water lilys & cattails, i got a bunch i planted, some body said you can eat types of water plants??ever heard ot tub gardens?? check out water garden sites.

-- al-d. (catt@zianet.com), June 10, 1999

Answers

Dear Al,

Please note the "PLEASE check recent questions and postings before you decide to post a new question of your own. This forum has become exceedingly busy in the past couple of months, and there is a great deal of duplication of questions and answers. This makes it difficult for visitors to sort through the blizzard of postings to find something useful." that is at the top of the page every time you open up a new thread.

I don't know what % of the new threads are your's but if you want to be completely ignored by a lot of people (example Norm), keep poluting this forum with duplicate threads and you'll get pollys, MOTR, doomers, and lurkers mad at you for not having the courtesy to respect the wishes of the forum operators and make the forum easier to use for all of us. Every useless new thread rolls off older threads and many times the main menu will respond whereas the New Answers will give a server busy.

-- Ken Seger (kenseger@earthlink.net), June 10, 1999.

al-d--thanks for the interesting question. I have water plants volunteeering all over the place around here. Various types. I'd love to know which are edible, and how.

Ken, I agree this site is crowded, and I'd like to know how to find out if there is already a thread going, as you suggested to al-d. Just to experiment around, I did a "find" for water lily, cat tails, water plants, and recipes. The only thing I found here at this site was recipes for brownies. What is your method? I assume you don't open every letter and read it...

-- malcolm drake (jumpoff@echoweb.net), June 10, 1999.

malcolm,

>I'd like to know how to find out if there is already a thread going, as you suggested to al-d. Just to experiment around, I did a "find" for water lily, cat tails, water plants, and recipes. The only thing I found here at this site was recipes for brownies. What is your method? I assume you don't open every letter and read it...

A find for just "recipe" in the titles of threads in the "Food" archive gets 13 hits, Malcolm. Have you noticed the archive categories at the bottom of the Top Level page? They're in the "Older Messages (by category)" section, under the "New Questions" section. The "Food" category has 562 threads, as of the time I write this. The "Misc" category, with 584 threads, had two threads with "recipe" in the title (they're apparently recipes for non-food items). The "Uncategorized" category, with far more (about 5000) threads than any other category, has 9 hits for "recipe".

-- No Spam Please (nos_pam_please@hotmail.com), June 10, 1999.

ya didn't need to yell at Al for this one,no jesus/"BOB" stuff on this thread,seems like a valid thread to me.let's not harp on past threads.

-- zoobie (zoobiezoob@yahoo.com), June 11, 1999.

al-d.:

Your threads would be clearer if you would use a more precise title such as: Anyone know of recipes for Cattails, Lilies, etc?

Cattails are VERY versatile food plants: one part or another can be eaten at virtually any time of the year.

Roots: Best in the fall, but anytime you can dig them. Scrub them very well, peel off the outside (what is left is kinda skimpy, but it's "free" )steam or boil them. They are full of stringy fibers but can certainly provide much needed starches. You can also pound the roots in water to rinse the starch out, then use it for baking (no gluten, so it won't rise well).

Root ends (before stalks appear) Peel and cook like potatoes

Young stalks: Pull the innermost stalks out slowly. The bottom 4" to 12" will be white. You can cut that off. It is edible both raw (it is a bit slimy) or cooked like, say, asparagus.

Cattails (flower heads, actually) themselves: When green, before the papery sheath that covers them is broken, snap off the stalk, peel off the sheath, boil for a few minutes and eat like corn on the cob. Or cut the cooked material off and serve as a vegetable. It can be sort of dry, so it may need some butter or oil.

When the flower heads break out of the sheath but are still green, hold them over a bucket or bag and shake or strike vigorously. You will see a lot of yellow pollen falling out. This can be mixed with flour and baked, used in soups and stews, etc. You can dry it for storage. It has a high protein content.

-- Jon Williamson (pssomerville@sprintmail.com), June 11, 1999.