Dandelions don't get respect as in days of yore

Dear Shirley,

People don't walk two miles to school anymore, and they don't dig their own potatoes from the fields. But if you mention dandelion wine in some circles, you can count on a lively conversation.

You see, people around here in the olden days made their own dandelion wine. In fact, they talked the Grand Forks Fair Superintendent into opening up a category for the wine 100 years ago. They figured there were so many dandelions in bloom during June 1910 that they might as well do something with them.

This week, I got a recipe that has been saved for decades by Monica Larivee of Grand Forks. Her late husband, Bert Larivee, was born on a farm near the present Grand Forks International Airport. Bert was several years older than Monica, and he expected her to make dandelion wine. After all, his mother always did.

I don't know if you have dandelions down there in Arizona. I know my friend Jacque Evan grew up eating the greens in Pennsylvania. Well, anyway, here is how they made the dandelion wine, Shirley. They would take two quarts of dandelion blossoms and pour one gallon of boiling water over the blossoms. Then, they would leave that mess set overnight.

The next morning, they would strain it through cheesecloth and add the juice and rind of two oranges and the juice of one lemon. Then, they would add a half of a yeast cake and four pounds of sugar. They would let it stand until it fermented and then quit bubbling. They would strain it all again and put it in bottles.

They used corks to seal the big ginger ale bottles that also are a thing of the past.

I have some more recipes for beet wine and chokecherry bounce. Let me know if you have any need for them in Arizona. Or maybe you are too busy trying to find out where your new home will be now that your house is gone.

We're into the first official week of summer now, and the Greater Grand Forks Fair is running through Sunday. The Red River International Bike Tour is off and running. They should be at Hatton, N.D., tonight.

Anne is still with me and enjoying her afternoons in the SPA group that will be putting on a review called "Come Together" on July 8-10. I have a feeling it will be the greatest dancing and singing musical on Earth. People are already getting their tickets for the SPA shows coming up next month. You wouldn't believe the energy that girls have at age 14, Shirley. Of course, the energy lasts well into the evening, and then they hole up until late the next morning.

It's fun having a teenager in the house, Shirley. She eats a lot of pizza and macaroni and cheese. And she climbed up while I held the ladder and cleaned out all the gunk from my rain gutters. There was water sitting up there, probably breeding mosquitoes. And there was mud and dirt with weeds growing in the rain gutters.

This has been an interesting season so far. The rain and the wind put an end to the peonies that were blooming all over. The daisies are growing like weeds and we have lilies in bloom. The second night of Summerthing for Kids is running at University Park from 5 to 8 p.m. today. And City Band concerts continue as summer moves in. After the opening of the American Indians of the Red River Valley exhibit at 5 p.m., there is a concert at 7:30 tonight at the Myra Museum. Even though the city has been spraying, it probably would be a good idea to come armed with spray. Or do you even know what that is in the desert?

Love from your sister Marilyn, picking blueberries off the supermarket shelves on the west bank of the Red River.

Reach Hagerty at mhagerty@gra.midco.net or at (701) 772-1055.