Purslane!

I’ve actually been pulling it out of the garden all Spring! But as I was flipping through my Wild Cards (a deck of wild foraging photo/info cards by Linda Runyon), I came to one that I thought I recognized. Hey! I think that’s that stuff I’ve been yanking out of my tomato beds!

I took the card out to the garden to compare the photo with the plant, and sure enough, it was purslane I had growing there!

This is super exciting to me. Check out what I’ve discovered:

Key Benefits:

• Purslane is known as an excellent source of vitamins A, C and E and the essential amino acids. Reports describe Purslane as a “power food of the future” because of its high nutritive and antioxidant properties.
• Purslane leaves contain Omega-3 fatty acid which regulate the body’s metabolic activities. Purslane herb is known to have one of the highest known concentrations of Omega-3 fatty acid in any plant.
• The stems of Purslane herb are known to be high in vitamin C.

Therapeutic Uses:

• Purslane is widely used as a potherb in Mediterranean, central European and Asian countries.
• Purslane is also widely used as an ingredient in a green salad. Tender stems and leaves are usually eaten raw, alone or with other greens. They are also cooked or pickled for consumption.
• Purslane is used in various parts of the world to treat burns, headaches, stomach, intestinal and liver ailments, cough, shortness of breath and arthritis.
• Purslane herb has also been used as a purgative, cardiac tonic, emollient, muscle relaxant, and in anti-inflammatory and diuretic treatments.
• Purslane is popularly preserved for winter by pickling Purslane in apple cider vinegar with garlic cloves and peppercorns.
• Purslane appears among a list of herbs considered to help benefit conditions such as osteoporosis and psoriasis.

Landscaping.about.com

The entire plant is edible, and it can be eaten fresh or cooked. It can even be canned or dried for long term storage!!

I picked some tonight, washed it, and ate the entire plant raw. It was delicious! The taste was very much like lettuce; bland, but good. You could also steam, boil, or saute it if you preferred. As a matter of fact, this site has several recipes using purslane.

Isn’t that AWESOME?!

Obviously, I won’t be pulling it out of my garden beds anymore. Or at least, I’ll transplant them if they become too invasive.

Yay for wild edibles!! I do believe I’ll add some purslane to my salad tonight!

Do you have purslane growing around your home? Have you ever eaten any? If you’ve never tasted it, you gotta give it a try! I’d love to know what you think!

They’re everywhere. Little red berries on creeping plants. They’re a miniature version of strawberries. And they look like they’d be nice to eat.

But are they edible? Are they safe to snack on?

I’ve heard that wild strawberries are poisonous, but I’ve been wanting to know for sure what to tell the kids about these bright berries. Up until now, I’ve just been telling them I didn’t know if they are safe, so they weren’t to put them in their mouths. But after doing some researching today, I’ve discovered exactly what we needed to know.

The short answer is: YES, wild strawberries are edible, and delicious, and even used for medicinal purposes!

However… you need to be sure that the strawberries you are thinking of foraging for are truly “wild” and not “false” strawberries.

False, or “mock” strawberries are “not fit for human consumption”… whatever that means. I can’t find anything that says they are poisonous or harmful, just that they don’t taste good.

There are a few different ways to tell the difference between a true wild strawberry and it’s deceptive counterpart. The easiest for me to remember are…

• Wild Strawberries have white blooms.
• Mock Strawberries have yellow blooms.

• Wild Strawberries will have a strong strawberry scent when crushed.
• Mock Strawberries don’t smell like anything when crushed.

So, armed with this new knowledge, I took my oldest daughter (Jada) outside with me to a spot where we knew of some berries growing. Since there were no blooms on the plant, only berries, we went right to crushing them to test their scent.

And we both agreed. No scent. Not true wild strawberries.

Bummer.

At least we know for sure now, though. And it was fun exploring nature and learning a little something with my girl.

Last week, Jada and I made some pesto from our fresh basil for the first time. We don’t really ever eat pesto, just ’cause it’s so darn expensive to buy! But after making it in a matter of minutes, and seeing how easy it is to whip up and how delicious it tastes, I’m gonna make every excuse I can find to use more of this stuff in our meals. Especially seeing as we have basil coming out of our ears at the moment!

I know the picture doesn’t exactly make it look appetizing, but those of you who have actually tasted pesto know how truly tasty it is. It’s especially good tossed with pasta, which is how we ate our first batch. And I must say, it was somewhat satisfying knowing that what we were eating was fresh from our garden and full of nothing but good stuff.

Here is the recipe I used. Personally, I thought it was just a tad bit too tangy (less lemon juice next time?), though Jerry said it was delicious just the way it was.

Basil Pesto

• 1 1/2 c. fresh basil leaves
• 2 garlic cloves
• 1/4 c. Parmesan cheese
• 1/8 c. lemon juice
• 1/8 c. olive oil

Put the basil, garlic, and cheese into a blender or food processor and mix well. Pour in the lemon juice and olive oil, and mix again until well blended.

