While I’m not a huge fan of Minnesota, I do love where I live. I’m in a suburb located close by farmland. (Not for much longer I fear, the development encroachment is never ending)
Today, my daily walk with my buddy Mia, took us down to the soybean fields nearby. Oh, she was in heaven, which means I was in heaven.
I laughed out loud as I snapped this picture, thinking it was a perfect canine edition of ‘Where’s Waldo’.
Can you find her?
Well, I think the last attempt for Mr Winter to stick around has been rebuffed. Spring is here, if you can call it spring. It’s been wet, gloomy, dreary, cold, then steamy, and did I mention gloomy?
So, when a bit of sun peaked out from hiding among the clouds, my oldest daughter (who came home from college between terms) and I went for a walk to collect dandelions for Dandelion Jelly. I’ve never made dandelion jelly before. I’m made lots of other jellies, peach, tart cherry, blueberry, strawberry, raspberry but never dandelions.
The best part of making dandelion jelly? Time with my daughter, in a field, picking dandelions. It’s an odd quirk of human nature, but I find some of the best conversations one can have with their child is while hands are busy. Busy in the kitchen sharing cooking tasks, busy folding laundry, washing the car, gardening, or just walking the dog. Driving never does it for us, but I’ve lots of friends who say that is their best conversation time. But for us, it’s that bonding over ‘doing’.
With the weather as near perfect as we get here, I leashed up the dog and off we walked in search of ‘gold’. Not far away, we found a field full of dandelions and starting picking, and picking, and picking. Miss Mia was also busy keeping the bees at bay. Even though the sun was fully shining, with a touch of coolness to the air it was perfect for ‘doing’ outside.
Once our shopping bag was full of dandelion heads and loads of dandelions with stems for my daughter to make chains with, back home we strolled. Then started the process of plucking the leaves, no green parts, just those yellow leaves and the whitish inner part.
Did I mention the dandelion chains?????
And then there is my Miss Mia, never one to be left out of the beauty contest.
Yes, we all need to take a break from our ‘work’ to enjoy the gifts of life. Warm sun, gentle breeze, freshly brewed Iced Sun Tea, and a tray full of dandelions, as radiant as the sun itself.
Pick enough petals to fill a 4 cup pyrex measuring cup. You don’t to pack it, but pat it down a bit, to ensure you get a full 4 cups.
Gorgeous, eh? A bowl of sunshine!
Bring to a boil enough water for the ‘tea’ require in the recipes below , PLUS one added cup. (If it calls for 3.5 cups, use 4.5 cups) Pour over the petals and let steep overnight. Strain through a cheese cloth or fine mesh strainer and set aside. This is your dandelion ‘tea’. If you find after straining you are short a bit of liquid, just add water to make up the difference.
Bring your canner to a boil, sterilize your jars (see the instructions in a canning book for details) and utensils. Remember, cleanliness is next to Godliness! I always do my lids and rings in a separate pot, so they don’t get so hot that the gasket gets gooey.
In a large stock pot I always use an 8 quart for my jams and jellies, because when it comes to that ‘boil you can’t stir down’ it rises precariously close to the top at times, (Best to have too big a pan than too small!!) is where you are going to make your jelly. Most jellies have the option of liquid pectin or dry, I will post the detailed recipes below for each. After making the jelly, I found mine to be runny immediately upon removing from the canner. I was certain I was going to have to re-can them. But by the next morning they had set perfectly. Jellies, I have discovered, can sometimes take up to 2 weeks to set, so handle them carefully and let them store. If after 2 weeks they are runny, redo and re-can, or use as a sauce for ice creams or milk shakes.
The taste of dandelion jelly is quite unique. I was recently out to dinner at my favorite Italian restaurant and had a Grappa that was distilled from chamomile leaves, and this tasted similar. It’s a nice sweetly tart, fresh, light, delicate, beautifully golden, and utterly unique jelly. This will be stored on my jelly shelf, waiting for the occasion to bring as a hostess gifts in the dead of winter, when a breath of sunshine and warmth will be much appreciated! Enjoy!
Dandelion Jelly w/ powdered pectin
3 cups dandelion tea (that means 4 cups boiling water)
4.5 cups sugar
2 tbsp lemon juice
1 box Powdered Pectin
*Whisk dandelion tea, lemon juice, 1 box of powdered pectin and sugar into your large pot. Bring to a boil and continue to boil 1-2 minutes. (A boil that cannot be stirred down) Remove from heat. Fill 1/2 pint jars to 1/4inch headspace, and process for 10 minutes.
