The Morel of the Story

On a sunny, yet breezy, Spring morning, we decided to test whether or not it was truly Spring. Justin did a planting along the Skokomish River on the Southeast side of the Olympic Peninsula a few weeks ago. While there, he learned about a fire that occurred on some timber land last year; he thought, "What a perfect place to hunt for morels!" and filed it away until greener days.

The tractor that started the fire.

Yesterday, we biked the logging roads to the burn and began our search. First, we found some indicators that it might, indeed, be about that time for those little fungi to fruit...






Then, Justin stumbled on some real evidence! Woot.


We continued to stumble and find...

My dad would be a kid in candy land.

We didn't find more than enough for a tasty meal, but we are quite excited to revisit this charred, but living and thriving, corner of the Peninsula. On the way home from the scavenger hunt, we picked up some cream and fresh asparagus from Sunny Farms. I sauteed the mushrooms in butter and olive oil with onions, garlic, and thyme. When they softened, I added asparagus and a bit of cream and water to sauce it up. Served over angel hair with a squeeze of lemon, I call it a Northwest Spring Alfredo! The meaty, earthy morels give the dish some real character.