Italians do love their bitter greens so much so that they would spend full days in a field somewhere picking them. I know this only because from the time I was a small child my grandmother and great aunts put a little weed puller in my hand and taught me the fine art of dandelion picking. It really didn’t seem like work, it was fun being with them and listening to their stories of the past. The time would fly by and before you knew it we were heading home with bags and bags of dandelions to clean. My grandmother loved to use them for salads but they were also great fried with a little garlic. This particular recipe was created for two reasons the potatoes were a way to stretch the dandelion greens (they have a tendency to cook down to nothing) and the other reason was that the potatoes would mellow out their bitterness.
For some folks dandelions are not a welcoming sight, they are just a nuisance weed ruining their beautiful lawns. For us they are a welcoming sight that stirs up memories of good times spent with loved ones and of the traditional foods that we enjoyed as a family.
Dandelion Greens and Potatoes
12 cups of cleaned dandelion greens
2 cups of diced potatoes
5 Tablespoons of Olive Oil
3 cloves garlic, chopped
Hot pepper flakes to taste
Salt to taste
Boil greens with potatoes about 5 minutes, drain. Heat oils in a skillet, add garlic and hot pepper. As soon as garlic takes on color, add greens and potatoes, 1 cup of liquid they were boiled in, and salt. Simmer 20 to 30 minutes. Mash with fork and add more oil, if desired.
Photo Courtesy of YellowHammer/Flickr
We’ve lost two terrific people over the last few months, my Aunt Flo and Uncle Dick. This was my mothers’ older sister and brother-in-law. Uncle dick had pancreatic cancer and lost his fight a few months ago, his wife had Alzheimer’s which was bittersweet in the sense that as awful as the disease can be it turned out to be a blessing in disguise when the love of her life for the past 50 + years passed away (her memory of who he was to her had been gradually fading) so her sense of loss was lessened. Aunt Flo passed away Sunday April 13th leaving six children, 5 sons and 1 daughter, many grandchildren, nieces and nephews. My mother and I have some great memories of staying with them in California, that is where we both learned to love avocados it just seemed like they used them in everything.
They will be so dearly missed but the memories they have given us will live on forever.
California BLT
In Memory of Richard and Florence Leonard
12 bacon slices, cooked crisp, crumbled
1 1/4 c. cooked, cubed chicken or turkey
10 cherry tomatoes, cut in quarters
2 med. avocados, diced
2 c. shredded lettuce
1/3 c. mayonnaise
1/3 c. sour cream
4 pita breads (6" size) cut in half
1/2 c. Thousand Island dressing
Combine bacon, chicken, tomatoes, avocados and lettuce in a large bowl. Toss carefully with mayonnaise and sour cream until thoroughly mixed. Fill pitas with chicken mixture, spoon dressing over each.
Photo/Josie/Flickr
Boy did this bring back memories. Do you remember eating applesauce as a kid made with Red-Hot candies? That use to be my favorite kind of applesauce. I haven’t had applesauce this way in years but low and behold they had it in the hospital cafeteria of all places. I brought some up to my mother; she got a real kick out of it. Brought back some good memories for her as well, left her with a smile on her face.
The malted milk shake started in the 50’s. That’s when malt shops were the in place to hang out and be with your friends and listen to your favorite songs playing on the Jukebox. You could grab a burger and some fries wash it down with a malted, shake or float. The best part of the malted was getting to the bottom, where all the malt had settled and try to suck every last bit through the straw. Unfortunately malt shops have become a thing of the past but at least some of their delicious treats don’t have to be. Here’s a little tip try some of those syrups that they use for flavoring coffee; 
