God also said, “Look, I have given you every seed-bearing plant on the surface of the entire earth and every tree whose fruit contains seed. This food will be for you, for all the wildlife of the earth, for every bird of the sky, and for every creature that crawls on the earth—everything having the breath of life in it. I have given every green plant for food.” And it was so.
-Genesis 1:29-30
We took a day to try something new with our kids. We have always heard this jelly tastes like honey. You guessed it Dandelion Jelly!! It is delicious and super easy to make. The kids got to go foraging, make and can Dandelion Jelly and they absolutely love it.
First thing first we went foraging. Everyone’s yard is full of dandelions in the spring. This was a great learning experience for my husband and I and our three children. They are finding out that some plants that grow in the yard are safe to eat and are delicious. This was a great activity for the kids to do, they were just ecstatic about picking flowers.
How to make Dandelion Jelly
What you need:
- 4 cups of dandelion buds
- 4 cups of sugar
- 1 packet of powdered pectin
- mason jars
- 2 Tbs of lemon juice
- Pick 4 cups of dandelion buds.
- Remove the petals and put into a quart size jar.
- While removing your petals boil enough water to fill a quart size jar.
- Pour the boiling water in the jar with your petals.
- Make sure to get all the air bubbles out of the jar and give it a good stir.
- Let sit till it is completely cool and place lid on and set in the fridge for 24 hours.
- The next day, sterilize you pint size jars in a water bath.
- Strain your petals in a fine mesh strainer and squeeze out all the water.
- Pour dandelion juice (this is known as Dandelion Tea), pectin and lemon juice into a pot, let it come to a rolling boil for 1 minute.
- When boiling add in your 4 cups of sugar, then let it come to another rolling boil for 1 minute stirring constantly.
- Pour jelly into your pint size jars leaving 1/2 inch of head space, make sure to wipe off the rim after pouring jelly in. Place lids on top, then place in water bath canner then let it process and boil for 10 minutes.
- After 10 minutes place jars to the side and let them sit for 24 hours then enjoy.
We learned this recipe from the Appalachian Forager on Facebook. You can check out their Facebook here to find out all kinds of things she forages and recipes for them. https://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=100087761052185 You can also checkout her webpage https://appalachianforager.com/?fbclid=IwAR2YrHaWwLt44_SCd-NcS1rJjnlBCbMPZosoS-XA1EeLRLZcYz4WgFTmHtc_aem_AVtBFHDIIsZXauoSn-G57PYv11SlWLCWSAq7pIhmV8dB5_IyUAATs5YHI76FEOZZ8wIxt3kiow2oC3CK9BVgghpa
Here is the end result of our Dandelion Jelly. I was very proud of myself because it was the first successful time I made jelly. It is so delicious and the kids love it. We had a lot of fun making and eating it.