Dandelion, Dandelion. Everywhere a Dandelion...

Or so it seems in my little yard. Every spring, there comes a time when suddenly, dandelions crop up everywhere. Its amazing, where have the little boogers been hiding? Well, in my yard, probably underneath all the quack grass.

I'm pondering becoming more of a forager, and have been checking out all sorts of blogs on the subject. One had a link to Prairieland Herbs (www.prairielandherbs.com/dandelionjelly.htm) for something called Dandelion Jelly. A few comments were posted, with exclamations like "tastes fantastic", "family ate the whole batch in one day!", and "just like honey".

Being a girl who happens to like honey like nobody's business, and having a bumper crop of dandelions on hand, I knew I had to give this a try. It is a very easy jelly to make, sets up almost instantly when you add the liquid pectin, and yes, it really does taste quite a bit like honey. If you, like me, allow your weeds to live unmedicated (I attack mine with trowels, boiling water, and the handy-dandy weed whipper), you need to give this a try.

Dandelion Jelly

You'll need the following:

2 heaping cups of fresh dandelion petals (pick about 4 cups of whole flowers)

2 cups boiling water

1/4 cup lemon or lime juice

4 cups sugar

1- 3 ounce packet of liquid pectin (I recommend Certo brand)

yellow or green food coloring.

Step 1: Make sure you pick fully opened dandelion flowers. If you pick just after mid-day, the flowers will be open completely. Don't pick any that have been treated with herbicide or fertilizer, and don't pick where the dogs or other livestock have been.

Step 2: Rinse your flowers, to take out any "tourists"

Step 3: Using kitchen scissors, cut off all the yellow petals into a nice sized bowl. You might get a little green, but try to just keep your concoction to the yellow petals. Yes, your fingers will turn yellow.

Step 4: Pour boiling water over the petals. Allow to steep for 30 minutes to 2 hours (I did about two hours). This is a step called "infusing", and you're making an "infusion". Doesn't this make you feel like you are some kind of wise woman herbalist??

Step 5: Strain your infusion through a very fine sieve (I used my handy jelly bag, but I have that kind of thing lounging around waiting for just this kind of event.) You can either cover this now and refrigerate it for up to 24 hours, or proceed with the making of the jelly.

Step 6: Before you start cooking your jelly, you need to get your jars ready. Use your favored jar sterilization method; I prefer to wash my jars well, rinse them well, and then place them on a paper towel lined cookie sheet, open end up. This I place into a 325 degree oven for at least 10 minutes. The heat kills any critters on the jars, and then I put the jar lids (not the rings) into a small pan of water and leave it to boil on the back of the stove. It's easy, and works great when (like me) you only have so many burners on your stovetop.

Step 7: Stir lemon juice, and sugar into your infusion in a good sized stainless steel sauce pan. All in all, you're going to have about 3 cups or so of hot liquid, which boils up pretty high. So a deeper rather than wider pan is recommended.

Step 8: Over medium heat, bring to a rolling boil (the boil that keeps going even when you stir). Stir your concoction, or it will start to burn on the bottom of the pan.

Step 9: When you are at a good rolling boil, add your liquid pectin and stir it very well. Reduce heat a little, and boil hard (like, madly bubbling) for two minutes. Use your timer, this is important! Skim off any white foam with a spoon, and reduce your heat to keep the jelly warm.

Step 10: Add your food coloring. This is optional, but your jelly color will be a rather unappetizing brown without it. I added 20 drops of yellow food coloring to get my lovely warm hue. You can do green if you'd rather.

Step 11: Take your hot jars out of the oven, or wherever you've kept them. Using a ladle, fill one jar, slap on a lid, and tighten it on VERY TIGHTLY with a band.

Step 12: Take your filled jar to the counter, and flip it upside down onto a tea towel. Let it stay lid-side-down for about 5 minutes, then flip over and wait for the "ping" of the sealing lid to happen. It is important to have a tight lid, or you'll have a flood of lava-like jelly all over. Remember to do this on a towel, it's easier to clean up any mess.

Step 13: Repeat steps 11 and 12 for each jar. Your jelly jars should seal within 24 hours. If they don't, you can then water bath seal them (see the Ball Canning website for details) or put the unsealed jars in the fridge.

Step 14: Sealed jars should be kept in a cool, dark place (like your pantry) and will keep for at least one year. Unsealed jars kept in the fridge will keep about three weeks, if the jelly lasts that long.

Makes about four or five half-pint jars. I used 1/4 pint jars, which make a nice little amount of jelly to have at breakfast.