Morels!

(ok these are really verpas but close enough)

I could hardly contain my glee when I found these. I've gone on special trips to look for these under cotton wood trees for 4 Springs in a row with out ever finding one. This time I was just out looking for a place to take a photo when I happened on a cotton wood tree and decided to go ahead and look for morels while I was there. I was so surprised to finally find one! These were bigger then I expected too. I was looking for small black morels like I found in a burn site a few years ago. In the past I've driven over the mountains to Eastern Washington with the mushroom club from hell to look for morels and only came up with two of them. But today I just went for stroll in my own neighborhood and I walked away with a bowl full of morels. The only compliant I have is that these are a bit past their prime but now that I know where they grow I'll be back next year. We ate half of them tonight and will eat the other half tomorrow night. When ever we eat a new mushroom variety we only eat a little bit and then wait 24 hours before we try it again.