Many gardeners and food enthusiasts know that such flowers as Calendula, Nasturtiums, Chrysanthemums, Bachelor's Buttons, Lavender, Roses and others are edible. There's just something unique and beautiful about eating a delicious flower.

Some time ago, a good friend of mine told us of how his grandmother used to make him fried pumpkin blossom fritters for breakfast. Having only that information to work with, here's the recipe that we've come up with.

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You may be wondering how you'll ever get pumpkins to grow if you keep cutting off the flowers. Don't worry, Pumpkins have both male and female flowers. The male flowers are the ones that pollinate the female flowers, and they are easy to differentiate. Male flowers have a long, thin stem, with no fruit under the flower. The female flowers will have a tiny pumpkin beneath them. If you only eat the males, your plant will still produce pumpkins, and you certainly don't have to eat every male flower, though after you try this recipe, you might want to. Once the pollinating purpose of the male flower is over, the only other way to have it be used for any food source is to eat it.

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Squash flowers can also be substituted for this recipe.

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INGREDIENTS

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• Pumpkin Blossoms (about 5 per adult, 2 or 3 per child)

• Pancake Batter

• Handful of Elderberries (Optional)

• Coconut Oil

• Powdered Sugar (Optional)

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DIRECTIONS

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• Follow whatever directions you normally would for making your pancake batter. If you're not making it from scratch, the box will tell you how. I won't waste your time here. I just try to make sure that it is thick, so that it will coat well. Add Elderberries if desired and dip your first pumpkin blossom in.

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• Heat Coconut Oil in a pot. This would also be a good recipe to use with a deep-fryer, but I'm trying to go a little less industrial and a little more healthy. Once it is hot, place your first coated pumpkin blossom in the hot oil.

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• Since I'm not deep-frying them, I make sure that the Coconut Oil is deep enough to reach halfway up the coated blossom. Once one side is done, flip it over to cook the other side.

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• After placing the fried blossoms on a paper towel for a bit to draw out any excess oil, they are ready to serve.

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• Make sure to grab some first before setting them out for the kids, or you may not get any. These delicious fritters can be served with a meal or as an afternoon snack.

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• My wife also suggested sprinkling a little powdered sugar on top (optional) to serve as a dessert. I think that they tasted like delicious doughnuts wrapped around a flower.

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It's a simple recipe, and one more way to get some usually overlooked food out of the garden. They certainly don't taste like pancakes to me, and I'm glad my friend shared that story about his grandmother. Since the blossoms are hollow on the inside, I'm thinking about developing a recipe to stuff them first, I'm just not sure with what; probably strawberries or some sort of fruit. Let me know if you beat me to it.

If you're wondering where you can find some fresh Elderberries, I put a post out shortly in my series THE EDIBLE OUTDOORS where I share about tasty, overlooked foods growing outdoors all around us.

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