Foraging Fever

Tuesday morning Richard rose bright and early, briefly informing me that he was off to pick 'bourgeons de sapin' and that there was hot coffee ready downstairs!  He'd scoured the internet the night before for recipes but ended up concocting his own... 'au pif' as they say in french.  My mother always baked with a similar disregard for precis measurements and her cakes were the best, so I've high hopes for Richard's 'Sapinette'.

Time will tell - 'the mix' of sapin buds, 40% proof clear alcohol and sugar needs to be left for three months in the dark and regularly shaken.  After which it can be consumed with moderation!

La Sapinette is expectorant, antiseptic and known for it's curative powers for respiratory infections.  It's also very alcoholic, so for the kids Richard made a few jars of 'sirop d'épicea', basically substituting the alcohol for water and leaving the mix to infuse for three days in the sun.  It can be drank diluted with water, poured over pancakes, ice-cream etc.

It seems the big guy has caught foraging fever, as the very same afternoon he was out picking dandelion flowers - 365 one for each day of the year. With Rémi's precious help we proceeded to slowly pick off all the yellow petals before leaving them to dry for two hours in the sun.  After which I was on my own!  I found the following recipe on-line and stuck firmly to it:

Cook together 365 flowers, 1 organic orange, 1 organic lemon and 1.2l of water and leave to infuse for 24 hours.  The next day, re-heat, filter (give the solids to chickens) add 1kg of sugar to the juice obtained and cook until set - approximately 10 minutes.

I got just short of 5 250g jars of golden 'honey'; as you can see there were no bee's involved but as it has a very honey like consistency it's often referred to as 'miel de pissenlit'.

Dandelion Honey

I wonder what foraged loveliness Richard will bring me next?