Sometimes I can’t tell whether or not I’m doing a good job.

I realize this sentence might sound trite and indulgent, and downright silly… but I mean it.  Sometimes I can’t tell.

I’ve realized that part of the reason I can’t tell what’s going on in the ‘good job’ department is because… nothing ever stops anymore.  Never.  Emails never stop.  Twitter rarely slows down.  Food ideas keep flowing.  And email… did I already mention emails?  I used to categorize jobs as ‘well done’, partially because they were… done!

Do you remember when things were actually done?

I know what you’re thinking… it’s my responsibility to make things both done and good.  You’re right.  Good and done.  I’m working on the done, and I’m working on the good.   I’m chasing them down.  I’m fueled by melty onion sandwiches.  I’m even writing this business in the streets!

Now… I could have written ‘do well’, but I meant ‘do good’, as in… deeds.  Perhaps I should have written ‘ do done’.

Let’s talk sandwiches!  We’ve got a French soup inspired sandwich today… but there is other sandwich madness you might be into.  Since you’re here, and all:

Green Goddess Tea Sandwich.  Ham Cheese Pickle and Potato Chip Sandwich, right!? and. Coffee Bacon Sandwiches.

Imagine a world where we need two whole onions for two sandwiches.

That would be a scary scary world if it weren’t for caramelization.

We’re going to combine raw, pungent onions with fats and heat to mellow them out.

Thank you fats and heats.

This is a simple sandwich with little bits of important ingredients.

Because there are so few ingredients, they’re all important.

Fresh thyme adds a herby, earthy note to the onions.  Ultimately we want to onions to mimic the taste of French onion soup.  The thyme and fresh cracked pepper will get them there.  Salt is also essential… and just a pinch of sugar balances it all out.

The melty beginnings.

Dont’ be tempted to turn up the heat.  Patience is virtuous.

See?  We’re coming along.

Ignore the fact that caramelizing onions start to look wormy.

…I shouldn’t have said anything.

Once onions are caramelized I deglaze the pan with a bit of beef broth.

This ensures that all the burny flavorful bits are easily scraped from the bottom of the pan… AND… the beef broth really adds that French Onion Soup flavor.  I find it essential.  Feel free to substitute beer, white wine, chicken broth, vegetable broth, or water instead of beef broth.

Don’t ruin your life with bad bread.

Go fresh.

Life is unpredictable and far too short to suffer through bad bread.

Enjoy good bread with good butter.

Just like that!  Life is so good!

Top buttered bread with Gruyere cheese and your prized onions.  We’re making grilled cheese!

Right on. Right on.  Right on!  Right on!!

It’s lunch.  It’s dinner.  It’s profoundly satisfying with sweet potato chips and a sparkling apple soda.

This sandwich is magic.  Caramelized onions turn into, what some might consider, candy.  The beef broth and fresh thyme bring out the comforting soup-esque flavors in the onions… and combined with toasted bread and gruyere… it’s totally the most portable French Onion Soup ever.

Make it, and eat it.  Take comfort in the fact that when it’s done… it’s dang done.

Things I Like Because of Other Things I Like:

I like black and white striped shirts because they are the perfect compliment to bright pink lipstick.

I like super short fingernails because they are just begging to be topped with bold red nail polish.

I like deep navy blue because it makes me crave the burn of spicy grained mustard.

I like dusty blue hair because it makes beauty feel lighthearted and unexpected.

I like baking with asparagus because it reminds me of nature’s beautifully green and imperfect lines.

It feels like every bit of life can inspire another bit of life.  There’s something endlessly exciting about that… like everything belongs.  The best place to be inspired by belonging?  Pinterest.  Are you obsessed yet?  It’s the spot for food, color, and inspired living.

Let’s make super simple, mini asparagus tarts.

It’s simple, satisfying, and smothered in balsamic reduction.

… and it all begins with puff pastry.

Six squares, finger pressed and scored with a pairing knife.

We’ll use bright green, trimmed raw asparagus for the tarts.

An egg is glue.

