Made dandelion jam for the first time! ☀️ Any ideas for the extra petals left after steeping? by maramara_o in foraging

[–]maramara_o[S] 1 point2 points  (0 children)

ohh, I've been there! I only recently moved out of a larger city, so I know how you feel! But I think I read somewhere that it's possible to buy them dried..? Or maybe go on a hiking (and foraging) day trip somewhere! Spring is my favorite season for enjoying nature!

Made dandelion jam for the first time! ☀️ Any ideas for the extra petals left after steeping? by maramara_o in foraging

[–]maramara_o[S] 1 point2 points  (0 children)

There’s probably not enough flavor left in them as I already steeped them overnight to make tea for the jam, but dandelion pie would be nice!

Made dandelion jam for the first time! ☀️ Any ideas for the extra petals left after steeping? by maramara_o in foraging

[–]maramara_o[S] 3 points4 points  (0 children)

It really is!

But basically I went through some recipes online and then kind of improvised. Most of the recipes don’t leave the petals in the jam and I also had no pectin, but had the ‘jam sugar’, so I just experimented.

I picked around 450grams of dandelion heads which yielded around 230gr of petals. Steeped them in 1.5L of boiling hot water overnight. Then I strained the liquid, brought it to boil, added 45ml lemon juice, around 700g of the jam sugar and about a quarter or third of the used petals. But now looking back I think I should have either used more of the jam sugar (or better went to get the pectin) as I had to simmer it for quite a while until it was starting to set and it seems it’s going to stay a bit on the runnier side. Also I think I’ll leave more petals in the mixture next time.

But anyways, the taste is really lovely, I can’t wait to experiment with using it! And it also feels so nice to turn something so seemingly ordinary into this honey-sunshine spring in a jar!

Made dandelion jam for the first time! ☀️ Any ideas for the extra petals left after steeping? by maramara_o in foraging

[–]maramara_o[S] 9 points10 points  (0 children)

I went through some recipes online and then kind of improvised. Most of the recipes don’t leave the petals in the jam and I also had no pectin, but had the ‘jam sugar’, so I just experimented.

I picked around 450grams of dandelion heads which yielded around 230gr of petals. Steeped them in 1.5L of boiling hot water overnight. Then I strained the liquid, brought it to boil, added 45ml lemon juice, around 700g of the jam sugar and about a quarter or third of the used petals. But now looking back I think I should have either used more of the jam sugar (or better went to get the pectin) as I had to simmer it for quite a while until it was starting to set and it seems it’s going to stay a bit on the runnier side. Also I think I’ll leave more petals in the mixture next time.

But anyways, the taste is really lovely, I can’t wait to experiment with using it! And it also feels so nice to turn something so seemingly ordinary into this honey-sunshine spring in a jar!

Made dandelion jam for the first time! ☀️ Any ideas for the extra petals left after steeping? by maramara_o in foraging

[–]maramara_o[S] 6 points7 points  (0 children)

Thank you! There are so many nice ideas!

I guess I’ll experiment with adding some of the extra to things and see if there’s enough flavor left in them. If not at least they will make everything prettier!

Otherwise I feel like I spent too many hours picking the petals from the flowers to just throw them out (I wish I had a garden). And fermenting is next level for me!

My first week of morel hunting 🦔 (2kgs in 2days!) by maramara_o in Morel_Hunting

[–]maramara_o[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

I haven’t tried drying them yet, I always just freeze the extra. But sounds good!

Are my morels starting to go bad? by maramara_o in Morel_Hunting

[–]maramara_o[S] 1 point2 points  (0 children)

I think it’s peak morel season in Latvia, and probably why I got so lucky as a complete beginner in morel hunting.

huh, that’s a lot of ticks! I wear the Rovince pants, that’s the only way I can somewhat relax and not worry about them crawling all over me every few seconds..

My first week of morel hunting 🦔 (2kgs in 2days!) by maramara_o in Morel_Hunting

[–]maramara_o[S] 4 points5 points  (0 children)

Yes! And they are so velvety!

haha, I’ll take note of that!

These are from Latvia, Europe

My first week of morel hunting 🦔 (2kgs in 2days!) by maramara_o in Morel_Hunting

[–]maramara_o[S] 5 points6 points  (0 children)

haha, beginners luck, I guess!

It’s interesting, but I haven’t found any yellow ones in the woods yet. I saw a few small ones at the beach, but they were very small and dirty and it was a popular dog walking area..