Dandelion Cordial: UPDATE

It's done!  OK, yes, it looks a bit like a urine sample, but it is dandelion cordial, and it is YUMMY!  Brett and I tested it out on Saturday night.  It has a very nice lemony flavor, but a distinct woodsy/floral finish.  It is sweet, but has a nice burn to it too.  I loved it straight, but I am definitely going to experiment with mixers.

It's official.  We will be making more of this.

It's a Dandy!

After posting this picture of Urban picking the little yellow wonders with his helmut on, Cousin Lexi gifted me this fabulous link to An Herbalist Eats and a recipe for Dandelion Cordial.  I, of course, could not resist.

After being delayed by rain for 2 days, I was finally able to head out to the front yard and harvest my bounty.  I'm certain the neighbors thought I was nuts as I wandered around the yard with my basket decapitating the things they spend so much time spraying and pulling.  But, we're a bit more prairie-minded.  We never spray.  Heck, we barely mow!  ::grin::

So, with my harvest at hand, I retired to my kitchen for the fun part.  Brett pitched in like a trooper helping me empty the Captain Morgan's bottle that would soon become the receptacle for the sunny yellow apertif.

The Recipe:
2-3 cups of dandelion heads
2/3 cup sugar
1/2 lemon rind
vodka

I started by funneling the sugar into the bottle.  Then I got down to the tedium.  You want to get as much of the green bits off the dandelion head as possible.  I took a small paring knife and cut the head from the stem and then gently unwrapped the green, leafy bit from the petals.  The difficulty lies in that there are, like, a buh-jillian petals and when you "unwrap" them they fall everywhere.  So, I did the best I could to scoop them into the bowl.

After doing this to my 2-3 cups worth, I pinched the petals between my fingers and not-so-elegantly shoved them down the neck of the bottle with the butt-end of a sharpie.  (Don't worry, it was clean, I'm very professional.)  Then I peeled and sliced the lemon, added the vodka and VOILA!  a little shaky-shaky every now and then and in 6 weeks we will have cordial.  Just in time for a 4th of July BBQ!

I can't wait.  A little of this mixed with sparkling water, a slice of fresh lemon and I believe I will be in heaven.

So, if life gives you Dendelions, make Dandelion Cordial!!  or dandelion tea or dandelion salad or dandelion tincture or dandelion syrup...  shall I go on?