Lamb Ribs and Dandelion Greens

Last night my husband made lamb ribs (as I mentioned yesterday). He made a sauce with molasses, soy sauce and something else that I can't remember. I sauteed our dandelion greens (maybe 1/2 a pound) in 2 tablespoons of butter and about that much garlic. The scent was heavenly. The ribs were barbaric - meaty and greasy. I told my son I had this urge to yell out "Wilma don't spare the spare ribs" - they were that good. My husband and son felt they were too greasy. I loved it. I just loved the whole idea of them. They were not easy to eat. My first one I ate with my hands so the second one I tried using a knife but they were so tight and so many bones that it was an impossible task. I still loved them. As for the dandelion greens - I loved them less but they were tasty. Slightly bitter, as expected, but not as bitter as eating them raw. A cup of dandelion greens has about 25 calories. I did cover them in butter but not so much that they were calorie prohibitive. For survival, I'd need a lot more butter to keep the weight on but for a spring low-cal treat they were good. It didn't take me long to gather the leaves and I did have to wash them (and pull out several stray grass bits as I was cooking) but all in all, I found them worth the work. I keep seeing dandelions everywhere. It makes me excited because there is a food. I don't have a ton of root but I can't wait to play with that either. I, also, keep finding more and more oregon grape plants. I can't wait for the berries. The berries are not tasty (the books say) but they are high in pectin so will be a great addition to making jellies. I'd love to be able to stop buying pectin and use the berries. I thought about juniper berries yesterday as I was walking. I'm going to look that up and see what I can do. I would love to harvest some berries since I come across recipes that use them every now and again. I've been adding some dehydrated oranges to my tea every morning. I really like it. When I finish the tea, I pour water over them and have a great treat. I've been drinking so much water, I might just float away. It's good though, the temperature went from 50 to 80 practically overnight. We got a good season this year if the warm weather holds. I hope to get my garden started. I'll be putting in some zucchini seeds and the like, saving the plants for a little while longer to make sure they are hardy enough for the weather. I did see a wonderful idea for protecting your plants outside - surround them in hay bales and cover with windows. I might just use plastic or pick up a piece of Plexiglas. I do recommend going out and trying dandelions - bitter greens are supposed to be great for digestion. Supposedly the bitter causes the stomach to produce more acid (heartburn is actually caused by not having enough acid not an excess as we have been lead to believe). The added acid helps the body be more efficient, reducing problems like heartburn.