Daylily season is upon us. Our yard is full of daylilies. Not the carefully bred and beautiful ones my mother loved and collected, but the wild orange "ditch" kind as they're known around here. When we bought our place we had no idea that the previous owner loved them so much that he planted a huge strip of them, probably a 1/3 of an acre, between our house and the neighbor's.
So while I was berry picking Friday I gathered a bowl full.
How beautiful is this chair? Husband and I quit smoking when I got pregnant and now these chairs hardly ever get used. They were my smokin' chairs.
Anyway. It seems like the flowers should be good for something. I know they are edible. Most recipes call for treating them pretty much like you would a zucchini flower - as in frying them. It's really hot outside, and we don't have air conditioning so that's out. I adore hot and sour soup and from what I've read daylilies are a pretty important part of getting the flavor of the soup "correct". What the heck.
I didn't know if I should gather the flowers or the buds, so I picked both.
Because no one here wants hot soup in July, enter Uncle Norm's dehydrator. It was once owned by my great uncle who was a really interesting and lovely man and I am happy to remember him when I use it.
It looks like tiny bananas. The brown things are shiitake mushrooms I grew.
I put the trays in and ran it at 95 degrees until everything was dried. They'll be stored in the freezer just in case though. I am excited to try some different versions of hot and sour soup this fall. Lord knows finding chicken stock won't be a problem.
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