Archive for June, 2008
Relaxed and Refined
I’m really putting my lavender plants to work already this summer. First a lavender-infused vinegar, then a bubbly lavender lemonade, and now lavender scented ice cream! I’m running to catch up to the bandwagon here, flagging it down like a speeding city bus. Many folks have long been touting how sublime the marriage of lavender and cream is. But I hadn’t bought into it until this weekend.
Last fall I tried an ice cream recipe that called for dried lavender leaves. But you never got to hear about that recipe since it was so medicinal tasting that I never bothered to post it to the blog. After the success of the lemon honey ice cream last month, I got up the gumption to give the lavender concept another try.
Beat the Heat
“Hot. So very hot.” These words, or some variation of them, echo through my head at least a dozen times a day now. Interspersed among them are a sundry of other fleeting thoughts, most prevalent among them being, “is it lunchtime yet?” You see, laboring as I do outside so much of the day in my horticulture work, I tend to quickly get a little parched and hungry. Concocting refreshing icy beverages has become a priority.
This desperation for refreshment brings us to a second lavender recipe in a row (dare I tell you there’s soon to be a third? I can’t help myself). Lavender Lemon Soda is the ideal remedy for a sweaty brow. It is downright cleansing with its effervescent flavors. I have been intrigued by herbal sodas since last summer when I had one at a local café, but I surprised even myself with how tasty this particular combination turned out to be.
For the Four Eyes
No matter how much I enjoy them, I always feel a little strange about eating dandelion greens. It’s also strange to think about somebody purposely growing dandelions, don’t you think? But the truth is, they’re mighty tasty, in that slightly bitter way.
The farm is growing dandelions for the first time this year, and the large bunch I brought home with me landed on the counter next to the mesh bag of baby red potatoes I’d just picked up at the store. Fate would have these two ingredients married together over the course of the next hour into a hearty warm salad, one of those concoctions where I raided the fridge and threw in whatever seemed viable, including the rest of the chicory from last week.
Blast From the Past
In choosing the herbs for my garden this year, I went a little overboard with the lavender. I’ve mentioned my fondness for lavender before, but it bears repeating. I find the scent of lavender heavenly and the color of the flowers alluring, so much so that I named my cat Lavender. I like tossing the fresh buds in cookies, herbal teas, and even ice cream. And of course, the dried flowers make great sachets for dresser drawers.
However, with four large plants blooming like mad in my garden right now (I’m harvesting massive handfuls every day!), I decided it was time to do something with the buds that I hadn’t thought to do in awhile – make an herbal vinegar.
Bread Co-op: Oatmeal
How many of you are members of a cooperative, or co-op? I became a member of a large, well-establish co-op (the one associated with Weavers Way Farm) here in the city awhile back, and I’ve seen a few co-op apartments advertised around the neighborhood. But generally speaking, I always saw co-ops as these big entities that somehow solidified when no one was looking. Of course, I know that some energized and creative folks worked hard to start them at one point, but I’d never seen it happen.
Thanks to some creative minds at Weavers Way Farm, the development of a co-op has been demystified for me. Farmer Dave and the great interns working with him this year, Nina and Nicole, decided to start a bread co-op. Knowing how much I love to be in the kitchen, they invited me to “join”. Now, I’m guessing you might have had some of the same questions I did. What is a bread co-op? How does it work? Is there a membership fee? How do I benefit? What kind of bread do I need to make?
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