You know what they say, when life (or your five year old) gives you dandelions...
Okay, nobody actually says that. But, they should, because dandelion lemonade is tasty (honestly), and easy to make. All you need is about two cups of dandelion flowers (just the heads, no stems - harvested from a clean spot, growing free from herbicides and pollutants, such as car exhaust or dog interference), washed...
...and dried...
...to add to a picture of lemonade, made anyway you like. I noticed the folks over at learningherbs.com (who put out a terrific wild-crafting board game, by the way - I'll tell you more about later), recommend the juice of four lemons for a gallon of lemonade, sweetened with honey.
We prefer the juice of five lemons for two quarts of lemonade...
...sweetened with a cup of sugar, that has been dissolved in two cups of the water that will make up the two quarts, stirred constantly for a few minutes, over medium heat on the stove, and then cooled before being added to the pitcher. That was a tip from Grandma...
...who also taught us to microwave our lemons for 15 to 20 seconds each, before cutting them, to make them easier to juice.
Grandma was a little surprised when we dumped the bowl of dandelion heads right into the lemonade...
...but she did admit it looked bright and sunshiny. We let it steep in the fridge for a few hours before serving it, through a strainer, into glasses.
Grandma thought it was delicious, with only the lightest hint of dandelion - which as it turns out compliments the lemon quite nicely. We enjoyed ours with a plate of dandelion scones...
...just regular sour cream scones, with a teaspoon of vanilla, and a cup of dandelion "petals" - or flowers, removed from the stems, added in...
...this time for a touch of color, rather than taste (similar to adding culinary lavender to scones).
Grandma enjoyed those too, and even listened along (with Grandpa) to our snack time story, about the dangers of wishing too wildly.
But really, with grandparents, stories and a dandelion "tea" time to be had - what more could we wish for, anyway?
It's great to be a homeschooler.
8 comments:
Wow, this does look yummy and healthy!
Oh that looks lovely! We have dandelion infusion tea quite often but have never tried the lemonade. It's on our 'to do' list now!
That looks so delicious and what a fun and enjoyable time!
I have never had (or even heard of) Dandelion Lemonade, but my mom used to make a delicious Dandelion wine.
I have heard of Dandelion lemon aide, but I think I will pass since I really don't know where all the horses and other animals here have been.
I've never heard of that before, we're definitely trying it this week!
This is so great! We've made every dandilion recipe we've found, I think, and none have been too great. I'm excited to see something completely different that we can try - and with thumbs up, too!
Interesting. I did not know Dandelions were edible. I may try this!
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