And that’s it! The original recipe called for pine nuts, but I didn’t have any, and I’m all about omitting expensive ingredients anyways.

Now that I know how to make pesto, I’m wondering what else besides pasta I can serve it on? I’d love to know how you use pesto, and if you have a favorite recipe to share!!

I recently made deer jerky for the first time ever, using my dehydrator. It came out really tasty! At first, I was a little worried ’cause you don’t cook the meat, you just put it raw into the dehydrator. But the end product is cooked and ready for snacking! Definitely the way I’m gonna make jerky from now on!

Here is the recipe I used:

• 1 lb venison (fat and skin removed)
• 1 teaspoon liquid smoke
• 1 tablespoon A-1 Steak Sauce
• 1 tablespoon Worcestershire sauce
• 1/2 teaspoon pepper
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
• 1/2 teaspoon onion powder
• 1/2 teaspoon garlic powder
• 1/4 cup soy sauce

Slice venison about 1/4″ thin (slightly frozen meat will cut easier). In a large bowl, stir all of the ingredients together; add meat and let marinate several hours, or overnight.

You can cook this in a dehydrator, or in the oven.

If using a dehydrator, the method might be a little different, depending on your model. I have a Nesco American Harvest Dehydrator. On the jerky setting (155*F) it took 4-5 hours for the jerky to be done. Make sure you do not overlap the meat when filling the trays!

When cooking in the oven (which I have not tried yet), preheat to 150*. Place meat on a cookie sheet (again, not overlapping), and cook for 8-10 hours, or until done.

You can tell the jerky is ready when you can bend the meat and it does not break. Store in a ziploc bag or a jar in the cabinet, or keep in the fridge for longer storage. Will last several months.

We LOVE sweet potatoes! I’d never had one before I moved to the South, so I had no idea how to cook one properly. Now my favorite way to cook them is just like a baked potato in the oven.

Scrub the potatoes clean, and pat them dry. Then rub the skin with butter, place in a 350* oven on a baking sheet (I use a toaster oven), and cook for about 30 min or more. They are done when a fork easily pierces through the potato.

Split it open, add a little salt and butter (or nothing at all!). Yummy!!

Do you have a favorite Sweet Potato Recipe??

I was in the kitchen when I heard the men outside, so I went out to see what was going on. Our friend, Steve, was going to skin the deer right there! They were looking for a tree to hang it from. I think my husband asked him if he’d do it there so he could watch and learn.

I was curious, so I got in on the action as well. Jada wasn’t there, but I took Titus with me to watch. While the men were searching for a sturdy branch, I showed Ty the dead deer on the ground. It’s tongue was hanging out of it’s mouth. It was definitely a goner.

When the guys were satisfied with the tree they’d found, they drug the deer over to it, and prepared to hang it. Steve made a small slit in the back legs, just above the ankle (I think), then he inserted something that looked kinda like a clothes hanger with a hook on each side, and then used the rope to hoist it up into the air.

Before he began cutting, I asked, “So… are there gonna be like guts spilling out everywhere?” He assured me, no guts. Okay, I can handle that. Ty kept wondering what they were doing, so I explained as we watched. Using a sharp knife, Steve began cutting from the ankles of the legs that were hung up. He slowly cut the skin away from the muscle. He just worked his way down, pulling and cutting the hide away.

Jerry was completely grossed out. The other guys were teasing him. They thought it was funny that I could handle it better than he could. One of the guys said, “I bet she could do this!” Jerry said, “Oh, I know she could!” I admitted that it didn’t look that bad at all. It reminded me of removing the skin from a chicken breast. No big deal.

Titus wasn’t impressed though. He must take after his Daddy. Once he saw the skin removed, and the muscle underneath was exposed, he said, “Ewwww!” and asked me what that was. I told him that Mr. Steve was cleaning the deer up so that we could eat it. I said, “That’s our meat.” Ty quickly decided, “I don’t like meat.” I laughed and told the guys that I think they just turned my boy into a vegetarian!

When he’d skinned the deer all the way to the head, Steve asked for a saw. Jerry went to his work building and retrieved a little hack saw. It was used to sever the head from the body. I think he also used it to cut the legs at the joint. The whole time he watched Jerry kept saying, “Oh gross! Oh gross!!” He cracked me up.

I missed most of the meat cutting part, ’cause I went to find a cooler for the men to use, and Titus was done watching. When the guys were finished, they brought the meat inside to wash and pack it. They dug a hole in the woods to bury the remainder of the deer.

Steve generously split the meat between us, himself, and the guy who was with him. We put ours in Ziploc bags and threw them in the freezer.

I got a leg bone with some meat on it for our puppy. I baked it until it was cooked through, then tossed it outside for her to enjoy. Boy, did she love that!!

It was neat watching how it’s all done. I could do it. As long as I don’t have to deal with the insides, I’m good! We teased about keeping the hide to make moccasins. You never know, I just might try that one day!

For the rest of the night Titus asked me where the deer was, and I showed him the meat in the freezer.  I wonder what he’ll think when he’s eating it!