Summer Solstice
June 21th

Good temper, like many a sunny day,
Sheds brightness on everything.
It is the sweetner of toil
And the soother of disquetude.
----Irving

      Midsummer Ale
1/2 ounce fresh oak leaves
1/2 ounce golden pipes (chamomile)
1/2 ounce primrose flowers ( or red         rose)

      Infuse herbs in 1 gallon red wine for    24 hours.  Add 9 teaspoons honey and 1     teaspoon vanilla.  Filter and chill before    serving.  (garnish with a fresh flower)

Dandelion Wine

16 cups dandelion blossoms
1/2 gallon water
Juice from 2 lemons
1/2 teaspoon wine yeast
2-1/2 pounds sugar
1 used tea bag

Rinse your blossoms in cool water, but do not allow them to soak. Make sure all the green is removed and only blossoms remains to put in your kettle. Next, in a separate container, heat 1/2 gallon of the water and pour over the blossoms. Let mixture steep until cool. Drain these off, squeezing as much liquid out as possible, and discard the flowers.

Take the remaining liquid and add 1/2 the sugar, lemon jucie, tea bag and yeast. Cover with a clean dish towel to let the mixture ferment at room temperture, adding 1 cup of sugar every 3 days until used up. After 2 weeks, pour off into a gallon jug corked with cheese cloth ball. This should sit for 30 days, then may be put in freshly scrubbed bottles, corked and labeled. Serve after 1 week; keep for about 1 year.