[Preface: Did you witness the TRAVESTY that was American Idol?! Megan, aka Shake Your Booty Girl, aka Bill Shatner Impersonator, WAS NOT EVEN IN THE BOTTOM THREE! I blame this site.]
It’s the last Friday of the month, and you know what day that is!
Oh. You don’t? Hmm.
Does this refresh your memory?
Yep, it’s Plastic Hat Party Day again! Whee!!
(This time with PIZZA!)
So I’ll be gone most of the day. But I’ve still got something cool to share:
I might’ve mentioned once or twice that we live in the country. And that my husband is a chef.
Well, all the time I’ve known Charlie, he’s loved the idea of not only cooking his meals, but also harvesting them. Avocado trees in our yard in California? Made him very happy. Our various vegetable gardens, even with their inconceivably low yields (one zucchini, anyone?), put a smile on his face.
So finding edible mushrooms In. His. Very. Own. Backyard? Made him giddy.
Giddy.
In the years since that discovery, he’s studied, gone to seminars, and consulted experts. He’s made himself a mushroom expert. So even though he brings home everything that could possibly be classified as a fungus, he hasn’t yet killed us. And we’ve eaten oyster, chanterelle and morel mushrooms that he picked with his own hands.
Giddy as a schoolgirl, that one.
Anywho, it’s almost morel season. So last night Charlie, the girls and I went to see if the river was gonna stay within its banks. (It has flooded and washed away an entire season’s morel harvest before.)
(The horror.)
Off we went.
But it turns out that it’s not ALMOST morel season!
Check out our haul!
When I Tweeted this last night, Nick the Geek replied that they’d be worth a pretty penny if we didn’t eat them.
HAH.
Those morels will. Be. Eaten. First, Charlie will make every recipe that features morels. Yum!
Then he’ll start “experimenting.”
Morel stew. Morel gumbo. Morel etouffee.
Morel omelettes. Morel enchiladas. Morel fried rice. Morel baked ziti.
Morel cheesecake.
(Okay, I’m just messing with you.)
(With that last one.)
And after we have eaten every possible fresh morel… My Beloved will dry the rest.
He’s such a good provider. If you like mushrooms.
***
This was the conversation between Abby and Charlie as we walked up to the house:
“Daddy, can we come down and look for morels again tomorrow?”
“Yes, we’ll come every day until they’re gone.”
“Okay. Next time can we bring snacks?”
(It’s okay; I don’t get it either.)
17 responses so far ↓
1 Wendy // Mar 26, 2009 at 11:18 pm
Don’t you know that mushrooms are evil?! Did I not just spell this out for you on my blog?
*shaking my head*
Wendy’s last blog post..Exnay on the wishing for more wishes
2 Lianne // Mar 27, 2009 at 12:03 am
Wow! I am salivating/scared for you simultaneously. Horrified hunger, that’s what it is.
Don’t die or anything. I *just* started following your blog. I would miss you. : )
Lianne’s last blog post..Nashville–Day 2
3 Joyce // Mar 27, 2009 at 3:59 am
This sounds almost like a hike to me : )
It also confirms what I mentioned to you the other day. Your husband needs to take you to Italy in October. There are truffle festivals in a few cities (conveniently not far from Florence). Italy is a chef’s paradise.
Joyce’s last blog post..Benjamin Disraeli Slept Here
4 Jo@Mylestones // Mar 27, 2009 at 5:12 am
Just in case you aren’t 100% sure, just a reminder that you are spoiled and I am jealous. A chef for a husband! That’s worth more than a thousand pounds of truffles!
Jo@Mylestones’s last blog post..I must remind myself to stop talking to myself
5 @ngie // Mar 27, 2009 at 6:51 am
Can’t say that I have ever tasted the wonder that is the morel before. Do enjoy.
I think I might very much like to see a picture of you in your plastic hat.
@ngie’s last blog post..Trail Mix
6 Candy // Mar 27, 2009 at 7:30 am
I cannot WAIT until my 83 year old mother comes back from her morel-hunting trip with pounds and pounds of these for me! We’re still several weeks away in our neck of the woods, but my mouth just waters looking at these!
Candy’s last blog post..Click to pray
7 Rachel@Grasping... // Mar 27, 2009 at 8:56 am
hose are the most bizarre looking mushrooms – I guess I’m not fancy enough because I’ve never seen anything like them!!
