The first thing to do when you get your morels home is to soak them in salted water for at least an hour. That way any crawlies in the stems will come out.

Drain them well and either air dry them on a well-ventilated screen or get ready to cook them right away. They will last in a paper bag overnight in the fridge, but fresh is best.

My girlfriend, Carly Kearns, dries them out and stores them in a large glass jar with lid.

Carly advises anyone wanting to sell their mushrooms to cut the stalk to only an inch from the top's base before taking them in. There are buyers in both Topley and Hazelton which can be contacted usually through the local Chamber of Commerce or coffee shops.

Due to all the previous fires in the Province, the morel is plentiful for awhile and so the prices paid for morels is not as high as it used to be. But the price will come back up one of these years.

I say, "Why sell them when they taste so good?" The dried morels are delicious sprinkled into gravies, stews and soups. Or they can be reconstituted for recipes like morel mushroom soup. Seems that every person I talked to says the best way to eat a morel is to cut it in half horizontally. Dip each half in well beaten egg and then roll in your favourite coating (crushed crackers, bread crumbs, cornmeal) and fry in lots of butter over medium high heat.