Aren't you Jealous?

[Claire]

Yesterday we went with our favorite "guide" for an afternoon of mushroom foraging. The result was one meals worth of morels, but our guide said he'd give us another half pound because he's had such a good season and didn't get around to taking us out until almost too late (I'm happy with what we got, but won't turn down the offer!!!). Tonight's dinner will be a schnitzel with some morel risotto.

[Otter]

My grandmother used to forage for wild mushrooms, but she is long gone now. Wild mushrooms are soooooo much better than commercially grown. I envy you.

[comissaryqueen]

Back home in PA we picked wild mushrooms called popinki and gunski. These were polish names. Right after the first frost we went out early and brought home a bounty for mom to cook. She made the best mushroom soup.

[Claire]

I'm mostly afraid to forage on my own, so I suspect this will be our last year (for reasons I won't go into, our 'guide' needed us in previous years, doesn't now) of foraging. But what wonderful years they were!

The risotto was, if I do say so myself, superb. I'd been debating how to make the snitzel, and decided with no sauce at all, a simple pounded-breaded-sauteed, and the broc simply steamed and buttered, so that our small cache would stand out in flavor. I like to wash and split the morels (they tend to act as insect condos), then place on a baking sheet in the oven at low heat for 20 min- 1/2 hour to slightly dehydrate them (mostly to get rid of the water you have to use to rinse those insects out). Most years I've added them to chopped button or crimini mushrooms to really spread out the flavor, but this year I didn't have the others on hand. The risotto turned out superb. YUMM.

[Otter]

Originally Posted by Claire

I'm mostly afraid to forage on my own, so I suspect this will be our last year (for reasons I won't go into, our 'guide' needed us in previous years, doesn't now) of foraging. But what wonderful years they were!

Times definitely change - my grandmother's favorite foraging area has been a subdivision for several years now.

[thumpershere2]

I hear so much about the wild mushrooms and would love to gather some but I'm not educated on them at all.It seems like it is becoming a lost art around here.

[choclatechef]

I know how to look for wild mushrooms, but I'm not going -- no matter how much I love them!

Where mushrooms grow in my area -- copperheads and rattlesnakes roam too and I don't see as well as I used to.

There is a little deli down the street here [only 1 1/2 blocks away] where in mushroom season, folks sell their extra wild mushrooms.

Yep, they cost an arm and a leg, but then -- I don't have to risk snake bite either.

Which is more expensive $17 lb wild mushrooms -- emergency room and hospital charges for snake bite.

I will pay the $17 a lb without blinking when I have to have some.

[AllenOK]

I got interested in mushroom hunting last year, did a little web research, and found this board:

http://www.michiganmorels.com/

What I didn't realize, is that I seem to be sitting smack-dab in part of the best Morel mushroom hunting area in the country! Of course, the pressures of my job, family, and other addictions (computers, metal detecting, etc.), don't make it feasible for me to go foraging for mushrooms. That, and last spring wasn't the best weather-wise. Not sure about this spring, as I haven't kept up it.

[Goodweed of the North]

Anybody know if in Michigan's Upper Peninsula, the morels come later than down state? If so, I might just have to hit the woods tomorrow (actually today). I love mushrooms and have done condiderable research on identification. But I just don't know where to look for the tasty little critters (yes I know they're not critters, but it sounded good).

Seeeeeeya; Goodweed of the North

[Claire]

I'd assume your season is later than ours, and ours is just ending.

As I said, I'm very careful about foraging, and not just because of the fear of poisonous mushrooms, but because people can be very, very, very protective of their territory, and hostile to someone who invades it. This is obvious and right when the person owns the land, but often people have been foraging in an area for a long time and consider it 'theirs' even if they don't own the land -- even if it is public, or you have permission to forage there, if someone simply is used to going there they will be peeved. I've heard that in the Oregon and Washington there's even been gunfire over it. Given the price of wild mushrooms, I guess that shouldn't be surprised. So I'm happy with what I got this year, and if it is the last year (and, yes, one area we went to a few years ago is slated for sale and subdivision), I'm just happy I got to do it again this year.