When life hands you dandelions...

It's that time of year- Dandelion Season... and this year I am without my beloved yard rabbits to keep them at bay. Our yard rabbits (Zoe and Friendy) both passed away last year and we decided not to get any more for a while. These sweet critters had eaten all the dandelions and roamed our yard freely (we have a huge fenced yard) and we adored them.

In their honor, I am posting a recipe for Dandelion Jelly which I plan to make this year- a friend gave me some and it is really quite tasty- a lot like honey actually and dandelion has potassium and is supposed to be good for you. Either way, the more of the little yellow heads you get out of your lawn, the fewer will come back.

Dandelion Jelly
Makes four or five half-pint jars

Ingredients:
2 heaping cups of fresh dandelion petals (you'll need to gather about 4 cups whole flowers to get 2 cups flowers)
2 C boiling water
1/4 C well-strained, clear lemon juice
4 C sugar
3 oz liquid pectin (Certo)
Food coloring (optional but makes it much prettier)

Directions:
1. Collect dandelions- remember: for fully opened flowers, the bigger the better, for ease of preparation. Of course do NOT use any dandelions that have been sprayed with fertilizers or pesticides!

2. Cut the petals off. We'll want just the dandelion petals for this - not the whole flower head. (the green is bitter, you’ll get some green but try to minimize the amount of "green" and have mainly yellow petals for your infusion. It works best if you hold the flower by the end near the stem, and trim the petals into a bowl or cup, with sharp kitchen scissors).

3. Pour boiling water over petals and let steep from 30 minutes to 24 hours. I infused mine for about 2 hours - until the liquid was almost room temperature. Strain through a fine sieve, reserving the infusion. If not using immediately, refrigerate up to 24 hours.

4. Place jars and lids on rack in pan or stockpot deep enough to cover them with about two inches of water, bring to a boil, then reduce heat to a simmer, keeping the jars hot until ready to fill.

5. To make the jelly, stir lemon juice (lime works quite nicely as well) and sugar into reserved infusion in a two-quart nonreactive or stainless steel pan. Bring to a full rolling boil that cannot be stirred down. Add the liquid pectin and continue to boil two minutes, skimming any foam that may rise to the surface. Add about 20 drops of yellow food coloring to make it a pretty color (otherwise it may not bee too attractive).

6. Ladle quickly into jars to within about 1/8 inch from the top; clean each rim and threads of the jar as it's filled, and place flat lid and ring on each before filling the next. Screw band on tightly and invert jar on tea towel for about five to 10 minutes. Jars should seal and lids should pop shut within 10 minutes as they cool. If they do not seal, you can place them in a hot water bath for 10 minutes or place in the refrigerator.

7. Sealed jars will last up to one year in a cool, dark place. Put any unsealed jelly in the refrigerator, unsealed or opened jars should keep about three weeks.

If you try this out, be sure to post a comment... and remember, if life hands you dandelions - make yummy jelly!!