Dandelion coffee

What do you do when life gives you a garden and yard full of dandelions?

Make dandelion coffee.

Snoop out dandelions in your yard. If you don't have any dandelions, I am sure there are masses of people who will not mind if you dig up hoards of them out of their yards. Wash them off with the hose really, really well, no one wants to drink dirt.

Cut off the roots and lay them in a baking dish. Put in the oven at 200 until they are dry.

How long? If you plan on two hours and then go to town and forget they are still in the oven, when you get back they should be just about perfect. For a roasted flavor, turn the oven up to 375 degrees for 15-20 minutes after they are dry.

Grind them up like coffee beans. It looks a lot like teeny, tiny, wood shavings. Put about a 1/4 of a cup in the coffee maker and turn it on. We used a 1/4 of a cup because that is how much we had after the whole drying process. Pretty convenient wasn't it? Play around with the amount of "grounds" until you get a flavor you like.

The house smelled wonderful after the drying and the perking of the coffee. The taste was good, bitter like the leaves, but good. Put a shot of International Delight with Hershey's Chocolate Caramel in it and mmmmm, it's a winner. Only drawback is there isn't any caffeine for those of us who need it.