Unexpected culinary gifts, including a big basket of rare morels, act as fuel for the soul

Do you ever feel a creative lull — when life seems to be flying by and there isn’t white space to let your mind and creativity flourish? I’d been experiencing a bit of that lately, and then the universe brought several culinary gifts all within about 24 hours. I’m oh so grateful for these unexpected tasty gifts.

The first was a text from a good friend with a photo of a big wooden bowl full of morel mushrooms and her smiling face. The text read, “Do you want to try some morels?” I responded with an emphatic “Hell yes!” then dropped my other dinner plans and headed right over.

I’ll never forget my first taste of the meaty-yet-delicate mushrooms in my GG’s kitchen. She lived in a small town in southwest Iowa, and her back door was always unlocked. A friend of my uncle’s just walked in the door with a bag full of morels for her, and she was practically speechless. You see, the morel season is very short, and you have to forage for them, so it’s a once-in-a-season (if you’re lucky) experience.

While I didn’t partake in the foraging, which apparently took my friend Heather, her family and her brother’s family a few hours, I was front and center for the cooking and consuming of the morels. They’d foraged for about two pounds of morels, and what a delightful dinner and evening it turned into – cooking, tasting, cooking some more and perhaps enjoying a glass of wine in between. We mostly dipped the halved or quartered morels into egg and then a mixture of crushed up saltine crackers – like my GG taught me to – and flour, and then fried them up in a bit of butter in a cast iron skillet until crispy. Between seven adults and the occasional kid snagging one or two, the mushrooms were being eaten as quickly as they were fried.

We saved about a third of the mushrooms for a pasta with sautéed leeks, anchovies, lemon, rosemary, butter, chicken broth and some fabulous fettuccine noodles, which was a way to stretch them out into a main dish. Of course, any good pasta is also covered in a healthy heap of freshly grated Parmesan. We were all “oohing and ahhing” over the deliciousness and the special treats enjoyed together. Magical moments around the table with good people and incredible food is what I live for – and these experiences bring such meaning to great shared culinary experiences.

The second tasty surprise is that I was selected to participate in a Nespresso Vertuoline virtual coffee tasting. If you’ve ever had coffee at my house, and even if you haven’t, you’ve likely heard me gush about my love affair with this coffee machine. The top three reasons that it’s an invaluable part of my morning routine: the fantastic coffee pods (which get recycled), the ease and the versatility. Unlike other single use coffee machines, Nespresso coffee is top quality, and the machine produces a “crema” on top of each cup. Crema is the foamy deliciousness that sits on top of coffee or espresso.

I’ve never been a morning person, so I look forward to my jolt of caffeine. Please don’t make me work for my coffee – just deliver it hot and quickly. The machine is so versatile: There are several sizes of pods you can purchase. Ristretto, Espresso, double espresso, Gran Lungo and coffee pods are the size options. I won’t list all the types of coffee or flavors, but the options are appreciated. I’ve never worked at a coffee shop, but I have great appreciation for the lovely foamed creaminess that makes the morning cup divine. French Vanilla Nutpods – a milk-alternative – poured into my Nespresso Aeroccino 4 — delivers the perfect froth at the touch of a button. In a couple of days, I’ll participate in the coffee tasting. Think of it as a virtual meeting with your favorite movie star, except you get to taste free coffee.

The last culinary treat of the delicious 24 hours was a surprise huge pan of spanakopita from my Greek friend, Denise. The Greek spinach pie was encrusted in phyllo dough with plenty of sautéed fresh spinach, lots of salty feta, onions and a bit of dill. She remembered from last fall that I told her it was one of my favorites. So here she came with a huge, hot pan of it. Instantly, I dug in – even though it was before dinner time. Such decadent, savory treats cannot wait a moment longer. We ate it throughout the week and were much happier because of this kind gesture. I hope you find some culinary inspiration this week, and next time, I’ll deliver a recipe like usual.