Unlike the cranberries, the acorns seem to be never ending. Bicycle helmets serve double duty as daily bike rides along our oak lined road have become something akin to dodge ball. Every fall these smooth, shiny treasures fill our pockets, line window sills, and become the makings of some craft or another. One of my favorite activities from several years ago was the making of our "hundred" board.
The title photo is an old one from that fall, with Juniper's then 3 yr. old feet in those favorite shoes of mine, and her fast pudgy hands gathering acorns.
This year the acorns are most treasured by the current almost 3 yr. old.
But they have not been forgotten by the others. Wylie and Juniper were recently inspired (as they frequently are) to gather wild foods and play "survival" or "Mary and Laura" depending on who you ask. This particular day was their most successful and after much collecting, shelling, pounding, and grinding yielded some pretty good acorn pancakes. For the first batch the kids wanted to use all gathered foods and we turned to our two edible plants books to find alternate flour ideas. There were many different options for making flour but most involved days of soaking, drying and pounding. They tried one batch with all acorn flour (and two eggs, water, and maple syrup) which was edible but lacking. The second batch was a mixture of 1/3 acorn flour, 1/3 rice flour, and 1/3 tapioca starch. With some wild blueberries and maple syrup they were a hit.
The title photo is an old one from that fall, with Juniper's then 3 yr. old feet in those favorite shoes of mine, and her fast pudgy hands gathering acorns.
This year the acorns are most treasured by the current almost 3 yr. old.
But they have not been forgotten by the others. Wylie and Juniper were recently inspired (as they frequently are) to gather wild foods and play "survival" or "Mary and Laura" depending on who you ask. This particular day was their most successful and after much collecting, shelling, pounding, and grinding yielded some pretty good acorn pancakes. For the first batch the kids wanted to use all gathered foods and we turned to our two edible plants books to find alternate flour ideas. There were many different options for making flour but most involved days of soaking, drying and pounding. They tried one batch with all acorn flour (and two eggs, water, and maple syrup) which was edible but lacking. The second batch was a mixture of 1/3 acorn flour, 1/3 rice flour, and 1/3 tapioca starch. With some wild blueberries and maple syrup they were a hit.
The Peterson Guide is much easier to use and full of information, but Gibbons is pretty fun.
Yum!
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