#dandelion and violet jelly

[appalachiaisforlovers]

Foraged Dandelion & Violet Jelly

Ophelia and I made this a couple weeks ago so I thought I would share my recipe. This was such a fun thing to do for me as an adult and she loved it. If you do have children this is such an enriching activity for them and a great way to teach them about the world around them.

Did you know that dandelion jelly, jams, and syrups were called “the poor peoples honey” here in Appalachia (and other places) around the Great Depression? My mom said my great grandmother looked forward to making this every year because of that! And it sure does taste like honey!

So my recipe is as follows:

Like two cups of the yellow parts of the dandelions and a handful give or take of violets.

If you leave any green on the dandelions, your jelly may come out bitter

Roughly 2 cups of water, ideally you want a cup of water per every cup of flowers.

Boil the flowers for 3-5 minutes, the longer the better honestly but you don’t want to scald them.

Sift the boiled mixture through a strainer or cheese cloth (if you had a child helper like me you may want to do this several times) be sure to squeeze any moisture out of the flowers as the dandelions will hold moisture and you’ll loose a lot of the your water if you don’t. Keep the liquid and toss the flowers.

Put back onto heat

Add 2 generous drops of vanilla extract

1 table spoon of lemon juice (you can do freeze squeeze or bottled it’ll get the same result either way)

When you add the lemon juice watch the color change! Note: all dandelion jelly will be more yellow in color , the handful of violets make a pretty pinky orange.

3 tablespoons of pectin (I used surejel brand)

Note: you could skip this step and leave out the pectin and achieve or more syrup texture to fit your needs.

1 1/2 - 2 cups sugar

I actually did closer to 2 1/4th cups myself, I prefer my things on the sweeter side so do what makes your heart happy.

While adding each ingredient in be sure to stir frequently, bring your mixture back up to a boil and let it boil for another 3-5 minutes.

Remove from heat and pour into jars. Note: how you will jar this will depend on what kind of jar you are using I.e canning jar or just a regular jam/jelly jar.

Let cool on your counter to thicken and then enjoy.

Once cooled these should be refrigerated.

This recipe should yield 4, 4oz jars approximately. However you could cut the recipe depending on however many flowers you are able to find.

You can use this recipe with only dandelions, violets or most edible flowers and berries.

PLEASE forage responsibly and leave plenty for the bees in your area, dandelions are first good source for bees. Also be wary of any area that may be treated with pesticides.

[reformed-misfit]

Annual reminder, if you see me out there stealing from the bees, mind your business. I’m doing weird girl shit.

[ahedderick]

Foraging

Monday I picked dandelions and violets to experiment with flower-flavored syrups. It was time-consuming, but I just felt like trying something new. I have done violet jelly before, although the results were mediocre.

The first step after separating the petals from the greens was to pour boiling water over each kind and let them sit for a day. The violets had a greenish-blue extract by evening, and by morning it had settled into a deep blue. I tried adding a couple of drops of lemon juice, which shifted it to blue-purple. Violets have the same pigment, anthocyanin, as red cabbage, and it is pH sensitive. I am curious why my tap water (from a well) would have a pH of 9(ish), but I'll go ahead and blame limestone.

I cooked the dandelion first, adding sugar equal to the amount of liquid (1.25 cups). I cooked it for a while and then bottled it when it seemed like it had thickened up (the bubbles start to PLOP instead of 'pop', if that makes sense).

Here it is, compared with honey. The color is virtually the same!

Then I started with the violet. As I heated it, the color shifted BACK to greenish-blue. I added a little more lemon juice, and it ended up weirdly purple from some angles and blue from others, depending on how the light hit it. It's also DARK, too dark for me to photograph and show you much color. When it cooled down it a) turned a steely blue-grey and b) crystalized.

That. that is NOT what I was going for. It also doesn't really taste like anything. Just 'sweet'. Drat.

[yuurei20]

Trey Info Compilation part 5: Food (pt2)

Trey's interest in food is a theme over the course of the Firelit Sky event where he explains star fruit, mentions burning a pie in as a child and talks about incorporating dates into his cooking and trying out mint lemonade once they return to NRC.

Trey also uses Spectral Soiree as an opportunity to try out new dishes.

Trey joins the Culinary Crucible to learn how to teach people how to cook, as he tends to confuse his underclassmen with his instructions but he wants to make sure that they have their bases covered before he becomes a fourth-year student and leaves campus.

(Trey struggling with how to explain things to others in a way that they can understand comes up again in Vargas Camp 2.)

