New Green Leaves and Dandelions

  Walking along the whisper wood

Hand in hand 

Sharing words and promises 

Of new green leaves and dandelions.

Saturday has brought us another beautiful sunny day and it seems spring has sprung! he buds on the trees are starting to burst with new green leaves and there are yellow splashes of dandelions everywhere. People see them as annoying weeds, me well I love the beauty of the flowers and the magical dandelion clock of seeds. As kids we would blow the seeds away, counting how many it took for all the little to float off in the air. The amount of puffs determined the hour of the day!
We also believed if we picked them we would wet the bed.This phrase originated in Western Europe where dandelion leaves were traditionally used as a diuretic. However, for the diuretic to take effect, the dandelion has to be consumed; smelling or picking a dandelion won’t do it! Dandelion’s diuretic effects were so well known that other names for this plant have included pissinbed (English) and pissinlet (French)

You can send a message to a distant friend or lover by visualising your words and blowing the seeds on the dandelion clock, as they escape into the sky they will take your message with them and deliver them to that special person....A bit like my paper boats that I let sail away across the miles, maybe I will try a dandelion clock next time!


In some places, Dandelions have served as weather forecasters. If they do not open in the morning, it will rain. Or, if down flies off the seed heads though there is no wind, it will rain.


If you wanted to find out if its true love, place the dandelion under your nose and lightly smell it, if love is in the air then the tip of our nose will be yellow. If the relationship is not meant to be then the dandelion leaves no mark.

Dandelions can be used as herbal remedies and they are also good to eat. How about this for supper tonight?

Starter

Dandelion soup

Main

Battered fried dandelion flowers

with a dandelion leaf and bacon salad

Dessert

Dandelion cookies and ice cream

All washed down with dandelion wine or dandelion tea

I made the dandelion main this afternoon, it had mixed reviews with my family, I think it was the idea of eating flowers.....lol 

Pick and wash flower heads, discarding the stalks.

Dry and dip in your favourite batter recipe.

cook for a few minutes in hot oil

serve with a dandelion salad!

Dandelions are in abundance now so you can have your supper for almost free....give it a try you may surprise yourself!

"The miracles of nature do not seem miracles because they are so common. If no one had ever seen a flower, even a dandelion would be the most startling event in the world."


http://www.mountain-breeze.com/kitchen/dandelions/
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=frDYIg_-RaI