Dandelion Blossom Fritters

I love this time of year when things are just beginning to sprout and everything feels so fresh and tender. Here at Hawk Circle, we have just started to see a few dandelion flowers in bloom as well as violets. Dandelions are a great plant and unfortunately it's a plant that many of us spend a lot of time trying to get rid of. Myself included in areas that I don't want taken over by dandelions. However, I still have plenty of dandelions around my yard and look forward to their sprouting each spring. Before the flowers bloom, the greens are great for picking to add to salads or to cook as you would other greens. Look for the real tender new leaves. Once they've bloomed, they can be quite bitter so be sure to collect them before their flowers blossom.

Once the flowers blossom, they are so much fun and easy to collect. A great project for young children since they are so easy to pop off the stem as well as easy to find and identify. One of my favorite spring recipes is Dandelion Blossom Fritters. It's simple, delicious, nutritious, and inexpensive. What more could you ask for?
Dandelion Fritter Recipe
- Collect a basketful of fresh dandelion flowers, making sure you are not collecting near a road or where the area may have been sprayed with pesticides.  Wash gently and pat to dry.
- Fill a bowl with corn flakes and crush them slightly.
- Fill another bowl with a couple of beaten eggs and a little milk.
- Dip the flowers in one by one into the beaten eggs and then roll in the crushed corn flakes.
- Place in hot skillet with about an inch of olive oil and fry until they are lightly brown and crispy.
I serve these with honey and they are delicious. I have also made a violet flower syrup to go with them since the violets come out at the same time as the dandelions. However, since violet flowers are not easy to collect being so small, I prefer to use the flowers I have for making violet jelly. Have a great spring and enjoy nature's bounty!

Healing Our Family Patterns

How many of you parents have heard, "you can't heal your kids", or "you can't heal your partner"? I've heard so many people say that and I have to say, I think that is the most disempowering message that especially as a mom and the primary caregiver for my family I have ever heard. Now I admit, I understand where that belief comes from and to some extent, it's true. It's true because the family is a system, with everyone playing a particular role in a much larger pattern and how can you heal one of your family members when you are part of the same pattern. I completely get that. However, you have the power and the potential to bring healing to your family.

The family is an energetic system, and if you can recognize the pattern that you want to change and most importantly, your participation in the pattern, then you can bring about profound change and healing to your family. However, here's the key. You can work to heal the pattern within yourself, but as far as the rest of the family goes and how they respond to your shift in the energetic pattern is completely up to them AND you must remain unattached to the outcome. You must remain open ended as to how the rest of your family responds and focus only on yourself and your own healing. Remaining open allows for miracles to happen. When we do the work and are attached to the outcome in regards to the rest of the family, you have just created a closed system. Closed systems are just that, an energetic system that is closed, not open ended. There is no room for the energy of miracles to enter.

Is it hard to be unattached? Absolutely! It's a rite of passage and an especially difficult one when you are dealing with the people you love most. A good way to approach this, is first, you are healing yourself for yourself and is a great act of loving yourself. What a wonderful example to set for your family. Second, when it comes to creating an energetic open system, a good question to put out there is "IF there was something that I could do to help, what would that look like?", or when you are healing yourself and shifting the energy, ask yourself, "IF I change this for myself, I wonder what the response will be." The open system is a much different thought process. You are leaving room for all sorts of possibilities, rather than saying something like, "IF I heal this, will they then do .............". Chances are the answer is NO. You are creating an energetic closed system and acting to get a particular response. No room for miracles there.

The other power we have is prayer. And let's not underestimate the power of prayer. Again, you don't want your prayers to be a closed system because even though you think you may know what your family member is needing, you really don't. When I pray for one of my children while they are going through a particularly difficult time, I pray for the power of their spirit to shine through. I completely trust in the power and strength of their spirit and their own innate wisdom. In a way, through the act of prayer, I am shining a light and bearing witness to their own power. It is in a way, holding the space of a spiritual midwife. I am seeing them. Not who I might want them to be, but their inner strength, wisdom and authentic self. It has been a very powerful experience and when my child's spirit shines through, I am blown away by who they are.

What a great feeling to know you have the power and don't have to sit back and watch your loved one(s) struggle. Is it an easy journey? No, it is not. It requires you to let go of control, trust, and journey deep into yourself. It requires you to be humble, to forgive yourself for your own unconsciousness, and to trust in the process of miracles.

Backyard Chickens

Raising chickens in your backyard is pretty easy to do and having fresh eggs each day for your family is so rewarding. There are a number of varieties of chickens ranging in size, color, and temperment. Every breed has a smaller version known as a Batam. Batams, being smaller than regular chickens are easier to take care of. They don't eat as much, they don't require such a large space and the coop is easier to keep clean. The drawbacks are that their eggs are smaller, 3 batam eggs equal about 2 regular eggs, and if you butcher them, they are very small once the feathers are gone. (Not meat chickens by any means!)

I raise Buff Cochins and Buff Brahmas, both Batams. I've gotten used to the smaller eggs and really enjoy these two breeds. They're not at all aggressive, very pretty to look at, and are excellent setters and layers. This isn't true for all breeds and if you want to have them hatch eggs to increase your flock, having hens that will sit on eggs til they hatch is necessary. Some breeds are great egg layers, but will never sit on eggs and others are great sitters, but don't lay many eggs.

Chickens are great at scratching the ground and finding bugs to eat, but you won't want them in your garden. They will scratch away any beds planted with seeds as well as tender saplings. It's nice to be able to have them free range, but this isn't always possible especially if you live in the suburbs or have close neighbors. A fenced in area works fine, just be sure to bury the base of your fence so other animals won't be tempted to invade the pen. Also, a 4 ft. fence is fine if you are planning on clipping their wings so they won't fly, otherwise you will need a much taller fence or you can buy netting that goes over the top of the fenced in chicken pen.

The chicken coup doesn't need to be huge, but it does need to be well ventilated. A vent opposite a window or two windows work fine. Also, the more southern exposure your coup gets, the more light in the coup which will encourage your hens to lay eggs into the winter. If you have plenty of land, having a coup on wheels is a great way to move your flock around.


As far as food, they love my daily food scraps for the compost. Just don't give it to them near the coop or you will attract other animals besides your chickens, and the other animals will be sure to find your chicken grain as well. Besides food scraps, I feed my chickens organic layer crumble. During the winter I mix it with whole corn. It's harder to digest and tends to generate heat during the cold winter months. If the egg shells seem thin or a bit fragile, I add crushed oyster shells to their feed.

How many chickens should you get? Depending on where you live, there may be zoning laws that restrict the the number of chickens you may have or in some places may not allow any chickens, so it is a good idea to check before investing time or money. I have seven hens and together they lay about 5-6 eggs a day. More than plenty for our family and the extra are used by the summer camp. If it was just our family eating them, I would probably only have about three hens. If you want to increase your flock, just leave the nest filled with eggs for a few days and they will begin sitting.

I enjoy my chickens. The eggs are so much better than anything I can buy in the store and they are so much fun to watch!