Gruyere cheese is salty, melty second glue.

One of the best parts of this recipe is that it’s just assembly.

Let’s just layer.

Egg on top of pastry.

Asparagus on top of cheese.

The asparagus needed a good trimming.

I used the trimmings in scrambled eggs the next morning.  Waste not!

In twenty minutes these bake up like super pastry, asparagus cheese pizzas.

I love an extra sprinkling of salt… because I’m salt greedy.

This is not a styled photograph.  This is me trying to shove this tart into my mouth as quickly as possible.  It’s a good thing this one shot came out spot on.  The tart was gone in two seconds flat.

This recipe makes 6 lovely little tarts.  You can, however, make one big tart, using one sheet of puff pastry.  Either way you prepare this, this recipe is simple, springy, and humbly impressive.  It’s really the ingredients that shine:  all-butter puff pastry, seasonal asparagus, gruyere cheese, coarse sea salt, and ooooh balsamic reduction.

Some cities are just filled with magic.  London has magic.  St.Louis has spooky magic.  I think my Venice home has a good amount of sparkle magic.  But New Orleans… New Orleans is aalll magic.

I was lucky enough to visit this special city last week.  Because it was my first visit to New Orleans, I.. a) melted in the humidity.  b) was horrified by my frizzy hair.  c) drank daiquiris in the streets.  d) ate beignets several… SEVERAL times.

Want a peek?  Here we go!

In every new city visit, it’s really nice to start with a map.

Two big streets and a curve in the grid.

Evening hours in the French Quarter.

Horse heads everywhere.

Evening hours outside of Saint Louis Cathedral.

Dark and romantic.

Evening hours inside this smokey, candlelit bar.

There was piano music, people huddled in conversation, and a really smelly drunk dude that danced me into a corner.

Tell me you’ve been danced into a corner… that’s real.

Ham, butter, and brie on a baguette is one  of the best lunches EVER.  Thank you St. James Cheese Company!

Louisiana beer is also as fine as could be.  I’ve come to appreciate the wonders of the Strawberry Abita.

There’s a salad in that Bloody Mary… and I’m totally drinking this pineapple daquiri in the street!

It’s like a party everyday!

Any menu that serves Champagne and Fries is a menu I want to be reading.

I mean… come on!

Late night beignets at Cafe du Monde.

Yes… these were the second round of beignets I had eaten on this day.

Yes.. I ate a whole order myself.

Sometimes I have trouble sharing.

I spent a day at Jazzfest!

Crawfish bread.  Cold beer.  Gospel tent. And Ne-yo singing R&B Jamzzzzz!

Is this magic JR and the Inside Out Project!?

I think it is!

Look how rad humanity looks!

We ate big trays of crawfish!

It was awesome… but I’m still not sure how I feel about this.

Back to the beignets… clearly.

I was on a strict beignet diet.

In New Orleans I got to meet my oldest blog friend, Evan!

Evan and I have been chatting for the past four years.  She knows about various boy and cake disasters.  It was so nice to meet her and squeeze her pregnant belly.  Love!

The cemeteries in New Orleans.  So old and worn.

This particular cemetery had damaged headstones.  These piled up pieces feel beautiful and unfortunate.

The cemeteries are beautiful… and also put just a tinge of fear in my heart.  I don’t know what that is…

New Orleans is magic.  The food.  The sites.  The people.  The energy… you can feel it in the air.

Pro tips:

There is no need to lift your top for beads… you can get those anywhere.  They’re even hanging from trees… no joke.

Order more beignets than you think you’ll need… because you’ll need them.

Stand in line for fried chicken at Coop’s Place.

Don’t share your crawfish bread at Jazzfest.

Thank the people that make New Orleans magic.

It couldn’t have been easy to be my mother.  I was shy, stubborn, and resistant to change.  I’d observe a national day of tantrums every time she cut my hair.  I was obsessed with Julia Child, Lucille Ball, and McDonald’s… every McDonald’s we drove by.  Obsessed.  And I was (capslock) pissed when my little sister was born.  Just livid.