But I do love mushrooms. Can I come try some?
Rachel@Grasping…’s last blog post..I boldly went where no one BUT mothers have gone before. . .
8 Beth // Mar 27, 2009 at 9:06 am
Morels! My great-grandpa and great-grandma used to hunt for them when I was a kid. All we did was fry ‘em, but they are GOOD. I have no idea where to go look for them, though. Sounds like fun to me! I love to wander in the woods for any reason.
Beth’s last blog post..Thank Goodness for Commenters, Plus a Bonus Random Funny!
9 sherri // Mar 27, 2009 at 9:19 am
Love the pics of your beautiful family and the mushrooms.
Does Charlie know they are just a hoity toity FUNGAS among us? (The mushrooms, not you guys!)
(But SOOOOO delicious!)
sherri’s last blog post..Friendly Friday- IT MIGHT BE HOPE
10 katdish // Mar 27, 2009 at 9:31 am
My brother used to go mushroom hunting…
but that’s completely different.
katdish’s last blog post..My secret obsession
11 Jenny 867-5309 // Mar 27, 2009 at 10:15 am
Those are some funky looking ‘shrooms. I actually saw some show about those because people were having to guard their land by night to keep people from stealing them. Dude! Are they really better than the special ‘shroom we all liked in our 20′s? Really?
Jenny 867-5309’s last blog post..Yanni Voices
12 Helen // Mar 27, 2009 at 10:16 am
I love mushrooms, but would be afraid to hunt for them on my own. My daddy used to say the only mushrooms in our neck of the woods are poisonous. Which reminds me of a joke…
I was talking to a guy in the line at the store. The conversation got around to spouses, and he said he had been widowed three times. I said “Three wives, all dead and buried?” He said “Yes.”
“What happened to the first one?”
“Poison Mushrooms.”
“What happened to the second one?”
“Poison Mushrooms.”
“And the third?”
“Fractured skull.”
“How did that happen?”
“She wouldn’t eat the poison mushrooms.”
Helen’s last blog post..Is your husband the jealous type?
13 Steph at the Red Clay Diaries // Mar 27, 2009 at 12:32 pm
Wendy – I also hated mushrooms. Until I met Charlie. Just one of the sacrifices I had to make in my marriage to a chef.
Lianne – S’okay. As you can see, morels have a unique form. And we’ve harvested them at least three seasons and haven’t died yet.
Joyce- Charlie’s drooling over the idea of Italian truffles. Someday we will have to go.
Jo – I know, I’m incredibly lucky. He offered to make me morel scrambled eggs today (got the idea from lil ol ME!). But I’d already eaten Cheerios. I so don’t deserve him.
Angie – I took a picture of me in Abby’s plastic hat in your honor today. You just might get your wish…
Candy – Hope spring comes soon for you and your fungi!
Rachel – They’re yummy, and yes, come on over!
Beth – I couldn’t even begin to advise you on finding them near you. I trust Charlie’s fungus knowledge, but not my own.
Katdish and Jenny – Sorry, no hallucinogens in these mushrooms. Isn’t that right, Harvey? [pats giant rabbit on arm]
Helen – Good thing Charlie loves me…
14 Amy Warden // Mar 28, 2009 at 10:45 am
I guess this is the first time I’ve heard you mention your husband is a chef! My hubby likes to cook, and he does rather well, but mushrooms would NOT make him giddy. Hope you enjoy yours though!!
Amy Warden’s last blog post..Lip Butter…For Dogs?
15 elizabeth channel // Mar 28, 2009 at 11:44 am
See, I know nothing about mushrooms so if I encountered those, I’d tell my children to flee! I used to be so jealous if your chef-husband but now that I’ve quit eating, I’m happy for you…seriously!
elizabeth channel’s last blog post..Love in the Time of Swiffer
16 Annie K // Mar 28, 2009 at 2:54 pm
Jon is absolutely appalled that ANYONE would eat fungus.
So I like to make sure I eat them in front of him and show him how they look all chewed up.
Childish, I know.
Annie K’s last blog post..Random Friday
17 Billy Coffey // Mar 28, 2009 at 2:56 pm
Fungus or not, I love me some mushrooms.
You are a wonderful writer and you have a wonderful blog. Glad I found my way here.
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