European Stars And Stripes (Newspaper) - January 14, 1981, Darmstadt, Hesse                                Page 20 the stars and stripes january 1981 Side dish of Fried lillies 4a generous Dollop Barry Renfrew associated press just As every seasoned gourmet Edelene Wood insists on perfection the Rattlesnake Steak succulent and the worm cake Rich and to and just a hint of spice in the creamy Raccoon on a sunny Day there is nothing this intrepid resident of likes better than a walk through the Woods with a group of wild they May even taste the Trees and nibble the grass before sitting Down to a roast some sizzling Possum a dish of Fried lillies and maybe just one More helping of ant cake and nettle ice you dont normally think of Beaver or Worms As but we prepare everything from berries to you can even make a very Fine Daiquiri from Strong Horn says Asher West Virgin is state each a Small congregation of Folk and armchair adventurers from around the country spend a Day or two at nearby North Bend state they have special permission from the state to Gorge themselves on whatever they can dig or drag out of West Virginias for one weekend dosing themselves with herbal remedies and gulps of fiery Strawberry the members of this Hardy band of scavengers eat in much the same fashion As the first pioneers who came Over the if it looks take a Mouthful and try advises Kelley As he leads a group into the after a recent Day of the omnivorous nature lovers feasted on marinated snapping Cricket Friendship Green wild Pepper flow ers and a roast Beaver bathed in autumn Olive Mulberry punch and wild Grapevine Che roots helped soothe the while some of the younger diners coyly discussed wild its fascinating to know what you can eat if you have says Bill of dangling a five foot that mighty pretty famed among an admittedly Small Circle of wild food enthusiasts for his earthworm Faust has relearned the old Frontier Art of surviving on whatever can be Gath ered in the wilderness by stealth and but theres nothing As Good As a piece of worm it tastes like a spice a sweetened worm tastes like a Raisin and its 73 percent he offering a recipe that starts with two cups of fat on the Remote farms of the Knack of filling out a meal with a groundhog or wild lillies has survived Long after disappearing from More Urban re Jim Fleshman is a Short West virginian whose stories tend to be As tall As his native he says he Learned to live off the land during the hardtack Days of the great modern living a time when wild roots and herbs were Gath ered for the table and the Medicine dandelions often took the place of Coffee and wild berries were made into jellies and Ive been in this Ever since i was a my grandmother taught me about wild plants and How to gather them up and prepare them on the farm where i grew Fleshman while passing around wild grape Vine he adds its an old time its it Burns the Tongue a Little and sometimes you need a Mustard plaster on the Back of your head to draw on Ive always smoked red Nullen leaves and life i was Good with Sears Roebuck there were certain pages that rolled better than As the diners Wolf their Way through the Turtle Violet leaves and dandelion Wood beams and says the hours spent in her backyard with a recipe for Cricket cake in one hand and a net in the other hand were Well Worth after meeting the late Euell a Well known she began organizing wild food expeditions several years she now pursues these pastimes full travelling from North Carolina to new Mexico and preparing and of everything from sea anemones to Armadel like Many of her friends and Woods taste for wild food sprang from her interest in botany and a hankering for something after impulsively Fry ing up some lillies from the Garden one Day instead of putting them in a she went on to develop an imposing array of wild dishes and the first Mouthful is always the she offering a generous Dollop of Rattlesnake salad on a Elwood a biology professor at James Madison entertains the sated diners with hints about what a touch of Ginseng or Rose hips can do for flagging herbs traditionally have been used As aphrodisiacs to help Correct chemical and nutritional deficiencies that can impair physiological he i get excited about put wild in front of it and i get especially Fisher Faust people eat and think its great and Praise the then we Tell them what it most of them get Peculiar looks on their i like that at wits end by Erma Bombeck since the Mother has been looking a Little its nothing you can put your Finger on a lot of dragging from chair to chair and heavy when i saw her doctor at a social i mentioned my Mother to him and he suggested we run a series on whats a series i garage he popping a cheese puff into his run an old ice Cream Freezer before her eyes and to let this go for a or a chipped Candy dish youd be willing to sacrifice for a Quarter and see How she that going to make her Well Ive seen women at deaths door who hiked three Miles in the dark to get dibs on last years Calendar and a Box of melted Candle its Worth a the next time i saw i mentioned i had a pair of cuff links with scorpions on a Lawn chair that  a drinking Glass with a picture of Johnny Bench on a jewel Box that played Happy Days Are Here and four milk stained mothers Blank face slowly came her droopy shoulders her Limp hands became clenched and she stood up and that sounds like the beginning of a garage from that moment she became a she moved the cars from the garage to the Hung lines for carted card tables out of closets and pos Ted ran orchestrated the comings and goings of merchandise and barked orders like a Dock worker unloading the be it was like watching a transformation in slow to her Steps her Cheeks flushed with her humor was her wit Sharp and i would have been willing to bet this frail woman would never have been Able to carry a Tisseree under her Arm a week the Day of the Sale was her finest no we dont do you want that stuffed Hamster head or not i got three ask if the boots didst have a Hole in would you be Able to buy them for 50 cents we dont who do you think we Saks we Call that a husband and put him Hes not for Hes just i asked the doctor if All series were that Success he if a woman Doest respond to a garage very in not too optimistic about c Field enterprises