Morel Mushrooms

Traveled to southwestern Illinois for my nephew/Godsons high school graduation. They live in the small town of Warsaw, Illinois,  a short car ride across the bridge above the Mississippi River takes you into Keokuk, Iowa where the residences of Warsaw goes shopping for their essentials, like food. The town of Warsaw has a gas station that sells staples like milk, eggs, and bread. Main street, which is the center of town consists of three city blocks of mostly abandoned buildings, a sad situation.

Main Street Warsaw, Illinois

I enjoy fancy door knobs, and this one is beautiful.

Each year the residence of the surrounding areas look forward to hunting Morel mushrooms. These unique flavored mushrooms only appear in the early spring and grow for a short time. Finding these mushrooms is often times difficult, they like to grown under and around certain types of trees and under leaves.

They taste the best when they are freshly prepared. In this area, they like to fry these mushrooms.

The mushrooms are soaked in salt water to remove any dirt and bugs, sliced and put back in salt water until they are ready to be cooked.

Cast iron skillet is a must when frying these mushrooms. Oil and butter are used to fry up the morels after they are dredged in seasoned flour.

Everyone tries to sneak a freshly fried morel mushroom, but often times your hand will get a swift slap. I was glad that I was able to enjoy a few of these yummy seasonal treats.

Do you have morel mushrooms in your area? Have you ever tasted these mushrooms?

Here is a pretty picture of someone's flower display in that area.