Poke Berries and Poke Salad

Who knew how intriguing that the poke plant was to kids who roamed the fields in summer? We had heard that the purple/red berries were poison, but we carefully made “dye” with them. We knew people ate poke salad (or sallet) but there were scary rules about using only the young leaves and multiple rinses to remove the poison. I was an adult in Alabama before I ate some (at a church covered dish dinner). Topped with sliced boiled eggs, it was very tasty. Submitted by Ray Harding.