A few weekends ago Tom and I rode our bikes across town to meet with Sam & Harper for an adventure in dandelion picking and jam making. We roasted veggie dogs over a campfire and even found wild asparagus to harvest and sneak home. We biked home in the sunset and made it home just as darkness fell shortly after eight. I rode while listening to soothing acoustic tunes in a language I barely remember (Japanese) with a smile on my face. After 18 miles, the rich smell of burning wood, boiling dandelions over a small cauldron, and amazing company- I found myself completely and utterly relaxed. I need more weekends unplugged from technology, surrounded by nature, adventuring with my husband & bike.
Sam & Harper’s Dandelion Jam
You need a canning kit to be able to make this jam, something like this. (We don’t get paid anything if you buy it from this link, so feel free to shop around.)
You need
2 cups peeled dandelions – To peel a dandelion, check out this moving picture. (I don’t know why I didn’t just call it a gif. Moving picture sounds so old fashioned!) Use your nail to break the dandelion in half and then just use your thumb to pull the petals out. You just want to make sure your jar is filled with gold- any green bits will make your jam bitter.
4 1/2 cups filtered water
1 pack pectin
4 1/2 cups sugar
Jam jars! (Size is up to you, we used 6 small jars.)
Method
Bring 4 1/2 cups water to a boil & then add your 2 cups dandelion petals.
Leave in a rolling boil (constantly stirring) for four minutes
Cover, & remove from heat
Let sit 25 min
Strain the dandelion pulp with coffee filter or cheese cloth
Put strained liquid back in pot and return to rolling boil. (Keep stirring!)
Add one pack pectin (while still stirring!) until dissolved
Add four and a half cups sugar, as you might have guessed, while still stirring- and continue stirring until it dissolves. It’s a lot of stirring, but you can cackle like you’re concocting a potion over a cauldron if you’d like. (I did.)
Can them quickly & let cool!