Oregon Morel Mushrooms

Busy Mama Recipes

My bff got some Morels the other day. Oh my gosh, they are so good. If you have never tried them and you have the chance, try them. They are amazing.

Of course we washed and soaked them, and cut off the gross parts.

I had about a half a pound. I tossed them in a stainless steel skillet with about a tablespoon of salted butter (if you use unsalted add a teaspoon of salt) and let them cook for about five minutes on medium heat.

Then I added 2 tablespoons of dry white wine, two cloves of garlic, and black pepper. I let them cook for about five more minutes.

Before serving them, I sprinkled fresh minced parsley on them.  And duh, we ate them with wine:-)

Coffee Creamer Without the Crap

Update 11/12/2013:  First, I want to say thank you to all of my readers and followers!  This recipe has had over 1000 views in less than a year and hundreds of repins on Pinterest.  I couldn't be happier!  Thank you:-)  I also wanted to add a few holiday recipes to the blog and decided to update this one with Egg Nog Creamer.  I made it this morning, and it was fabulous.  It tasted so much better than the kind at the store.  The recipe variation is at the very bottom of the list..  

Busy Mama Recipes




I was making coffee at my house this morning, wishing I had an espresso machine. Oh well, Santa is forgiven... this year... ;-)

When I worked at Allyson's Kitchen, I drank a ton of coffee each day. I worked long days cooking, catering, cooking classes, etc and we had an espresso machine. So why not? I had the most amazing drinks there. Part of the reason was our house made coffee creamer.

We made different kinds depending on the season. They all turned out great. They are very easy and don't have all of the chemicals that the store bought creamer does.

I always used equal parts dairy and sweetened condensed milk. Working for a restaurant we had access to different sizes of condensed milk. The only ones in the grocery store are 14 ounces, but it works.  Most of the time the other milk was whole milk. But using half and half, 1%, non fat, soy, whatever will also work. Just depends on your preference. Also, some flavored milks or other milk, like coconut milk, can give a very yummy flavor.

I like my coffee not so sweet. If you like sweeter, you can add a sugar or simple syrup to your creamer (or stevia, whatever your preference). You can also buy the bottle of flavored syrup (like the kind they use at coffee shops) and add a little of that to your creamer.

Basic Sweet Cream:
14oz sweetened condensed milk
14oz milk of your choice

Mix together well and store in a sealed container in the fridge for up to a week.

More variations include:

Coconut Creamer: use coconut milk or add 1 teaspoon coconut extract

Vanilla: add 1 teaspoon vanilla extract or vanilla bean paste. You could also use vanilla soy milk.

Mexican Mocha: add cinnamon and a little cocoa powder

Almond Joy: add cocoa powder, almond extract, and use coconut milk (or coconut extract and almond milk)

Cherry Almond: cherry syrup and almond milk

Black Forrest: cocoa powder and cherry syrup

Vanilla Honey: add vanilla bean paste and local honey. Add cinnamon too- this is one of my favorites.

Raspberry White Chocolate: raspberry flavoring and some white chocolate powder or melted white chocolate. I would suggest not adding sugar to this one.

Hazelnut: add hazelnut extract

Snickers: hazelnut extract, caramel or caramel flavor, and cocoa powder

Peppermint mocha: peppermint extract and cocoa powder

Creme de Menthe: add spearmint extract

Salted Caramel: add caramel sauce or flavor and sprinkle sea salt and sugar on top.

French Vanilla: add hazelnut extract and vanilla bean paste

Pumpkin Spice (my favorite): on stove top, heat up 1/8 cup pumpkin (not pumpkin pie filling), 14oz sweet condensed milk, 2tbs brown sugar, 1/2 teaspoon each cinnamon, nutmeg, and clove. Mix well. It will turn out like a thick sauce. Add that sauce to 14oz of milk and mix well. You may choose to add more milk because this is one of the sweeter recipes.

Italian Sweet Creme: add vanilla and almond extract
EggNog: Use eggnog for the milk and add nutmeg to the top