Poor man’s pepper

 Great plant to dry and add to your herb mixes. Spicy!

It’s wilted dandelion green salad time!

 

The basic recipe, like Mom used to make is: fry up some bacon, nice and crispy, set it aside on paper towels. Keep some of the grease in the pan and wilt tear dandelion greens. I usually chop mine up kind of fine. Add a little bit of vinegar, Sugar to taste and then add back your crispy bacon, and you have the best salad in the world.

Just a simple walk in the alleyway behind my house for less than one block

 

Baked cornmeal coated squash, blossoms

 Well, every now and then I feature something that only people with Gardens might consider eating because you won’t find these in the grocery store. I had so many squash blossoms both on my pumpkins and squash that I decided that before I sell this old-fashioned cornbread muffin maker that I would do an experiment. They turned out great. I kind of made my own recipe, but you can easily find a cornbread or corn muffin recipe and use that to dip your squash blossoms in. I like to add a few jalapeños too.

I’m thankful to receive honorable mention in the Oklahoma writers Federation writer contest

 

A small harvest of Service berries

 I just had enough room in my hands to grab some mint for tea, a few peas, and of course, had to make room for Service berries. If you’re lucky enough to happen across one in the woods or grow your own, now is the time for picking in Oklahoma. 

Poke salet two ways

 I made some delicious Thai soup with some of the poke that I picked out and then I made some creamed (spinach) poke. You can look up recipe recipes for both of those, but just substitute poke for spinach  

Edible Greenbrier tendrils

 I was walking down the alleyway behind my house and search a poke salet When I spied some greenbriar growing beside the poke.  So I decided to have a little snack. The tenders of the Greenbrier are so tasty, nice and crunchy.

Civic science research plot

 Last year I was invited to become a citizen scientist to provide data on Eight different plants. The researchers are trying to find a more sustainable food crop that doesn’t need much tending, and can survive pretty much on its own. I’m growing three different kinds of sunflowers, used for oil. I’m growing two different kinds of flax, lentils, sanfoin, and One more that wintered over last year, whose name just totally escapes me

Sunchokes?!

 Well, I know that it’s recommended that you start digging these up in February when there’s nothing else growing in your garden that’s edible but as luck would have it, my husband wanted to move these to a different place… Or should I say he doesn’t wanna see them ever again… But I actually like them so I’m bringing them in and we’ll chop them up and fry them a little till they crispy and delicious. I may be the only one eating them though, and I guess we won’t see the sunflowers this year, or actually we probably will because once they’re in the ground, they keep putting out more tubers and even if you break one in half it produces another flower. I personally think it’s a wonderful plant and it has a lot of good medicinal properties as long as it’s nutritious value.

Mint and wood sorrel tea

 I’ve been out in the garden all morning. I enjoy planting the food that everybody is used to eating, but I always allow the wild things to have a place out there as well. I just noticed some pretty yellow flowers that weren’t there yesterday. The green leaves were but today they made me notice them even more When they popped their pretty yellow heads out. Wood sorrel is such a nice lemony taste and I’m thinking it might go well with the mint leaves that are also just starting to emerge. I brought both of them in and I’m making mint tea. It’s so refreshing and delicious and I think the wood so will be a nice addition. 

It’s drying time already

 I have wild leaks growing in the backyard and looked up a great recipe, which is basically wild leeks, mushrooms, sautéed, and then throw in some pinenuts and sauté them just for a few minutes, add some cooking, sherry, milk(The recipe actually called for heavy cream, but I’d prefer not to add all that fat when I’m going to add cheese in just a minute) Chopped up, sage leaves just a few, a little bit of balsamic vinegar, some lemon zest, and Greyere cheese. I just stirred that down until the cheese melted and poured it over angel hair, spaghetti noodles, and angel hair Heart of palm noodles..

Well, I was meaning just to tell you about getting ready to dry these things or should I say put them on the dehydrator. I also added some wood sorrel as I brought it in with my mint to make tea, but I think that lemonade taste in that herb mix will be delicious. I’ve done it in the past with good results. so as I was saying, I brought in fresh oregano, just a few sage leaves, the tops of all of the leaks separated and wood sorrel, which I’ll dry. It usually takes an hour or two and then grind it up for use in all sorts of soups and casseroles and sandwiches. It’s really delicious.

