Dandelion Syrup....

[C.Wilcox]

Had so many of those little yellow devils in my yard this spring I decided I had to try to find some redeeming value in them. So I picked a bunch, pulled the petals off of the stems and with the help of some additional sugar, boiled it down to syrup. It's about the same color as maple syrup with a slight yellow tinge from the pollen in the flowers. I have to say it tastes pretty good, almost like honey. It's no maple syrup, but it's still pretty good in its own right. It took a lot of time to sit there and pull apart that many dandelions and my fingers were stained yellow for a week, but I guess if you consider the hours of time spent boiling down sap it's probably pretty equivalent.

[driske]

With such patience, there may be wine making in your future.;)

[skinner]

How about a recipe?

[C.Wilcox]

With such patience, there may be wine making in your future.;)

driske,

Funny you should say that. I started a couple of gallons of dandelion wine right after I made this syrup. Never had it before, but I'd always heard about it so I figured I'd give it a try. Do you make wine yourself?

[C.Wilcox]

How about a recipe?

It's pretty simple really. Here's what I did:

Collect a 1 gallon jug of dandelion flower heads. Strip the yellow petals off of the stalks. Green stuff goes to the compost heap, yellow petals go in a pot. Pour 6 cups of boiling water over the petals and let the steep overnight. The next day strain to remove the petals. Add 4 cups of sugar and a tablespoon of lemon juice to the "tea". Boil to syrup.

[driske]

CW,
Though there is an active wine making community in our locale, I no longer partake. :cry:

[KenWP]

I have been makeing dandelion wine for she who has to be obeyed the last two years. She liked last years batch so am makeing a batch now. It looks like it will be a darker color then last years but one dosn't know till it's filtered. She made dandelion rubarb juice also.