Sumac Summer...

Well, it almost wasn't a Sumac summer this year... like every other sentence that has come out of my mouth.... it is just too dry.  Our Sumac flowers never opened.  Just dried up and turned to powder on the stem. Poor bees....poor us.....  BUT while we were out checking bees in an off farm yard....Preston, his momma and I found some.

If you have never tried Sumac berries you are in for a treat! I guess I should say if you like all things lemon... lemon heads, lemon aide, za'atar.... then you are in for a treat.

Pick the whole cluster, they are best when they look like they have been rolled in sugar but even if they don't just pick them.

 Now you are faced with two choices..1) pop them in your mouth immediately and enjoy the refreshing taste of summer or 2) carry them home to be dried.

Preston chose to eat his immediately, he has done this before, my friend, and knows what it's all about.

be like Preston.
you can thank us later.

I will add a disclaimer here, about feeding sumac to littles... last year he was barely over a year old when I gave him a cluster like that. He and I wallerd in the wonderful flavor and got it all over us.. we were sour and sticky and..... and then... he rubbed his eyes... and it burned.  I'm not sure who was crying harder by the time we made it back to the house to wash it off  ~ Memaw or the dude but it was not a pretty sight.  have a washrag ready.

P.S.Yes, his hair is wet.  We got caught in one of the two rainstorms that we have had this summer and it was so gloriously beautiful we kept right on working in it.


back to sumac...

If your sumac made it home it now has lots of wonderful uses

You can make Sumac-aide.  just inspect those clusters for critters and plop it in a glass of ice cold water for a bit.

the stem is kind of piney tasting so if you don't want that use a fork and scrape the berries off.

OR

you can share them with your little brother...

and be rewarded with big smiles and sour shudders

Or you can dry them...

If this is your first time with Sumac you can get away with tossing them on a cookie sheet and letting them sit on the counter until the next morning... If not and your family knows what's up then just head straight for the dehydrator because if you leave them sitting on the counter they will eat them all.... the voice of experience here, ladies.

once they are good and dry you will  use a fork to rake them off the stems and toss them into the blender

It's not really the entire berry that you will use for cooking but the outer shell. the blender will bust them apart and inside your blender, you will have red powder and seeds... lots and lots of seeds.

Dump that into a flour sifter or on top of a fine screen and shake it around until the red powder is on a plate below and the seeds are dry on the screen.  Chickens love the seeds or you can plant them to grow more bushes.

This powder can now be used to season your food.  I like to mix it with smartweed and make a wild version of lemon pepper chicken or rabbit.  It can also be used in Za'atar.  Za'atar can be used to season any kind of meat and eggs. I sprinkle it in soups and on popcorn.

2 Tbs dried thyme or oregano (or one of each)
2 Tbs ground cumin
2 Tbs ground coriander
2 Tbs sumac powder
2Tbs ground sesame seeds

*just a quick tip. herbs and spices are best stored whole and then ground in a coffee grinder when ready to use.

mix it together and store in an airtight container. The sumac powder is the dark red at the top... I somehow didn't get a picture of it alone. I know... you're surprised.

I got to eat this for lunch just because I needed a blog picture.... I need to blog more often.

Just not today, I gotta run and put up more tree hay, this drought has me scrounging like a beggar trying to keep my cows.  I will, however, be posting about tree hay here in a few days so make sure you stop back by if you have livestock.. or even if you don't because I miss ya when you're gone.

Have a great day!