Trey’s Culinary Crucible judge is Vil, who says his pizza looks like a decorated cake.

During Wish Upon a Star Trey wishes for a food processor, which he manages to convince Riddle to buy for the dorm later on, thus granting his own wish.

Trey says that his favorite food is candied violets, and he was so amazed to learn that edible flowers are a thing that as a child, he would try to eat random flowers and weeds. He says he loves “when the violet aroma overtakes (his) senses” because it’s like lying in a bed of flowers, and he still receives them from his parents in the occasional care package.

Trey may have a thing for edible flowers in general, eating a rose-jelly roll during Spectral Soiree.

When Ruggie comments that it’s nice for them to have something in common (“I dine on dandelions every now and then myself”) Trey explains, “the flowers we eat are grown in a controlled environment that’s specifically for food. We don’t eat random weeds.”

Trey’s most disliked food is mustard because of a game he once played with Chenya where they added mustard to one of six cream puffs and took turns eating them. Trey ended up with the mustard-puff and says, “I seriously almost cried.”

In a voice line he says that he has heard that tastes can change as people grow older, but he still can’t eat mustard.

Malleus has a voice line about getting Trey a famous baked good during the Glorious Masquerade event, "in return for a treat he gave me before."

Trey says he does not intend to continue on to university after graduating from NRC and will be getting nationally certified as a patissier.

He is considering interning in the food industry in his fourth year, but says he is also curious about agricultural research institutes, because "quality sweets require quality ingredients."

[dansnaturepictures]

March end of month post 1 of 3: Ten of my favourite plant and fungi photos I took in March 2024

Not quite the end of the month yet I know but as my March end of month posts are coming in three parts and I put them together on Thursday I thought I'd post one each night today, tomorrow and Sunday; tomorrow night at a similar time the post on ten of my favourite landscape and sky photos I took this month shall post and on Sunday ten of my favourite wildlife photos I took this month.

The photos in this set are of; daffodils and hyacinth at Lakeside Country Park, scarlet elf cup and jelly ear at Testwood Lakes, yellow fieldcap at Portland Bill, snake's-head fritillaries at Lakeside Country Park a sensation of my month as it often is in March, daffodil in Romsey, periwinkle in Winchester, wood anemone at Lakeside and common whitlowgrass at Denny Wood in the New Forest.

What a joy it has been to watch many more colourful floral delights emerge in March, many of them early in the theme of the year. Red and white deadnettle, speedwell, seas of lesser celandine, green alkanet, snowflakes, opposite-leaved golden saxifrage, herb-Robert, gorse, bluebells, primroses, ivy-leaved toadflax, cowslips, violet, daisies and dandelions have been other highlights as spring firmly took its grip. It's interesting that this is my fourth spring of really being into flowers and looking to identify all I've seen etc and whilst I'm so much more used to the species now there's always something to learn and I've seen some new ones this month which stood out so it always feels good. Turkey tail was another mushroom I saw a bit of this month as it was pleasant to encounter a few about.

[losech]

Stage 1 of violet and redbud jellies.

I picked 2 cups each of violets and redbuds and added boiling water. When they are cool they will go into the fridge for 24 hours to fully steep then they will get strained and made into jellies. I will try dandelion jelly next.

[tipytap]

Y’all need a little more whimsy and wonder in your lives.

i was talking to a co-worker about how i make dandelion and violet jelly and her immediate response was “…you know dandelions are weeds, right?”

like yeah,, many people see them as weeds(topic for another post) but that doesnt mean im not gonna eat them :)

i was talking with a friend and heard a robin close by and got excited and his only response was “…cool? i mean.. theyre just birds.”

ok maybe, but like, that means spring is coming! and they fucking SING!!! bro that sounds like some cartoon bs but no we just casually have animals that sing and fly and theyre EVERYWHERE!!!

appreciate and protect the world around you. i have been so much happier finding small bits of whimsy and joy than i was looking at every day as another chore. when is the last time you looked at some random thing and wondered about it? when did you last ask a silly question? when did you last take a moment to just enjoy a moment and make an observation?

we should do that more often.

