[Barbara]

......and how many of you had cannabis cookies in the 60's and 70's? I can remember everyone seemed to be making them for parties back then.
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Barbara

[Debbie]

Sorry, forgot to add to last post......

French lavender is quite often used as a generic name in Australia. Don't know if the same happens in other countries. The doctor actually wanted the botanical (latin) name so he could be sure what type we had eaten.

Australia also has hybrids which are developed to cope with the conditions there. This could have rendered them inedible also.

To be safe, find out the botanical name of the edible ones and go by that. Please. A taste test is no good as you will not taste the camphor. You will only know about it when you are sick.
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If you cannot feel your arteries hardening, eat more cheese. If you can, drink more red wine. Diet is just "die" with a "t" on the end. Exercise is walking into the kitchen.

[JustMe]

[Rainey]

[Dairy_Queen]

Does it have to be cookies? Do Magic brownies count?

Rainey and Dawna: So glad that Wild-Crafting was added to this thread! Coming from Pioneer Immigrant Stock, as I do, my Grandparents had to harvest from the area around them, to survive. I remember my Grandpa telling me about how his family lived off of acorns one winter, having collected them in the previous year. His family grew up eating acorns, lamb's quarters, pokeweed, cat-tails and of course, the wild berries, which were everywhere. This was when they were Sod-busting, and hadn't yet harvested crops, so as they began to prosper, the Old Ways disappeared.

However, this is a true story that I experienced in 1984, when I was a Staff Horticulturist at a 150 acre country club. I was in charge of all the roughs, planting beds and trees and had a 17 man crew (100% Hispanic) to maintain it. Before we planted annuals, we had to weed the beds. One time, when the guys all came back at the end of the day, they were happy and laughing and planning a huge feast. Why? I had sent them all out to weed "purslane", which they call Mexican Spinach and they were laughing their arses off that Stupid Gringoes just paid them to pick their salad greens for the next week! They came back with 20 Jewel grocery bags of purslane, burdock and lamb's quarters, and since they lived at residences at the golf course, they immediately set to making some wonderful dishes, that they shared with me. I have to say, I was pretty sceptical, which is odd since I was trained as a naturalist, but I just saw the purslane as weeds, not food.

The rest of the time that I was there, the guys would come up to me and ask "when can we go pick our vegetables again?"

Here's some facts on purslane and some recipes for you wildcrafters.

"Description:

A succulent, sprawling plant of lawns and meadows; flowers inconspicuous, 1/5 inch wide, five yellow petals tucked between the branches, mid-summer to fall; fruit capsules up to 1/4 inch long, filled with tiny, round, black seeds; leaves paddle-shaped, succulent, stalkless 1/2 to 2 inches long, alternate or opposite; stem reddish, succulent, branching, creeping, 4-10 inches long.

Purslane is one of my favorite summer vegetables, with a mild, sweet-sour flavor and a chewy texture. Its reddish stem, nearly as thick as a computer cable, creeps along the ground, rarely getting taller than a pint of milk. The stalkless leaves are paddle shaped, about as long as a small paper clip.

Purslane leaves and stems are great raw in salads. You can steam them or add them to soups, stews, and other vegetable dishes. Beware of spurge, a different-looking poisonous creeping wild plant that sometimes grows near purslane. The stem is wiry, not thick, and it gives off a white, milky sap when you break it. If you're very careless, you may put some in your bag along with purslane, because they sometimes grow together on lawns, gardens, and meadows.

Purslane comes from India, where it was a food crop centuries ago. Now it also grows across America. It has a wonderful survival tactic: The succulent (juicy) stem, keeps it from drying out. If someone decides purslane is a "weed" and uproots it, it uses the water in the stem to make seeds before it dies, and soon there'll be even more purslane."

PERFECT PURSLANE SALAD

The combination of this simple salad with a simple dressing is simply delicious (and very healthful)

2 cups purslane leaves and stems, chopped
2 cooked potatoes, chopped
4 cups mesclun salad greens or wild greens (i.e., lamb's quarters, lady's thumb, Asiatic dayflower)
1 bunch scallions, chopped
1 medium carrot, grated
1 red bell pepper, chopped

Mix together all ingredients, toss with Creamy Cashew Salad Dressing, and serve

Serves 6

Purslane-Potato Salad
From
THE WILD VEGETARIAN COOKBOOK

purslane makes this familiar dish seem ambrosial.

6 medium potatoes, sliced and cooked
2 cups purslane, chopped
4 scallions, sliced
1 celery stalk, sliced
1 cup mayonnaise

Mix together all ingredients. Serve chilled.

Serves 6


Preparation Time: 15 minutes
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Outside of a dog, a book is man's best friend. Inside of a dog it's too dark to read.
Groucho Marx

[Dawna]

What a wonderful story, Dairy_Queen!

[Dairy_Queen]

Thanks,Dawna. I learned so much from those guys that I worked with for 2 years; they had the same type of knowledge that my Grandparents did....passed on verbally and ancient.

