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Back in the early 70’s our family used to go on float trips and do some hiking. One of our hobbies during that time was searching out edible plants.

I remember eating yucca and spring beauties specifucally and it seemed we identified all the native plants, but memory being what it is (use it or lose it), I don’t remember a lot of it.

So I went to the bookshelves at home: “Stalking the wild Asparagus” by Gibbons. “The Weed Cookbook” by Crowhurst, and “The Flower Cookbook” by Crowhurst are the ones I can remember. Haven’t found the Gibbons book yet, but I did find the other two.

The weed cookbook is organized from A to Z, and starts with the mighty acorn for example. Acorns are a good source of protein, calcium, magnesium and phosphorus and have been used as a staple in the diets of Duropeans and many tribes of the American Indian.

Boiling and roasting is necessary to get rid of the tannins which give an astringent/bitter taste. Then they can be eaten whole, rolled in honey, or ground into flour.

ACORN BREAD RECIPE

2 cups milk or stock 2 Tbls dry yeast
2 Tbls oil or butter 1/3 cup lukewarm water
1/3 cup honey 4&2/3 cup acorn flour
2 tsp salt

Basically follow the same method for bread making found in any cookbook-letting the mixture rise, punching down and seperating into 2 loaf pans to rise again. Bake for 40 minutes @ 375 degree oven. Brush top with melted butter.

We have more Oak trees here than any other tree. So I plan to collect enough acorns this fall to give it a try. It should be interesting.

I was so happy to think of these books. At zero cost today, that’s a real find.LOL