[thecookieverse]

Cookieverse: Schools

Milkyway Elementary

Known Students

Alfajor Cookie (Inez)

Apple Cookie

Apple Dodger Cookie (Ferb)

Astronaut Food Cookie (Dib Membrane)

Babosa Cookie (Tanis)

Banana Pancake Cookie (Quincy)

Basil Cookie (Buttercup)

Bell Pepper Cookie

Berry Gel Cookie (Sally)

Berry Smoothie Cookie (Keesha)

Bitter Melon Cookie (Violet)

Blackberry Pie Cookie (Schroeder)

Blue Corn Cookie (Boomer)

Blue Taro Cookie (Tim)

Blueberry Kulfi Cookie (Baljeet)

Blueberry Jam Cookie (Lucy)

Burrito Cookie (K.O.)

Candy Bone Cookie (Skid)

Candy Jack Cookie (Ralphie)

Carrot Puff Cookie (Arnold)

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Chili Dog Cookie (Hoagie P. Gilligan Jr./Numbuh 2)

Chocolate Swirl Cookie (Jimmy Neutron)

Concord Juice Cookie (Sibella)

Coney Dog Cookie (Winnie)

Cornflower Cookie (Franklin)

Cranberry Flan Cookie (Jackie)

Cream Pie Cookie (Charlotte)

Cucumber Cookie (Dendy)

Daffodil Cookie (Dorothy Ann)

Dandelion Cookie (Jimmy)

Dirt Cake Cookie (Pigpen)

Ditalini Cookie (Leo)

Farfalle Cookie (Annie)

Food Coloring Cookie (Adeleine)

Fruit Punch Cookie (PPG!Brick)

Ghost Pipe Cookie (Phantasma)

Gold Truffle Cookie (Princess Morbucks)

Gouda Cookie (Buford)

Green Bean Cookie (Phoebe)

Hokey Pokey Cookie (Wallabee Beetles/Numbuh 4)

Honeydew Cookie (Elsa Frankenteen)

Key Lime Cookie (Cyberchase!Matt)

Lemon Gel Cookie (Charlie Brown)

Marshmallow Bunny Cookie (Panini)

Matcha Choco Cookie (Kuki Sanban/Numbuh 3)

Mellowcreme Pumpkin Cookie (Pump)

Mint Cream Cookie (Peppermint Patty)

Mochi Cookie (Wanda)

Nori Cookie (Butch)

Oleander Cookie (Grim Adventures!Mandy)

Orchid Cookie (June)

Pink Lemonade Cookie (Blossom)

Pixy Powder Cookie (Timmy Turner)

Pudding Pop Cookie (Chowder)

Pumpkin Brownie Cookie (Marcie)

Raspberry Jam Cookie (Linus)

Salsa Chip Cookie (Phineas)

Salted Caramel Cookie (Abigail Lincoln/Numbuh 5)

Soda Bread Cookie (Fanny Fulbright/Numbuh 86)

Soft Serve Cookie (Funkin Dusk)

Strawberry Fool Cookie (Nigel Uno/Numbuh 1)

Sufganiyah Cookie (Isabella)

Sugar Cookie (Bubbles)

Star Jelly Cookie (Zim)

Tangelo Cookie (Billy)

Tangerine Tanghulu Cookie

Vieux Lille Cookie (Sarah)

Walnut Cookie

Former Students

Five-Layer Cookie (DCFDTL); were kidnapped and brainglazed by Black Olive Cookie (Father)

Tarator Cookie (Vendetta); Expelled for horrific bullying and her dessert monster creations hurting other students. Also the incident where she tried to take over the school on show-and-tell day. That too.

Known Faculty

Beacon Apple Cookie (Bea Spells-A-Lot, part-time tutor)

Gelatin Cookie (Edd/Double D, part-time science tutor)

Honeycrisp Apple Cookie (Ms. Frizzle, teacher)

McIntosh Red Cookie (Will Wedgewood/Wonder-Red; teacher)

Nigiri Cookie (Makoto Nijima, part-time tutor)

Orange Pippin Cookie (Ms. Keene, teacher)

Sucrose Junior High

Known Students

Apple Pie Cookie (Paula Polestar)

Beacon Apple Cookie (Bea Spells-A-Lot)

Blueberry Churro Cookie (Frida Suarez)

Bratwurst Cookie (Rolf)

Camembert Cookie (Ed)

Candy Jewel Cookie (Jewel Sparkles)

Caprese Salad Cookie (Kevin)

Chocolate Truffle Cookie (Trixie Carter)

Circus Peanut Cookie (Peanut Big Top)

Custard Doughnut Cookie (Jeff Andonuts)

Ergot Cookie (Hotaru Tomoe/Sailor Saturn)

Fish Stick Cookie (Lee Kanker)

Garlic Cookie (EW!Dawn)

