nativetexan

boy, i'm from the South but have no idea!!

BellaBoo

poke salet has to be picked when it's very young and then boiled to get all the toxins out (the dark berries on it are poison) It tastes like spinach and is full of vitamins. It's one of the first greens growing after winter, so long ago that was the only fresh vegetables people had before the gardens came in. Did you know green pine needles have more vitamin C then any other food? Sasasfras root will fortify your immune system. My grandmother use to make tea from sassafras roots every spring to 'clean the blood'. In the winter time she made tea from green pine needles when fresh fruit wasn't available. I can't remember a time when any of us kids or family members were sick with the flu or had any illness at all other then a cold now and then. And we were told because we didn't keep our hand clean was why we got a cold.

mermaid

Oh my, a step back in time...I always loved sassafras tea--still buy the roots whenever I find it for sale aomewhere...just love the taste of it better than regular tea. I've been told that once poke gets berries, it is poison to eat. Have you ever breaded the stalk in corn meal and fried?? I've tried that--tastes a bit like fish.

eastermarie

I liked the sassafras tea! Couldn't drink too many cups or you'd get a nose bleed. I know it takes a long time to cook those collard greens and the smell is pretty bad when they are cooking. They are not a green you can saute in butter and eat just wilted!

mermaid

Everybody's been very helpful in responding to my inquiry--and I appreciate the input. My greens are washed and ready to put in the pressure cooker...should do a quick job of tenderizing.

shortstuff

I cook them like turnip greens add bacon, red pepper flakes, onions, garlic. and if they are bitter add a little sugar. They are better after the frost has hit them in the fall.

BellaBoo

I remember my grandmother saying sassafras will thin the blood. I remember long ago sassafras was thought to clean clogged arteries before the cholesterol meds were available. And funny that's when sassafras was labeled as could cause cancer and many stores stopped selling it. I have a sassafras tree in my back yard. I make the best file (gumbo stuff) by drying the leaves. jThe trees grow fast and make great shade trees.

BeckyL

We usually didn't eat collards until after the first frost hit them. That sweetened them. Wash, wash, wash, cut out the tough center stem, cut them into shreds, cook in salted water until tender. I learned to use a little butter instead of the fat back I grew up with. Pot likker was served separate.

quiltsillysandi

Nothing better than a big ole bowl of collard greens and cornbread.........You can use hamhocks, or bacon seasoning, that's what us southerners use....Not sure I'd cook collards in a pressure cooker though..:) ..Hope they turn out great for ya!

Ramona Byrd

My grandmother use to make tea from sassafras roots every spring to 'clean the blood'. In the winter time she made tea from green pine needles when fresh fruit wasn't available. I can't remember a time when any of us kids or family members were sick with the flu or had any illness at all other then a cold now and then. And we were told because we didn't keep our hand clean was why we got a cold.[/quote]
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Are you sure you didn't grow up near me in Milton, WV? That's the same way I was raised. Even after I left to come to CA, my uncle used to pick and send us Sass roots. Then I discovered it can be found in some health food stores..forgot about it lately, have to hunt up more. And as for greens, anything that grew in the garden or fields or woods was fair game for our table.