Roasted dandelion roots for coffee/tea.

 I pulled up a lot of dandelion plants and roasted the roots. You wash them off real good, cut them in smaller pieces and dry them off a little and throw them in the oven at 3:50 for about 30 minutes or so then I stirred them around a little bit and then just kept cooking at about 10 to 15 minute intervals until they were crispy and totally dried out. I think all in all it probably took about an hour. You can add this to your coffee grounds for an interesting cup of coffee. I think it has a nice flavor kind of reminds me of the chicory coffee they served down in New Orleans.

Time for dandelion green salad

 I remember when Mom used to make this. I’ve since always allowed dandelions to grow in my yard on the edges of my garden. I pick the greens in the spring and then do pull up the entire plant and roast the roots for coffee. There’s lots of recipes online, but the one I remember most is Onions, garlic, bacon, vinegar, oil, and salt, pepper, and sugar.

Revised Edition Claire goes foraging

 I am happy to announce the revised edition of Claire Goes Foraging has been published and is ready for purchase.  The content remains the same but I have repainted some of the illustrations and taken photos with a better camera and chosen the best interior paper.

Poor man’s pepper

 What a great find! Last year we had a big windstorm that knocked over our shade trees next to my husband‘s office. Underneath the shade trees, we had put a lot of gravel, which now is sprouting up all sorts of stuff. I was weeding it out by hand and took a closer look at some of the things that I was pulling up. I was pretty sure this was poor man’s pepper and thankfully had a little plant identifier along with me. I usually see this in the fall where it’s very recognizable because it shoots up spiky little flower heads with little seed pods hanging off the sides. One taste of the leaves and sure enough… Poor man pepper. I’ve never picked it in the spring, and probably stepped over it many times. Never more though. The spring greens are so absolutely delicious and very very. Peppery. I decided to bring as many little bundles home with me as I could today, and throw them on the dehydrator along with garlic Leaves, oregano, sage, sorrel. I make a delicious Dried herb mix to be used all Year long, And I think it just got one notch better :-)

Beautiful Service Berries

 These little berries come from a service berry tree  they are similar in size to a blueberry, but have a unique taste. It is sweet and the closest thing I can think of to the taste might be in fact, a blueberry the serviceberry tree is native to Oklahoma, although I have never seen one in the wild or if I have it hasn’t been either in bloom or in fruit so I’ve probably just walked right by it. This one actually is planted in my backyard. 

Creamed poke salet

 This was so delicious. Basically poke boiled twice with the water poured off each time, and possibly three times. Then fry up some onions and garlic. Add the poke. Add some cream cheese and Parmesan and a little milk. I know you’re supposed to add cream, but I didn’t do that. Oh, and then I added fried onions to the top

Cattail surprise

 Well, there’s two surprises the first is that I’ve never tried cat tail before. Always got there too late. The second surprises that it’s delicious. Who knew?! I ate some fresh and it was buttery, mild and really good. And then brought some home and decided to throw it in with, onions, celery, and rice. Another win. 

Spring has sprung soup

 Everything in my yard is blooming so of course I had to go out and play in my garden. I’ve been eating greens from the curly dock that is allowed to grow there, the dandelions, Traveling onions, and now I’m adding some evening Primrose leaves for Thai soup. I would tell you how I make this, But every time it’s a little different. We like ours hot so there’s usually some sort of hot pepper or hot chili, garlic sauce, added, some shaved ginger, always some coconut milk, and Green chili paste. I’ve added it all kind of things to this depending on the mood I’m in, and what I have on hand. You can add any kind of vegetables you like, sometime, I’ve added fresh, basil, or frozen pesto from my freezer, sweet potato… You name it. We’re pretty much vegan around here usually, so it usually doesn’t have any meat in it but you can certainly substitute tofu if you’re like me or add a nice chicken stock and pieces of chicken. Oh, and I forgot I usually add a little bit of soy sauce, and sometimes a touch of Stevia it’s time to get out side with your kids and look beneath your feet.  See what’s for dinner!