Gelatin Cookie (Edd/Double D)

Granola Cookie (Jonny)

Grape Jam Cookie (Mabel)

Gum Scrap Cookie (Ness)

Jawbreaker Cookie (Eddy)

Lanatus Dragon Cookie (Jake Long)

Lemon Swirl Cookie (Lucas)

Limburger Cookie (May Kanker)

Mashed Potato Cookie (Marie Kanker)

Orange Swirl Cookie (Claus)

Passion Fruit Cookie (Nazz)

Peanut Butter Cookie (Dipper)

Pork Rind Cookie (Porky Minch)

Prickly Pear Cookie (Kumatora)

Rocket Pop Cookie (Dot Starlight)

Russet Potato Cookie (Arthur “Spud” Spudinski)

Spaghetti Marinara Cookie (Spot Splatter Splash)

Sprinkle Cookie (Crumbs Sugar Cookie)

Valerian Cookie (Pillow Featherbed)

Whipped Cocoa Cookie (Mittens Fluff 'N' Stuff)

White Truffle Cookie (Pacifica Northwest)

Yellow Lily Cookie (Rose)

Fructose High School

Known Students

Ackee Fruit Cookie (Monika)

Apple Cider Cookie (Applejack)

Beef Bowl Cookie (Yu Narukami)

Berry Soda Cookie (Ami Mizuno/Sailor Mercury)

Blackberry Cheesecake Cookie (Totally Spies!Mandy)

Black Currant Cookie (Raven)

Black Rose Cookie (Sam Manson)

Buffalo Sauce Cookie (Randy Cunningham)

California Roll Cookie (Naoto Shirogane)

Candy Ring Cookie (Rarity)

Chamomile Cookie (Yuri)

Chocolate Crepe Cookie (Ann Takamaki)

Clam Cookie (Cyborg)

Confetti Cake Cookie (Pinkie Pie)

Cordyceps Cookie (Shawn)

Coriander Cookie (Starfire)

Creme Sandwich Cookie (Danny Fenton/Phantom)

Curly Fry Cookie (Howard Weinerman)

Curry Cookie (Futaba Sakura)

Gala Apple Cookie (Sammy)

Gateau Cookie (Vanessa)

Gummy Fish Cookie (Lagoona Blue)

Haricot Vert Cookie (Jean-Sebastian Renault/Wonder-Green)

Hero Cookie

Jelly Worm Cookie (Ghoulia Yelps)

Kale Cookie (Robin)

Katsu Sando Cookie (Akira Kurusu/Joker)

Kumquat Cookie (Leshawna)

Lemon Mint Cookie (Frankie Stein)

Marshmallow Pie Cookie (Usagi Tsukino/Sailor Moon)

Manju Cookie (Yukiko Amagi)

Meat Bun Cookie (Ryuji Sakamoto)

Melopita Cookie (Cleo de Nile)

MRE Cookie (TD!Brick)

Myrtle Cookie (Minako Aino/Sailor Venus)

Nanaimo Bar Cookie (Owen)

Nigiri Cookie (Makoto Nijima)

Orange Blossom Cookie (Zoey)

Orange Creme Cookie (Jasmine “Jazz” Fenton)

Orzo Cookie (Mike)

Pansy Cookie (Fluttershy)

Papanași Cookie (Mariana Kretzulesco/Wonder-Pink)

Pepperoni Pizza Cookie (Geoff)

Pink Licorice Cookie (Draculaura)

Pizza Cookie

Pizza Pocket Cookie (Total Drama!Sam)

Poppy Seed Cookie (Clover)

Potato Stew Cookie (Yosuke Hanamura)

Protein Bar Cookie (Tyler)

Purple Tea Cookie (Sierra)

Red Delicious Cookie (Amy)

Ruby Choco Cookie (Sayori)

Salsa Cookie (Candace)

Samosa Cookie (Noah)

Sandwich Cookie

Seaweed Brownie Cookie (Bridgette)

Shaved Ice Cookie (Abbey Bominable)

Sour Straw Cookie (Tucker Foley)

Some Total Drama contestants (Excluding Biscuit Cookie/Ezekiel, obviously.)

