Ah, the season of bounty! Morels started popping weeks ahead of schedule here in northern Michigan and are still going strong. I found a couple on March 26, a consequence of that freakish spell of hot weather that everyone is still talking about — first time ever I’ve found them during that month when the woods are usually still clogged with snow. Now the big whites are showing up in the usual places: along roadsides, in grassy patches around ash and apple trees, in the neighbor’s yard.
And morels are just the start of it. As always in spring, it’s tough deciding whether to spend my free time hunting mushrooms, fishing, canoeing, or birding, so I’ve been combining them all into weekend Bacchanalias. Here’s to trout, warblers, ‘shrooms, and J-strokes! As the great Kinky Freedman said, find what you love and do it ’till it kills you!
With morels on everyone’s minds, it’s a great time to check out this splendid new book from The University of Michigan Press: The Art of Cooking Morels.
And though many of Ruth Johnston’s recipes are a bit elaborate for my taste (and abilities — I’m a toss-’em-in-flour-and-fry-’em-in-butter guy), they might inspire you to try startling and innovative ways of preparing this tastiest of fungi.
And there’s a terrific bonus on the cover and throughout the book: The stunning illustrations by David McCall Johnston, as below. An utterly delightful — and delicious — book.
Ramps, Morels and Asparagus are my cue that Spring has arrived. Have not seen any warblers in Chicago yet, though. But the white throated sparrows came through last week and the white crowned sparrows are starting to show up.
Thanks Bernadine. Do you keep a record of the arrivals/ripenings? We’re 250 miles north of Chicago and already had six species of warblers moving through our yard (including a Nashville yesterday–my first ever), plus w-t sparrows and w-c sparrows, Baltimore oriole (five days earlier than usual), and just today a brown thrasher. Stay tuned for a posting about all these birds and other sure-fire indicators of the season…
Here in Ohio we have a pair of thrashers nesting in yard.Saw a black -billed cuckoo I yard this year. We have had very few warblers