Manley Community Newsletter

May 15, 2013

Devin Holdorf, daughter of Dawn and Kevin Holdorf of Manley, recently returned from a two week mission trip to Serenje, Zambia located in the southeast part of Africa.

Devin and twelve other members of Brookside Church in Omaha hosted a Sunday School camp like experience for the orphans at the Hope Children's Center. During camp, the children were able to play games, watch a movie, and even have a birthday party which was the first for nearly all of the children.
While there, they also went to two other villages and even did a food distribution to over 100 orphans and caretakers. The last time Devin was in Zambia she recognized their was a need for basic medical supplies at the Hope Center and collected supplies over the last year and was able to deliver them to the orphanage director. She hopes to return in the near future.

========================

Spring in Nebraska is never without a yard full of dandelions. People have tried digging them out, pulling the blossoms off, spraying them and a lot of other unsuccessful methods to try to eradicate them. But shortly, there they are again. Well, why not EAT them? They are loaded with vitamins and anti-oxidants and can be eaten from blossom to roots.

There are lots of recipes for the old favorites like dandelion wine and dandelion greens with onion and garlic. But something that I had never tried until a friend of mine cooked some up and called them dandelion fritters. Get a big basket, or bowl and pluck all those beautiful little yellow blossoms sprinkled all over your lawn that have been driving you crazy (make sure there's no little critters attached) and cook up a batch. Here is a simple recipe:
Pick your blossoms on a sunny day so they are open. Make sure they have not been previously sprayed with any type of herbicide.

Mix together:
1 egg
1 cup of milk
Stir in 1 cup of flour

Holding each blossom by the green underside, dip the petals into the batter and swirl around until completely coated, then drop flower side down into a skillet of warmed cooking oil. Continue dipping and dropping but only cover the bottom of the skillet. Cook at medium temperature until blossoms are lightly browned then flip them over and brown the other side. When both sides are browned, remove from the skillet and drain excess oil on a paper towel. Then get a glass of wine, take your plate of little crispy dandelions out onto the front porch, kick back and smile at your nice green lawn.
Check out other nutritious ways you can use dandelions.