Sports Drink Cookie (Rainbow Dash)

Steak Cookie (Chie Satonaka)

Strawberry Cupcake Cookie (Natsuki)

Tin Cookie (Makoto Kino/Sailor Jupiter)

Toaster Tart Cookie (Harold)

Tofu Cookie (Beast Boy)

Vegemite Cookie (TD!Jasmine)

Veggie Chip Cookie (Totally Spies!Sam)

Vichyssoise Cookie (Rise Kujikawa)

Watermelon Snake Cookie (Deuce Gorgon)

Wolfsbane Cookie (Clawdeen Wolf)

Wonton Cookie (Alex)

Yakitori Cookie (Kanji Tatsumi)

Former Students

Cobalt Cookie (Scarlett; Expelled after it was discovered that she was trying to recruit students to the Cookies of Darkness)

Dagwood Sandwich Cookie (Norville “Shaggy” Rogers; graduated)

Deviled Egg Cookie (Fred Jones; graduated)

Sweet Potato Cookie (Velma Dinkley; graduated)

Toxic Sludge Cookie (Izzy; expelled due to her crazy antics)

Patisserie Academy

A high-end private high school.

Known Students

Buttered Pancake Cookie (Goro Akechi)

Champagne Cookie (Mitsuru Kirijo)

Chicken Salad Cookie (Haruka Tenou/Sailor Uranus)

Coffee Crisp Cookie (Cody)

Fruit Salad Cookie (Haru Okumura)

Galette Cookie (Lindsay)

Jagariko Cookie (Yusuke Kitagawa)

Loco Moco Cookie (Justin)

Rose Water Cookie (Senpai/Kenji Sakubara)

Saba Sashimi Cookie (Michiru Kaiou/Sailor Neptune)

Saffron Cookie (Alejandro)

Sashimi Cookie (Heather)

Tuxedo Cake Cookie (Mamoru Chiba/Tuxedo Mask)

Watercress Cookie (Dakota)

Former Students

Blueberry Cheesecake Cookie (Daphne Blake; graduated)

Sugarcane Academy

A university/college

Known Students

Black Rice Cookie (Krishna Ramanujon/Wonder Black)

Blackthorn Cookie (Faith Fernandez)

Blueberry Tart Cookie (Vicky Schmidt)

Calla Lily Cookie (Joy Johnson-Johijima)

Cherry Pepper Cookie (Amira Rashid)

Cypress Cookie (Setsuna Meiou/Sailor Pluto)

Elderberry Cookie (Oz)

Filius Blue Cookie (Dahlia Aquino)

Ghost Pepper Cookie (Damien LeVey)

Gummy Hoop Cookie (Gogo)

Henbane Cookie (Hope Halko)

Ikasumi Pasta Cookie (Zoe)

Keema Cookie (Aaravi Mishra)

Maki Roll Cookie (Hiro Hamada)

Potato Chip Cookie (Scott Howl)

Purple Kale Cookie (Liam de Lioncourt)

Rafflesia Cookie (Brian Yu)

Saltwater Taffy Cookie (Miranda Vanderbilt)

Sour Snake Cookie (Vera Oberlin)

Taco Cookie (Fred Frederickson IV)

Vodka Cookie (Polly Geist)

Yuzu Cookie (Honey Lemon)

Zucchini Cookie (Wasabi)

Former Students

Slushie Cookie (Boyfriend/Jacob; Dropped out)

Parfaedia Institute

An all-ages magic school set in the city of Parfaedia

Known Students

Acai Cookie (Twilight Sparkle)

Bay Laurel Cookie (TD!Dawn)

Clerodendrum Cookie (Musa)

Coralline Algae Cookie (Tecna)

Cream Puff Cookie

Fruity Puff Cookie (Leonard)

Nasturtium Cookie (Bloom)

Prune Juice Cookie

Sunflower Cookie (Stella)

Tulip Cookie (Flora)

Water Lily Cookie (Aisha)

Known Faculty

Almond Cookie (Preventing Magical Accidents & Mishaps professor)

Capricious Wizard (Substitute Teacher)

Eclair Cookie (History professor)

Espresso Cookie (Theorems of Coffee Magic professor)

Latte Cookie (Entry-Level Magic Circles professor)

Parfaedia Principal (Principal)

Former Students

Ackee Fruit Cookie (Monika, transferred to Fructose High)

Honeycrisp Apple Cookie (Ms. Frizzle, graduated)

Mistletoe Cookie (Icy, expelled)

Nightshade Cookie (Darcy, dropped out)

Prune Cookie (Yzma; graduated… Somehow… in her youth)

Zephyr Lily Cookie (Stormy, dropped out)

Scovilla

An all-ages school situated in Dragon's Valley

Known Students

Capsaicin Cookie 

Jalapeño Cookie (Duncan)