It’s still not easy to be my mother.  I’m still shy, stubborn, and resistant to change.  My mom knows not to approach my head with a pair of scissors in her hands.  I’m still really into Julia Child.  I enjoy Lucille Ball… and if one were to hand me McDonald’s fries… I’d sure as heck eat them.  These things are all still realities, it’s just that my Mom doesn’t have to live with it all up in her house everyday.

I love this photograph of me and my mom.  In this picture she’s the age that I am now… which isn’t stressful to me at all. (Realtalk:  it’s just a teeny tiiiny bit stressful.)

My mama is wonderful.  And booooyy does she love making a fruit salad.  That’s totally a mom thing, right?

This mom inspired fruit salad is the real deal.  No overripe bananas.  No mushy pear.  No unripe melon.  No apple!

Berries, ripe watermelon, and grapes because we should.  This is top shelf mom business!

Because this salad is on a train for MomTown (really, Joy!?… ugh), we should add some bonus bits:  salty pistachios, edible flower petals, and rose water!

Pistachios add a salty crunch… and a color that’s completely out of this world.  I love the way that rose water absorbs into the strawberries and watermelon… it’s beautifully fragrant.  Like dreams!  Edible flowers, like marigold and pansy petals add just a bit of lady appeal.

Mom salad with a small side of rosewater whipped cream.  Just don’t tell her I put it on the floor to take a picture of it.

I’m going to put a printable link on the ‘recipe’, but you really don’t need it!  Keep it loose!  This salad is all improvisation.  Mamas LOVE improvisation, except when it comes to moving out of the house, going to college, or eloping.

]]> http://joythebaker.com/2012/05/rose-water-pistachio-fruit-salad/feed/ 80 http://joythebaker.com/2012/05/blue-cheese-hazelnut-and-honey-polenta/ http://joythebaker.com/2012/05/blue-cheese-hazelnut-and-honey-polenta/#comments Wed, 09 May 2012 06:13:58 +0000 joythebaker http://joythebaker.com/?p=8749

Let’s categorize this post as not cupcakes, not pancakes, and not kale.  Let’s categorize this post as real life real talk.

Five Ridiculous Things I’ve Said to Boys that I May or May Not Have Had Crushes On:

“Oh my goodness!  You have two different colored eyes!  You look just like a dog I know!”  It turns out that’s not really the compliment I intended.  But seriously… do you know the dogs I’m talking about?

“I like your shoulder cat!”  Because a dude in raver jeans, smoking a clove cigarette, with a cat that lives on his shoulder is totally a giant heap of red flags.

“Yea.  You can totally borrow my car to pick up your girlfriend from the airport.”  Rethink!  No car + girlfriend = NO GO!  Ps. Jerk!

“Yea… I love The New Yorker.”  Be real, Joy.  You know you don’t actually read The New Yorker.  Seriously… unless Nigella Lawson is on the cover, you probably didn’t read it.  It’s ok.  It really is.

“No… it’s cool.  I’m spiritual, not religious.”  Oooh this one.  Oooh these words that are not true for me.  These words that I used to say because I thought it would make me more palatable in the dating world.  These were my worst of words… making me more palatable to the wrong people for me.  Grow up and learn things, Joy!

Learn from me.  Don’t be like me.  Don’t compare boys to dogs and project yourself as a fancypants New Yorker reader.  It’s ok if you don’t listen to vinyl.  It’s totally cool if you want to throw your cat a birthday party and hang out at church.  I’m just sayin’.  It’s cool.

This recipe is a result of standing in the kitchen… hungry… having just taken a beautifully golden, but utterly disastrous cheese danish out of the oven.  Apparently I’m still learning how to make a cheese danish without pulling an oozing, melted mascarpone mess out of the oven.  I’m working on it.

Danish aside, I mustered up the last of the delicious ingredients I found hiding in my cupboard and pantry.  The result is a sweet and savory, breakfast and lunch dish.  It’s a delicious surprise!  Danish though?  I’m comin’ for ya.  I’ll figure you out.

