...5.15...Friday Favorites...Dandelion Jelly/Syrup as Bee Free Honee...

...when I posted a week or so ago...that I was almost out of Bee Free Honee...and had collected some clover to try as a sub for the chamomile tea I had been using to add that 'pollen-y' flavor to the honee...my dear internet blogging friend Elizabeth (who blogs at Bits of Sunshine)...posted a comment that I should try Dandelion Jelly as a substitute for honey...so I emailed her back and asked for her recipe...

...and she so kindly sent me this card...

...with a note that this is written in her sweet Mother-in-Law's handwriting...LOVE that!...

...there are a few (very few) dandelions in the yard and the Churchyard...our outdoor sexton 'takes care of' them...so the remaining ones I don't deem very safe...

...but across the road from the graveyard is a small field that the sexton doesn't tend...and that's where I had picked the clover earlier...

...and I found quite a few dandelions there as well...

...so I picked a large bouquet...

...pulled all the flowers off the stems...

...made some dandelion tea...just boiled it in the jar...

...it made a pretty tea...and I tasted it and it was good too...

...strained it...

...and then because I don't have any 'boughten' pectin...I saved the cores from a few apples I had eaten this week...and added those to the pot of tea...

...and boiled it for a few minutes to get the pectin out of the apples...

...then I strained that through my jelly cloth...and added some bone char free sugar...it's slightly brown and may make the honee a little bit darker...

...and then just boiled gently...

...and tested for syrup-y-ness...it doesn't have to actually 'gel'...as it's not going to be jelly...but honee...

...it tasted awesome...I think a little bit milder than the chamomile version I had been making...and it is a little bit darker too...

...left it in the window to cool a bit...

...and then of course I had to try it out...and slathered some on a piece of toast...and it is delicious!...

...a huge THANK YOU to Elizabeth!

~Have a lovely day!