Dandelions

Our yard has tons of dandelions. Not the little ones either. The big, fat ones as big as your palm. Charlie was walking through a patch of them and said, "What can we do with these, Mom?"

I'm not crafty or creative but I read blogs that are. I vaguely remember reading something in Martha Stewart Magazine years ago about making pancakes with dandelions. I googled "dandelion pancakes" and found a recipe with ingredients we already had on hand. We are a pancake house- any kind of pancake is a good pancake.

Charlie and I hunted for the biggest, fattest dandelions we could find. We filled a little dish and brought them inside. I cleaned them and chopped them...and then spilled them on the floor! The cat thought it was fun so she jumped in and scattered them around. I could hear the lawnmower outside as the man from church was here to mow. And he was mowing the dandelion patch! I ran outside and starting picking dandelions like a crazy person. I'm sure I could have flagged him down and explained what I needed the flowers for but at that moment all I could think was "I need dandelions now!"

So again, we washed them and chopped them and mixed up the recipe. We cooked them and even though they looked a little funny they smelled good. I put them on a plate, sliced them up and...they were absolutely the worst pancakes I ever had in my life. Terrible! Charlie on the other hand thought they were delicious but I suspect that's because he made them himself and felt a fierce loyalty to the world's worst pancakes.

I could link you to the recipe but I won't because they are terrible and I couldn't live with myself knowing I passed that recipe around. Chad wouldn't even taste them after he saw my face so he asked what they tasted like. I don't know really- earthy? Kind of like dirt and grass?

I think next time we'll try something a little more normal. Like, pick a vegetable from the garden and eat it the way it is intended to be eaten. I'm much better with normal.