I spy with my little eye....

This is the time of year I start dreaming about morels. Well, actually, I started thinking about them and searching for them two weeks ago. The morels come out about the same time as the red buds bloom. You need to pay attention to the weather, and go out on a pre-hunt every few days when the season gets close or you may miss them. Morels are available for only a short period of time - about 1 - 1 1/2 weeks. So if you miss them, you will have to wait for a year!! The season for morels was early this year here in Oklahoma due to the unseasonably warm weather.

Searching for morels is like searching for a treasure. You have to stop, adjust your eyes to the terrain, and look closely. Hopefully you will spy the treasure.

And if you have a good day, you will have enough for a meal!

My favorite way to eat them is to simply saute them in butter with a bit of salt. My sons prefer them rolled in egg and cracker crumbs and fried.

Just cut off any ends that may be bad, rinse them well in cold water, dry them off a bit with a paper towel, and they are ready to go. I usually slice mine in half vertically before sauteing.

Okay - so the mushroom hunt was not without spying a few other Oklahoma critters! When your eyes are so focused on looking for morels, you notice things you may otherwise walk right by. This baby bird was camoflauged in the leaves around it, and I definitely would have missed it if I had not been looking for mushrooms. I believe it was a baby quail.

Not far from this baby, I spied THIS critter!!

We have lots of copperheads in our area.

...and this!

...and something a little gentler....