My current landscape crew is also Hispanic; the crew leader and I have worked together for over 21 years! Rainey, if you're out there....THEY were the ones who taught me how to break up a clay soil...that's how they do it in Mexico!
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Outside of a dog, a book is man's best friend. Inside of a dog it's too dark to read.
Groucho Marx

[JustMe]

[Dairy_Queen]

JustMe: I started a small Essential Oil Company in 1998; it seemed such a natural tie-in to my "Day Job". I worked for a company for a year, part-time, and did HUGE amounts of research on E.O.'s (essential oil shorthand). Then, when I moved to Michigan, I started my company to service friends, clients and myself.

First, to answer your question: TRUE Lavender Water can NOT be "made"; it is the natural waste/by-product of producing e.o.'s. Like Skim Milk and Cheese Curds are waste products of the Dairy Industry that have been marketed (like broken Oreos became Cookies and Cream Ice cream, originally), so too, is Lavender Water and a host of other "waters", the natural waste product of distilling lavender and other flowers/plant parts.

Lavandula angustifolia (formerly L. vera and L. officinale) is the lavender that you eat or use in perfume.
L. x intermedia is English Lavender and also used to ingest or perfume.
L. latifolia (Spike Lavender) has a VERY high camphor yield and is used for congestion.
L. stoechas (Stoechas Lavender) is EXTREMELY HIGH in camphor and is used in surgury to heal wounds and reduce inflammation, and can be toxic at high doses.


However, that said, you can "Fake it til you Make it" by using distilled water only and a small amount of lavender e.o., which you mix together. It won't be as strong or penetrating, but it sure beats the cost. Essential Oil molecules are microscopic, so they dissolve in water; there will be NO film and no need to shake it.

But, be careful: buy ESSENTIAL OIL, not FRAGRANCE OIL, which is fake and made of petroleum by-products. Oddly, they can cost the same for many plants because the cost of production for some e.o.'s is so low.

After 2 years of research, and reading almost every essential oil book out there (at Barnes & Nobles so I didn't have to buy them), the ONLY book that I recommend to my clients and friends is this: AROMATHERAPY...A COMPLETE GUIDE TO THE HEALING ART by Kathi Keville and Mindy Green.

It's devoid of photos, so if that's your thang, than there are 1000's of books that "look pretty". However, this book, aside from its low, low cost ($16.95) has the following: A History of Fragrance; The Science of Smell; Guidelines for Using Essential Oils; Herbal Preparations (recipes); Theraputics; an Encyclopedia of E.O.'s, and Aromatherapy Massage.

This book has EVERYTHING that a beginner to advanced student would need. Sally's roommate, Pam, uses Young Living E.O.'s, which I can't decide if they are a scam or not. They sold her a book for several hundred $$$$$'s, and although hefty in weight and with plenty of pretty color pictures, the info in the Keville/Green book is identical.

So, I say, save money on the book and use it for the E.O.'s!
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Outside of a dog, a book is man's best friend. Inside of a dog it's too dark to read.
Groucho Marx

[Sarape]

Thanks Dairy_Queen for the information on Purslane. I'm going to have a look out for it today on my walk at lunch. I usually return to the office with a bag of dandelions, parsley, and wild onions culled from the fields around the roads. I hope to be able to find some purslane to add to my treasures.
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' She says, 'I am the glamorous type.' I said, 'So what?'

[Dairy_Queen]

You're so welcome, Sarape! I love the idea of you "harvesting" along your walk home.

My guys made me quesidillas with purslane and they also just steamed it, identically to spinach. It likes very hot, very poor soil, so look for it growing in those areas. Also, unlike spurge, which is poisonous, it has very fat leaves and NO MILKY SAP, so it's pretty easy to identify.

And why pay $$$ at a Farmer's Market when you pass acres and acres of the stuff growing for free?!
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Outside of a dog, a book is man's best friend. Inside of a dog it's too dark to read.
Groucho Marx

[Erin]

Barbara, scandalous lady! We used to make butter infusions for our cookies. hee, hee!

DQ, Are you still in essential oils? When I was thinking about asthetics as a living I got way into researching essential oils, but never actually made any. My favorite although used extremely sparingly was black pepper.
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"It's watery....and yet there's a smack of ham."

"It's hot ham water."

[David]

Um, er, Barbara, um, er --if I remembered the 60's and 70's I wouldn't have been there.
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Vivant Linguae Mortuae!!

[Dairy_Queen]

Erin: E.O.'s are part of my every day existance. I use them at least 3-6 times per day. Were you thinking of actually distilling your own, was that your question? That's a mighty undertaking!

I think it goes, "If you remembered the 60's, you weren't doing it right!" Unless you're a youngin' and weren't around during those days; maybe that's what you meant.
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Outside of a dog, a book is man's best friend. Inside of a dog it's too dark to read.
Groucho Marx

[Erin]

At some point in time yes, I would like to try it but not now. I was wondering if you sold E.O.
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"It's watery....and yet there's a smack of ham."

"It's hot ham water."