Dandelion Syrup

My first thought was: that is ridiculous.

Then I thought: hmmm....well, I guess that is kind of interesting.

Finally ending with: let's do that today!

:-)

In school this week, Eliza had a substitute teacher - who, by all accounts, had more in common with Mary Poppins than with substitute teachers. She spent the whole week talking about wildflowers, and invited the children to bring in flower samples from their yards and fields. They put them in vases on a big table in the classroom, and labeled each one with names (which Eliza now recites to me, as we walk by Goose Foam Weed ? ? or something ? what? ) and on Thursday, they went walking from the class to pick dandelions. The copying assignment off the board that day was the recipe for dandelion syrup.

The whole thing had such a home-school vibe, that in the end, I had to give in.

So, I picked 125 dandelion heads from the field by a park...it goes faster than one would expect. Simmered with one liter of water for 20 minutes. Cooled. Strained. Added one pound of sugar and the juice of three lemons to the dandelion juice and heated while stirring, to dissolve sugar. Lightly simmered. Cooled and bottled. The serving suggestion is to dilute with water...diluted to taste. I used 3 TB to 8 ounces. It made a sort of lemonade; although, if I'm honest, I'll admit that it was a little bit like Lipton's Iced Tea with Lemon. A little. :-)