Dandelion Jelly w/ liquid pectin (this is the one I used)
3.5 cups dandelion tea (so 4.5cups boiling water)
7 cups sugar
4 tbsp lemon juice
2 pouches Liquid Pectin.
*Combine the ‘tea’, sugar and lemon juice. Bring to a full rolling boil. Add the liquid pectin and stirring constantly bring back to a FULL BOIL. Then allow to boil for 1 minute. Remove from heat. Fill 1/2 pint jars, 1/4 in headspace, and process 10 minutes.
**above 6,000 ft process 15 minutes.
April 15th. It’s tax day.
Not only is tax day gloomy enough reason for a day, but the weather is foul too. It is mid-April and we are still knee deep in snow/ice, the temperatures are hovering around 32 degrees and an added misery is a stiff wind, overcast skies and the utter atrocity of having to wear Ugg boots past April 1st not for fashion, but for warmth.
Considering it has been weeks upon weeks of this torture I should be about on the verge of losing my sanity, suffering from what I’m sure the pioneers felt after months of seemingly endless long cold winters, cabin fever. But my dear sweet husband took me up north for a couple of blessed nights to the North Shore of Lake Superior.
I’ve mentioned before my trips up north (here), and how they are tonic to my soul. That open water of the lake reminiscent of my beloved pacific NW ocean, the elevated topography that harkens to the summers of my youth in the high desert of Central Oregon, both are a salve to the irritation of being landlocked in a fairly flat part of the state. Sensing I was at my wits end with the winter from Narnia, we drove through a windstorm that gave stiff competition the storm of Dorothy’s. Instead of arriving in Oz, we pulled into Two Harbors, MN to a storm blowing across the lake that made it roar no less forcefully than a true ocean would. We unpacked our things in to our little condo, pulled out our books and settled in to enjoy reading and watching the storm rage.
The next day we drove in to the town and walked out to the harbor light house, being treated to a sight like below. Mind you, this is April 15th. By now the ice houses are suppose to be off the lakes, people are putting in their lake house boat docks, the grown thawed and spring plantings are being put in. Ummmm, yeah, not so much this year.
We walked past a floating hunk of ice similar to what I envisioned Rudolph the Reindeer and his buddies rode to escape the Abominable beast. As we got to the base of the harbor light house, this is what greeted us:
Across the way, was an impressive view of the reason this little tiny town exists, barge loading for coal and taconite shipping.
The skies cleared not long after I took this photograph. We drove around the sleepy little town, up in to the hills, down along the waterfront, then finally back to the condo to settle in for more reading till dinner.
We woke the next morning to eye blinding sunshine. The lake was calm and smooth as glass. The geese were milling about on the still snow covered ground, the males preening and caterwauling to the females, obviously enjoying the glorious break in the weather also. I sat in the window, tucked in to a leather chair reading, basking in the warmth of the sun through the window and gazing at that glorious sight.
Alas. All fun must come to an end, and after having a light breakfast, we headed home, making a short detour to Canal Park in Duluth. I love Canal Park and my husband loves to check out what is new in the Duluth Trading Company store. We parked down by the shipping entrance, since it’s always fun to see the barges coming and going through the canal, watching the lift bridge rise and fall. To our utter amazement, this is what greeted our eyes!
Normally that is all water. Where I am standing, there should be a good drop to the lake surface, but instead, the ice was piled in boulder like fashion as high as I am tall and as far as the eye could see. No shipping traffic coming and going through here, but in the far distance one could see the barges anchored, awaiting passage. Our eyes, unaccustomed as they have grown to light this winter, were blinded by the radiance from the sun and snow. It’s obvious that the camera on my phone felt the same way also! I guess all that wind drove all the floating ice from the lake directly to here. I guess that is the power of 50 mph winds!
After enjoying a lovely morning on the northern shore of the lake, it was time to head back to reality, and reality was awaiting us as we drove over the cliff side of Duluth in to the interior of the state. We crossed that natural barrier and drove right back in to snowy-slush mixed with freezing rain.
As I sit, pecking away at the keyboard, I stare out at the iceberg I call my backyard. Once again I return to the consequences of living at the feet of the North Pole. Once again, I return to muddling through.
Rockin the Mom Role 