Yesterday we walked in the rain. Today at 7:00 am the walkers, runners and bicyclists are out early. It is hot already. Boofa is eating the fermenting mulberries on the path. Most of the dandelions have blown. I have taught Zach, Shane and James : "She loves me, she loves me not".
The magnolias are at their height, perfuming the air. Eleanor and Ryan's wedding was on May 21 and we decorated with magnolias and roses. The magnolia is one of the oldest trees on earth as fossils have been found to be at least fifty-eight million years old. It is the icon of the South, the state tree of Mississippi and the state flower of Louisiana. The name comes from the 17th century French botanist, Pierre Magnol.
A recipe for Dandelion Wine from "Granny's Old Time and Modern Cookbook" put together by the Senior Citizens of Rock Hill, SC in 1979.
DANDELION WINE
(3 qts)
1 gallon dandelion blossoms without stems
1 gallon boiling water
3 lbs or 6 cups sugar
3 oranges, clean, uncolored
3 lemons
1/8 box seedless raisins
1/2 yeast cake (wine yeast)
Pour 1 gallon boiling water over blossoms. Let stand 24 hours. Strain dandelion blossoms through cloth. Squeeze orange into mixture. Add all other ingredients, let stand two (2) weeks. Stir every day except last day then strain through cheese cloth several times until clear. Pour into gallon bottles. Tie cloth over top and let set six (6) months, or until bubbling stops.
DRINK AT YOUR OWN RISK
Many years ago, my transplanted German neighbor and I made dandelion wine in our basements (in town houses next door to each other). We used glass gallon milk jugs into which wine filters fit. For months, there was the scent of fermentation in the air where we lived. When the bubbling stopped, she fortified hers with vodka. I bottled mine and no one ever drank it including me, as I believed it to be poison.
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