Kimchi Cookie (Scott)

Known Faculty

Scovillia Headmaster (Headmaster)

Former Students

Mala Sauce Cookie (Graduated)

Buffalo Sauce Cookie (Randy Cunningham; transferred to Fructose High)

Sriracha Cookie (Chef Hatchet; Graduated)

Creme Knights Academy

A paladin/knight school situated in the Creme Republic

Known Students

Kouign-Amann Cookie

Known Faculty

Creme Knights Preceptor (Premier)

Former Students

Financier Cookie (Graduated)

Madeleine Cookie (Graduated)

MRE Cookie (TD!Brick; Transferred to Fructose High due to being bullied for his fear of the dark)

Snowbell Academy

An academy for cookies who wish to become holiday cookies

Known Students

Stollen Cookie

Strawberry Cream Cookie

[elminx]

A Year in Review: Kitchen Witch Version

My year started out strong with me sharing and creating in the kitchen and then petered out some during the late Summer/Fall as I was struggling to adjust to the new medication that I have been on. This is interesting because my partner has been in school all Fall so I cooked a lot more than normal (we normally share 50/50 of the cooking and I was doing most of it); I just didn't share it.

I made some really good eatings this year.

Early in the year, my partner and I made some Fire Cider which we turned into some incredibly yummy Fire Cider Bloody Marys. I also had a great time celebrating Fat Tuesday with some friends and I finally perfected making a Hurricane by using Fassionola, a very traditional tiki syrup that has gone out of fashion.

I also tried my hand at making Duck L'orange though I didn't get good photos of that (I think that my friends and I may plan an orange-themed dinner sometime soon, so we'll see if we get it written up for next year). We also continued our experiments with Eastern White Pine flavored vodka.

Spring arrived fast as it always seems to and I got back to my flower experiments. It turns out the Forsythia jelly is to die for and I continued my Violet Experiments - this time with Violet jelly as well as the violet simple syrup that I make every year which we turned into the most amazing Violet Birds of Paradise cocktails while we were on vacation at the beach. I also tried my hand at more cooking with flowers. For May Day, we made dandelion gnocchi as well as a fresh cheese ball made from chevre and tulips. I also made a spectacular Chive Vinegar from the first chive harvest from my garden.

Summer starts with the first pickups of our CSA farm share and my household becomes overflowing with fresh produce. I used the early cilantro and garlic scapes to make a lovely Cilantro Pesto and then got into canning and preserving for the season. For Midsummer, I made a lovely Strawberry Jam with a bonus Black Pepper Cocktail and I tried my hand at making canned Blueberry Pie Filling. I also tried my hand at canning sour cherry jam and making fresh cherry syrup. The end of the summer saw us canning all of the tomatoes and experimenting with more fun cocktails.

As mentioned above, I've done a lot of cooking this Autumn, I just never got around to recording/sharing most of it. I've been experimenting with apples (always) and I have been working on my soup skills (also, always). My favorite meal of the season was the French Onion Soup that I made with the Aus Jus from some braised Short ribs. I also made orange bitters which I did record, so stay tuned for more on that soon!

All in all, it was a lovely year in the kitchen. Did I get everything done that I wanted to? Absolutely not. I always have so many plans and then they inevitably get away from me. There is only so much time to play around in the kitchen (unfortunately!) As we head into the new year, I am contemplating kitchen witch goals for 2023. It is time to make more Eastern White Pine Vodka and Fire Cider, for sure - we ran out of both last weekend. I really want to make it back to the Cape to pick both Rosa Rugosa hips and Beach Plums so that I can finally find out what the differences between them both really are. I'd also like to make jelly with all of the spring flowers - last year I missed lilac, so that is high on my list for next year. Additionally, after a very poor gardening year (we were in a stage 4 drought), I'm more hopeful about my goals of expanding my tea garden in the year ahead.

[appalachiaisforlovers]

To my mutuals:

Give me ideas as to why to go forage for 🥺

[reformed-misfit]

🎶I don’t have a problem, I don’t have a problem🎶

[luckywolfsbane]

Dandelion tea is steeping until I can make it into jelly on Tuesday. Then I just need a mess of violets and some red buds, and I'll have the flower jellys I'm making this year.

Btw, the key is low sugar pectin. If you use the regular stuff, then you wind up with syrup. Flowers don't have as much natural sugar as fruits do, so it doesn't set right unless it's low sugar pectin.

For reference: dandelion jelly tastes like sunshine. Violet jelly tastes like if early spring had a drink like apple cider, but with flowers. I've never tried red bud jelly; that's the adventure for this year.

