent than most.