Wednesday, May 19, 2010

Let the Sun Shine

You know how you feel when you see a field of yellow flowers and go 'Yay!'
That is how it feels to love you



So keep bringing bouquets
And we will collect buckets of Sunshine
And see if we can capture that feeling

From Susun Weed's Healing Wise

2gal/8 liter crock
3-5 qts/3-5 liters blossoms
5 qts/5 liters water

3 pounds/1.5 kg sugar
1 organic orange
1 organic lemon
1 pkg/8 grams live yeast whole wheat bread toast

DIRECTIONS:

Find a field of dandelions in bloom on a glorious shining day. Follow the honeybees to the finest flowers. Pick them with a sweeping motion of your parted fingers, like a comb. I leave the green sepals on, but get rid of all stalks.

Back home, put blossoms immediately into a large ceramic, glass, or plastic vessel. Boil water; pour over flowers. Cover your crock with cheesecloth. Stir daily for three days. On the fourth day, strain blossoms from liquid.

Cook liquid with sugar and rind of citrus (omit rind if not organic) for 30-60 minutes. Return to crock. Add citrus juice. When liquid has cooled to blood temperature, soften yeast, spread on toast, and float toast in crock. Cover and let work two days. Strain.

Return liquid to crock for one more day to settle. Filter into very clean bottles and cork lightly. Don't drink until winter solstice.

Preparation time: A week's worth of effort yields a drink not only delightful but good for your liver, as well.

4 comments:

Andy said...

great pictures, H! The girls look terrific!

karen said...

OMG, what AMAZING photos! You must print and frame!!!

I'll admit to spending a TON of time pulling dandelions out of the ground. I like looking at them, but when I think of those zillions of seeds being carried on the wind....

Rose said...

Wow! How does it taste? I can only imagine it is a bright, clear, sunshiney flavor that is most welcome on a cold Solstice day.

SwedeLife said...

Rose, doesn't it seem like it should taste like the perfect combination of sunshine and wishes come true? If it turns out I'll bring some for our January trip next year and we can try it!

Karen, you see a field and go yay, you see one and go DRATt! cause you know how deep that root is hanging on...All in context! I plucked the petals off outside in the yard while the kids played, a move I will regret if I have to pull them up next year. The clinic for donor insemination in Denmark has the dandlelion as their logo, all those seeds to the wind.