Mouthwatering Mulberries

On this magnificent morning I've been out nibbling luscious mulberries. Okay, I've actually been doing it every day this past week. It's mulberry season in northwest Missouri, the time of year to slow down and savor one of the delights of the edible outdoors.



Mulberries are the perfect berry. They're wonderfully sweet, with no seeds to get stuck in your teeth. No sour surprises if you pick them carefully. If you're like me and don't like tart berries, only pick berries that release easily from the tree. The best ones will practically fall into your hand.

Raspberries are also ripe this time of year. With raspberries, choose only the darkest berries for the sweetest flavor. Raspberries do have seeds, but they are smaller and softer than the seeds of the blackberry.

Carefully selecting the berries you want to eat is a contemplative activity, almost a form of meditation. As you put each morsel into your mouth, the flavor explodes. Close your eyes, and really taste the sweet nectar of life.




The mulberries bring deer into the yard. They love mulberries! I'm sure a lot of other little animals come at night when I don't see them. What I do see is the occasional insect enjoying a sweet feast.

Salmon-Stuffed Daylily Blossoms

The daylilies are blooming like mad and I got to make one of my favorite wild dishes. These blooms always provoke a lot of questions when I take them to a dinner. They're a great first introduction to wild foods.



To make these simply remove the stamens from the center of the flower and stuff any kind of tasty filling into the hollow. I usually use long pieces of wild onions or chives to simulate the stamens, but this time I've used the flowers from some Lady's Thumb for decoration.

My salmon salad recipe is basically 1 can of pink salmon drained and with the bones removed. Chop up one apple and add it to the salmon, along with a couple of dollops of mayonnaise to taste.

That's it! You'll be surprised at how good this simple recipe tastes. You really don't need anything else. Use this salmon salad to stuff into the Daylily flowers or just on a sandwich.