Thats a dandy line!

Dandelion. The most pervasive of American weeds. One wild flower that blooms almost the year round. Can be found blooming on a warm winter day here in North Texas. We have had a lot warm winter days these past few, but, of course, still our boys in government now say that there is not enough evidence, etc etc. and there is no positive global warming to worry about.... They probably believe what our fundamental Ayatollahs tell them about the end of the world coming soon, and this heat is only the fires of hell down below heating up for sinners after the last judgement. And if you do not want to go there, you know whose ass to kiss. Now, BOY.

Some that want lawns with nothing but their favorite grass to carpet them, consider dandelions a pest. Others, like me, who love nature raw or nearly so, do not mind their cheery distinctive bloom popping up anywhere they want to, or can. The fact is, they like disturbed ground. Ground that has been disturbed for some other use makes a good place for the opportunists that these plants are to come to life. The familiar golden disk of a flower composed of many skinny petals become those balls of seed, tiny white parachutes that wind and breath will disperse. Make a wish, we used to say, and blow. The number of seed left is the number of days it will take for the wish to come true.


Euell Gibbons
, the champion of natural wild foods, wrote the Bible: Stalking the Wild Asparagus, published in 1962. My first edition copy is a bit ear marked, but has sent me out on many searches, and experimented with his recipes over the years. He finds the roots of young plants good to eat peeled and boiled, likes them better than parsnips or salsify, (???). The white crown above the root is might fine boiled, he reports. He even dries the roots and roasts them slowly in the oven, and grinds them for a coffee-like drink. I have not tried this, honestly, but Euell likes it with or without sugar and cream. The harvest should be made before the plant blooms. The green young leaves need blanching for 5 minutes boiling time, then you can treat them with salad dressing. Tasty and nourishing.

But Dandelion Wine is of major interest to those that love the hard stuff. My Uncle Maury would get a big bottle of the home made when he visited his long time girl friend in Washington DC every year. She was very sophisticated and hip for the 30's and earlier. Uncle Maury was a life long bachelor, as was Boo. Boo, my aunt, Maury's sister, who kept house, would make it into a gelatin desert, deep golden brown, and with a taste I never warmed up to. She was the best cook I ever encountered. I spent lots of time at their house next door to ours. Her kitchen was my play pen on long Concord afternoons.

Here is Euell's formula for Dandelion Wine:

1 gallon of dandelion flowers picked on a dry day
put in a two gallon crock and pour over:
2 gallons of boiling water

Cover and let steep for 3 days.

Strain through jelly cloth, squeezing out all the juice. In a kettle with the liquid, add
1 small ginger root, pared and peeled,
3 oranges, peels and juice and 1 lemon. add:
3 pounds of sugar

Boil for 20 minutes, then return the brew to the crock.
When barely lukewarm, float a piece of rye bread spread with 1/2 cake of yeast on top. Cover with cloth and keep in a warm room for six days.
Now this is important: strain and pour this into a gallon jug, corking it loosely with a wad of cotton. Keep in a dark place for 3 weeks, then carefully decant into a bottle and cap tightly.

"Don't touch until Christmas."

Good luck.