Friday, June 28, 2013

A rose is a rose, but what about dandelions?!


I love life and I love the balance and beauty of nature. Zooming in to see the intricate details of subtle beauty, as well as the panoramic vistas of the natural world. My introductory "Make-It project" will be a simple dandelion, in its moment of peak bloom. An oft over-looked simple beauty, dandelions were the first flowers I gathered for my mother and the first flowers my children gathered for me, so it has it's own special sentimentality for me.
Often mistaken as a weed, this flower also formed a source of food among the Italian family members I grew up around, as we cooked the new tender greens as a vegetable, or in a salad. We connect through its staple as a spring food among the peasant ancestry from which my famly descended. We connect to our roots through this simple and amazing flower.

To pick dandelions for consumption, we always chose new greens from "undistrubed" areas of the yard or fields. Before the greens get flowers, they are tender and although slightly bitter, become much tougher and more bitter once they have a flower stalk, so we don't use them like that. Steam them (as greens, until tender) and brown some garlic in oil and toss the cooked greens with the oil and add some salt. (the salt takes away the bitterness, but don't overdo it). In a salad, it tasts less bitter than endive. Sharing food ideas helps people to connect the world round, even when the food is discovered right under your own noses!

P.S. I don't know if any of you have ever played these games, but we had games for our dandelions, too. First, there is the "Santa Claus" flower that it becomes, and making a wish before you blow it goes into the wind and it is your hopes that the wishes will come back fulfilled. Second there was the game of putting the dandelion flower under someone's chin and if you see yellow strongly reflected, it was proof that you like butter! Third, if you hold the stem, and snap the flower off with your thumb, the saying that went with it was "Mommy had a baby and her had popped off." It may seem macabre, but no moreso than Ring Around the Rosie (originally: Ring Around the Rosary, a child's game to understand the number of deaths related to the Black Plague).

About the Author: https://www.linkedin.com/in/cultivatingmygarden/

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