Maybe I'll get my hands on some spiderworts and make a jelly out of those, too. If only I could get enough wood sorrel to do the same with them... I'd like to try rose jelly one day.l, too. Maybe I'll use Mama's Seven Sister for that this year....

[themuseandantarctica]

* 𝒒𝒖𝒐𝒕𝒆 𝒔𝒕𝒂𝒓𝒕𝒆𝒓𝒔 𝒑𝒕. 13

change however necessary.

“A life lived in fear is a life half-lived.”

“Needless fear and panic over disease and misfortune that seldom materialize are simply bad habits.  By proper ventilation and illumination of the mind it is possible to cultivate tolerance, poise, and real courage.”

“People living deeply have no fear of death.”

“I know that the human being and the fish can coexist peacefully.”

“There is no such thing as a fish.”

“The Bible clearly states that God brought before Adam all the beasts of the field and all the fowl of the air.  What about the fish?  Did Adam name the fish?”

“Carp may be said to be water-sheep: herbivorous, gregarious, of a contented mind.”

“The catfish is a plenty good enough fish for anyone.”

“A chub is the worst fish that swims.”

“Looking for fish?  Don’t climb a tree.”

“The gods do not deduct from a man’s allotted span the time he spends in fishing.”

“There’s a fine line between fishing and standing on the shore looking like an idiot.”

“People from a planet without flowers would think we must be mad with joy the whole time to have the things about us.”

“The flower has no weekday self, dressed as it always is in Sunday clothes.”

“Flowers in the city are like lipstick on a woman—it just makes you look better to have a little color.”

“The flower that follows the sun does so even on cloudy days.”

“Perfumes are the feelings of flowers.”

“The crown of petals is the flower’s panties.  Rip them off and you will have public indecency.”

“Our national flower is the concrete clover leaf.”

“Advice on dandelions: If you can’t beat them, eat them.”

“If dandelions were hard to grow, they would be most welcome on any lawn.”

“Science, or para-science, tells us that geraniums bloom better if they are spoken to.  But a kind word every now and then is really quite enough.  Too much attention, like too much feeding, and weeding and hoeing, inhibits and embarrasses them.”

“The lily was created on the third day, early in the morning when the Almighty was especially full of good ideas.”

“A morning glory at my window satisfies me more than the metaphysics of books.”

“Some people are always grumbling that roses have thorns.  I am thankful that thorns have roses.”

“The violets in the mountains have broken the rocks.”

“Food is an important part of a balanced diet.”

“Man cannot live by bread alone; he must have peanut butter.”

“A gourmet who thinks of calories is like a tart who looks at her watch.”

“Nobody really likes capers, no matter what you do with them.  Some people pretend to like capers, but the truth is that any dish that tastes good with capers in it tastes even better with capers not in it.”

“There is more simplicity in the man who eats caviar on impulse than in the man who eats grape-nuts on principle.”

“The trouble with eating Italian food is that five or six days later you’re hungry again.”

“There are two things I like stiff and one of them’s jelly.”

“There is no such thing as a pretty good omelette.”

“He was a bold man who first swallowed an oyster.”

“I wonder why they call this porridge.  It would be far more manly and straightforward to give it its real name.”

“I believe that if I ever had to practice cannibalism, I might manage if there were enough tarragon around.”

“I think somebody should come up with a way to breed a very large shrimp.  That way, you could ride him, then, after you camped at night, you could eat him.  How about it, science?”

“All I know most surely about morality and obligations, I owe to football.”

“The natural state of the football fan is bitter disappointment, no matter what the score.”

“Some people think football is a matter of life and death.  I assure you, it’s much more important than that.”

“There is only one word to describe football and that is ‘if only.’”

“There are three things I always forget.  Names, faces, and the third I can’t remember.”

“If a man can remember what he worried about last week, he has a very good memory.”

“How is it that we remember the least triviality that happens to us, and yet not remember how often we have recounted it to the same person.”

“Whenever you go out to paint, try to forget what objects you have in front of you—a tree, a house, a field or whatever.  Merely think, here is a little squeeze of blue, here an oblong of pink, here a streak of yellow, and paint it just as it looks to you, until it gives your own naive impression of the scene in front of you.”

“There is nothing more difficult for a truly creative painter than to paint a rose, because before he can do so he has first to forget all the roses that were ever painted.”

“There is no forgiveness in nature.”

