Things I love Thursday: Dandelions

If you haven't figured it out by now, I love dandelions. I eat them and make them into things on a regular basis. Okay, on a springly basis. They're also very lovely to look at. And when they become little puff balls? ZOMG are they fun. I will spread those seeds like nobody's business.

Make a wish!

One thing we always do when dandelions come out is make wine of the petals. Mmm, by always I mean we have every year since we've lived in New Hampshire. (Dandelions don't really grow as abundantly in the lower parts of Florida).

Wine production of years past

In the four years we've been making it, and in the couple years before John moved to FL that he made it, we haven't yet found a perfect recipe. Mostly because we never remembered what we did the year before. We've tried at least 4 different recipes now. This year we decided to really buckle down and figure this out. Wine takes too long to to be so nonchalant about throwing it together. And while dandelion wine is relatively simple and since the main ingredient free, it's not an expensive wine,  it does take some work. After all, we have to pull all those tiny petals out of the bitter green calyx part. That takes time, baby!

Thems are some hot, manly hands... Oh! I mean, see what hard work that is?

Note the addition of tea cups to the process...

Especially when you consider how much of those petals you need.

This year, we made two separate batches, and I very carefully recorded all that we did for each one. One recipe called for six cups of dandelion petals, and one four cups. I'm pretty excited to taste and compare them.

But wine isn't all we make of dandelions. I've told you about pesto and fritters, which I repeated a few times again this year.

 There's also dandelion petal ice cream. The heavenly, light creamy confection that one friend of mine declared "tastes happy." It's true. This ice cream is happiness infused.

Unfortunately, I can't find where I wrote down the recipe, but I can gather from these two photos that I infused the petals into the milk and then pureed it all together. If you're adventurous, try it out. Make it up as you go or follow a vanilla bean ice cream and adapt.

 I think I may have strained it then, but I don't know. This one I haven't yet made this year because my freezer is currently too full to freeze the icecream maker bowl. If I do get a chance to make it, I'll post the recipe for sure.

You can also make a nice tea loaf out of the petals as I did one year.

I don't have the recipe I used way back then, but this one looks very similar. Try it out and be delighted by making something from your yard!

Dandelion potato soup is also a nice treat. Just follow a recipe for potato spinach soup (or even just potato soup) and put dandelions in instead of spinach. Puree and enjoy.

(If you haven't caught on to this yet, I'm using up as many past photos as I can find in relation to this topic. I meant to post most of these as their own thing, but as as per facts 4 and 5, this never happened.)

Two new things I've tried this year are dandelion tincture (extract) and dandelion vinegar.

Dandelion infused vodka, essentially

 Since I just started them a few weeks ago, and these things take a fair amount of time, I don't know how they turned out yet. But I'm excited. I may be able to add a lovely dandelion flavour to my desserts and dishes any time during the year!

So next time you think of trying to eradicate the dandelions in your yard, why not try eating them instead?

June

I've known since I was a kid that June's flower and birthstone are Rose and pearl. Last June, the rose part became exceptionally clear to me. Roses were blooming everywhere. And now 'tis June again and roses are out in full bloom once more. As this month has flown by I'm realizing more and more that I really enjoy June;  the weather, the flowers, the long days, the summery attitude. And while Summer has yet to actually and officially begin there is certainly a summery smell in the air. The leaves are out in full and it's almost hard to believe that once only a couple months before they were barren of leaves and some trees still had yet to bud. The sun, when it's not blocked by storm clouds, gets blazing hot and the nights are absolutely delicious. I love June!

Well, I heard once that you can learn a lot of things from the flowers, yes, especially in the month of June....

So! A couple days ago, I went out with my handy little camera and proceeded to snap photos of all the flowers I found as I strolled through various and sundry neighbourhoods in our area. Several of them just happen to be roses :) Perhaps we can learn something together from looking at these lovely Fleurs de Juin. 

White Ragosa Rose  (with a small bee)

 Bugs like flowers too!

Daisy and butterfly

Dragonfly on trumpet flower of sorts

Can't you just imagine these roses singing?

Red Clover

Pink Lovelies (?)

 If you can readily identify the flowers that have question marks in their captions,  Please impart your knowledge to me. :)

Purple stalk flowers (?)

Roses

Purple Plume (?) or maybe a purple pom-pom

Pink with yellow center (?)

Yellow Roses

More Pinks (?)

The last of the Lilacs

Pink Ragosa

Also of interest, here is a small list of things John and I plan to do this summer:
-Learn French
-Go to the beach and practice surfing frequently (Well, John will surf. It's a skill he's just learning. I think I'll stay on the beach or just swim)
-Make and eat lots of peppermint icecream
-Make and drink lots of sun tea
-Old Songs Festival
-Design and sew Adventure Trousers (Preferably before going to Old Songs)
-Finish reading The Count of Monte Cristo
-Go blueberry picking
-Make wine from said blueberries
-Make beer from said blueberries
-Pick lots of other various and sundry found berries
-Make wine from those berries too, possibly (as well as all sorts of other yummy things, like muffins and icecream)

Hurrah! I love summer!

Library and Tea shop, amongst other things...Hills, most notably.

When it comes down to it, I really am a flatlander. Florida is flat. It really is. Especially the Keys. They're all at sea level. Well, okay, Key West has a hill which inclines to about 4 feet above sea level....and we think that's something. So when I came to this hill country of New Hampshire, I can't say I was prepared for...well, hills. I rode my bike to the library downtown today. It's about a mile and a half, and a mostly flat ride. Mostly. There are two hills. One going down, one going up. Down is easy! Up killed me. And this is a LITTLE hill, mind you. Exeter, compared to other parts of New Hampshire, is a decently flattish town to the naked eye. It's not until your actually walking or riding a bike that you realize .... "Wow, this here is a HILL." My best guess is that I rode about about two to four feet of slow ascent and then gave up. I got off and walked that blasted bike up. I didn't have enough speed to bring me along (I really couldn't get any speed on my bike, it's a put-put bike) and my legs were in no shape to pump me up. I felt really lame. I guess it didn't help that my tires were pretty low, either...

But on the good side! I got a book to read for when I'm done with The Grapes of Wrath by John Steinbeck. (Which is amazing. It's my first read by Steinbeck, but it won't be the last. It was a slow start, but now that I'm into it it's beautiful. He's poetic and illustrative through every sentence. And the people are so real, so feeling.) I got a book called Crown Duel by a Sherwood Smith. Some fantasy novel I've never heard of by someone I've never heard of but it looked interesting. That kinda book. But I love reading. And now that the weather is really warming up, I can sit outside and read. And pure loveliness, it is, my friends.
Another delightful thing is that I splurged on buying some organic Lavender flowers today. An ounce. And I am SO excited about them. I love lavender and I'll be baking spring in to a lot of concoctions now that I have it. Not to mention Lavender Chocolate ice cream...

That's right folks. I now I have an ice cream maker and I'm NOT afraid to use it. Just today in fact, I made some Papaya Ginger Ice Cream and Chocolate Spice-cream (clever name, no?) is in the works. The papaya recipe I developed on my own and the chocolate one I adapted. If they end up turning out delish, I just may post the recipes. I love exploring new flavours and combinations, and ice cream is a great format for a lot of them. It would be fun to turn this blog in to a foodie type one...amongst other things. You know?