Morel Mushroom Experience

Last week my boyfriend and his brother were going mushroom hunting and I asked if I could tag along. This was the first time that I have hunted for morels.We started out about 9 am on Wednesday and finished about 7:30 that night. It had rained the day before, and the ground was pretty saturated. The boys put on their rubber boots, while I had to make due with my canvas hiking boots. We started trekking through the woods and the boys found a few mushrooms here and there. I was getting discouraged because I was unable to find any mushrooms, and my feet were soaking wet. As the day wore on and minimal success, we decided to head back to the car. As we were leaving, we stumbled on a patch of mushrooms on the side of the trail that turned into an incredible find of more than a couple pounds worth.

The following day, we decided to go hunting again. This time we were joined by their father. As my boyfriend and I were walking ahead of the others, he found this snake in the grass and was trying to catch it. He was teasing me that he was going to throw it on me, which made me squeal. His brother who heard my scream had thought we found some mushrooms and soon caught up to us. A few minutes later, we all stumbled on a large area littered with morels. I am very grateful to my boyfriend for sharing such a great "first time" experience with me. It has been great being able to spend some quality time together.

Having so many morel mushrooms, we now have to figure out the best way of enjoying them. We have tried cooking morels in several different ways. I prepared morel and cheese omelets for my boyfriend and I on Easter Sunday. We have also enjoyed them sauted, and breaded and fried. I would say my favorite would have to be the sauted morels. Keep checking back as I will share my omelet recipe with you next time.

For more information on Morel Mushroom recipes go to www.morelhunter.com.

Have you ever been mushroom hunting? Please share your experiences or favorite recipes with us, and thanks for reading.

Homemade Angel Food Cake

This angel food cake recipe is our adaptation from a recipe that can be found on allrecipes.com. This rich cake requires a dozen fresh eggs. We had a surplus of eggs from our own backyard chickens and decided this was a easy way to put them to good use.

Top with fresh strawberries and whipped cream for a delicious treat.

Banana Cake

The Banana Cake was a hit last Saturday with my family. For an extra treat, top it with strawberries.

Banana Cake Recipe by Carol

1/2 c margarine

2 eggs

1 tsp baking powder

1/2 tsp salt

1/2 c sour milk(sour milk: 1 tbsp lemon juice or vinegar, fill to 1/2 c with milk)

1 c bananas (3-4 bananas mashed with fork

1 1/2 c sugar

2 1/4 c flour

1 tsp baking soda

1 tsp vanilla

Blend in mixing bowl margarine and sugar. Add eggs, flour, baking powder, baking soda, sald , milk, vanilla and bananas. Mix for four minutes with electric mixer. Pour into 2 greased and floured 8 inch square or round cake pans. You can also use a 9x13 pan. Bake at 350 degrees for 30-35 minutes. Test by inserting a toothpick into the middle of cake. It should come out clean. Cake is done. Let cool, then ice with butter cream icing.

French Onion Soup

A few weeks ago we came up with an idea that we would try a different soup on Sundays and we are having fun with that. Yesterday, we made French Onion soup courtesy of a bag mix that we picked up in our local Amish community. We added fresh bread squares or croutons to the bowl before adding the soup and topped with Monterey jack cheese. I toasted the soup in the broiler and topped with spiced paprika.

Taffy Apple Pizza ala mode

Thursday night we decided to make a Taffy Apple Pizza dessert while the kids were enjoying Spring Break. The recipe is a Pampered Chef recipe with a few different spins. First we used an Amish peanut butter instead of plain or crunchy. Next we drizzled additional caramel and scattered crushed honey roasted peanuts over the caramel. Finally, we topped with a scoop of ice cream.

Recipe on PamperedChef.com