Yellow treat

Today I went on my first bike ride since my trip in Sept. I kept putting it off all day because I was tired. I finally got on my bike a little after 3 and decided that I wouldn't be walking the dogs today so I could put all my energy into my ride. The new rim is slightly thinner than the old one so I had to do a road side brake adjustment. I have breaking power in the rear now but it's not full power so I need to tinker with it a little bit more.

We had snow fall on Christmas and early this week, it was still on the ground. Today was 60 degrees! It was beautiful! Apparently, this dandelion plant thought it was spring because it was full of bright yellow flowers. It was quite eager to enjoy the weather like me! Well, I pulled over and plucked the flowers. I wrapped them in a cloth and put them in a pocket in my bike bag.

The bike ride was great! I really enjoyed myself and it gave me enough energy that when I got home, I ran upstairs and changed into regular clothes and walked the dogs after all.

After getting back home from the walk, I started preparing dinner. On tonight's menu were two new things to me. Dandelion fritters and beets. I have cooked with beets one time. It was used in a recipe that also used canned corned beef. Suffice it to say that the canned corned beef was the only thing I tasted in that one bite I was able to make myself eat.

To prepare the dandelions for the fritters, I had to strip all the green stuff off. Then, you make up a batter with eggs, milk and flour. Cover the dandelions in batter and fry that.

They were pretty good...and I ate half of them before I could get a picture. Whoops. They reminded me of a cross between a chayote squash and an eggplant.

The beet was wrapped inside a foil packet with a little oil and provence herbs (which contains lavender). Then, when they were done roasting, I splashed it with some lemon juice and parsley. I was afraid I was not going to like it but it was pretty good...though I think I'll try cooking it some other way next time.