“Without forgiveness life is governed by an endless cycle of resentment and retaliation.”

“I can forgive, but I cannot forget, is only another way of saying, I will not forgive.  Forgiveness ought to be like a canceled note, torn in two, and burned up, so that it never can be shown against one.”

“You know you have forgiven someone when he or she has harmless passage through your mind.”

“Only the brave know how to forgive.  A coward never forgives; it is not in his nature.”

“He who cannot forgive others destroys the bridge over which he himself must pass.”

“He who has not forgiven an enemy has not yet tasted one of the most sublime enjoyments of life.”

“Many promising reconciliations have broken down because, with both parties came prepared to forgive, neither party came prepared to be forgiven.”

“Always forgive your enemies; nothing annoys them so much.”

“Forgive your enemies, but never forget their names.”

“Freedom is the right to be wrong, not the right to do wrong.”

“All mankind is divided as it always has been into slaves and freemen. Whoever has less than two-thirds of his day for himself is a slave, be he a statesman, a merchant, an official, or a scholar.”

“It is true that liberty is precious; so precious that it must be carefully rationed.”

“Everyone appears to be noticing only the statue’s torch and not the manacles on her ankles.”

“A man’s worst difficulties begin when he is able to do as he likes.”

“If crime fighters fight crime and fire fighters fight fire, what do freedom fighters fight?  They never mention that part to us, do they?”

“I’m no linguist, but I have been told that in the Russian language there isn’t even a word for freedom.”

“Be a lamp unto yourself and seek your own liberation with diligence.”

“People hardly ever make use of the freedom they have, for example, freedom of thought; instead they demand freedom of speech as compensation.”

“The right to be heard does not automatically include the right to be taken seriously.”

“If we don’t believe in freedom of expression for people we despise, we don’t believe in it at all.”

“If liberty means anything at all, it means the right to tell people what they do not want to hear.”

“Everything is determined, the beginning as well as the end, by forces over which we have no control.  It is determined for the insect as well as the star.  Human beings, vegetables, or cosmic dust, we all dance to a mysterious tune, intoned in the distance by an invisible piper.”

“No one knows anything about will, what it is, how to make it, or how it works, or why it works as it does.”

“A man can surely do what he wills to do, but cannot determine what he wills.”

“Nothing which is independent of the will can hinder or damage it; the will can only hinder or damage itself.”

“You will say that I feel free.  This is an illusion, which may be compared to that of a fly in the fable, who, upon the pole of a heavy carriage, applauded himself for directing its course.”

“Free will is probably located in the pre-frontal cortex, and we may even be able to narrow it down to the ventromedial pre-frontal cortex.”

“This free will business is a bit terrifying anyway.  It’s almost pleasanter to obey, and make the most of it.”

“All theory is against the freedom of the will; all experience for it… Sir, we know our will is free, and there’s an end on it.”

“Money can’t buy you friends, but you can get a better class of enemy.”

“Your friend is the man who knows all about you and still likes you.”

“A true friend is one who likes you despite your achievements.”

“When I was a kid, I had to friends, and they were imaginary and they would only play with each other.”

“We’re born alone, we live alone, we die alone.  Only through our love and friendship can we create the illusion for a moment that we’re not alone.”

“When one is trying to do something beyond his known powers it is useless to seek the approval of friends. Friends are at their best in moments of defeat.”

“Adversity is the only balance to weigh friends.”

“The only reward of virtue is virtue: the only way to have a friend is to be one.”

“I lay it down as a fact that if all men knew what others say of them, there would not be four friends in the world.”

“Each friend represents a world in us, a world possibly not born until they arrive, and ti is only by this meeting that a new world is born.”

“My mother used to say that there are no strangers, only friends you haven’t met yet.  She’s now in a maximum security twilight home in Australia.”

“When you have confidence, you can have a lot of fun.  And when you have fun, you can do amazing things.”

[chalet2000]

gathered a ton of violets and dandelions for jelly making and the neighbour cat actually let me pet him for the first time in 3 years... what a day

[sparklydefendorhottub]

20 Delicious Flower Jelly Recipes You Should Try * The Homesteading Hippy

#howto These 21 delicious flower jelly recipes, such as lavender, dandelion, wild violet, and many more. Plus, how to make flower tea, needed for most jellies.

[losech]

Another couple batches of spruce tip and violet jelly, plus a batch of dandelion. I will probably not be making more of the dandelion this season, the flowers are harder to prepare plus the taste is nothing to write home about. Good, just not remarkable.