Disasters happen.  Praise God for polenta and hazelnuts.

Creamy golden polenta is a solid base for just about anything.

Right?

Heavy cream, butter, and black pepper.

You might just grab a little spoon and go at this pot as is.

If you listen closely, you can hear hazelnuts roasting in the oven.

Their oils sizzle, and their tough brown skins burst just slightly.

It’s like roasted nut romance.  Wait… was that gross?

Tough hazelnut skins are loosened in the oven.

A clean kitchen towel will rub most of them right off.

Creamy and salty, crunchy and sweet, topped with blue cheese.

I don’t know if this is breakfast, dinner, or a super extravagant midnight snack.  It’s warm and comforting and I absolutely LOVE the salty cheese and sweet honey.  If blue cheese scares you, I do believe this dish would be just as lovely with goat cheese.

Try something new! … as long as there’s not a shoulder cat involved.

Recipes knock on my door everyday.  They come in, take off their shoes, and make a complete mess of my kitchen. They stick around for a few days, really get comfortable… and then the recipes leave.  Actually, the recipes make their permanent home here at Joy the Baker… but they’re out of my life once they’re adapted perfected and cleaned up after.

But!  What if I’m not done with the recipes?  What if I want them to stick around a while? There’s not a lot of time for an extended recipe stay when I’m always trying to create something new new new… but here are five things I have in mind. Please consider this a much needed mindshare.

Take this Quick and Easy Spanakopita from Martha Stewart. This recipe is solid… although not completely quick. The Spanakopita is made with traditional filo dough, and a spinach and feta mixture. Because I can’t leave well enough alone, I believe this dish is best served with kale instead of spinach.  Really… either way it’s a lovely meal. Add spicy chili flakes for added interest.

The real life application of Kale Spanakopita (Kale-akopita?) involves a slow fried egg and two pieces of black forest bacon.

Kale instead of spinach. Bacon instead of the absence of bacon.  Chili flakes for heat.

I’m teaching myself how to make crepes.  I have to teach myself before I can come to you with any sort of recipe and instructions.

This is my first round of crepes made in my humble, nonstick saute pan.  These crepes were inspired by Gluten Free Girl and the Chef.  Thanks for the lesson!!

Ham and Cheese Crepes reign supreme.

I can’t stop thinking about this White Bean Bundt Cake I made a few weeks back.  This cake is just such a lovely base.

I am convinced that this cake should immediately be turned into a cinnamon swirled, pecan studded coffee cake!

This cake would also thrive with a generous raspberry jam swirl.  So major!

The task is yours.  Show me pictures when you’re done!

Remember the Coconut Crab Rice I made a few weeks back?

I can’t help but think that this rice, day old, would make an amazing fried rice, served with a soft boiled egg.

And!  If you know me at all… you know that it is my instinct to add roasted kale to this dish.

Let’s marry Crunchy Kale and Coconut Crab Rice… few things would be more perfect.

And it all comes down to a simple pot of beans.  Possible the most willingly adaptable item in the kitchen.

I’ve recently been 100% inspired by Tamar Alder’s An Everlasting Meal.  I know that I’ve already chewed your ear off about this book, it just continues to excite me.

I read and re-read the chapter about beans while I was away in London. I returned home and immediately put together a pot of beans to soak.  I now have the tender cooked beans, in their amazingly flavorful bean liquor in my fridge, and I’ve enjoyed them for a handful of meals.

Dry beans are covered in cold water and soaked overnight.  Once a day has passed, the water is drained and replaced, covering the beans with about 2 inches of water.  The water is then enhanced with any kitchen odds and ends you might have on hand:  parsley stems, the buts of an onion and fennel bulb, fennel frawns, a bay leaf, a dried chili, a hearty dose of good olive oil, salt and pepper.  Beans are simmered to a dance and cooked until thoroughly tender.  When stored in their liquid, beans are flavorful and delicious for days and days.  I’ve eaten them on everything from buttery rice to scrambled eggs.  I’ve even mashed beans and served them on avocado-topped crackers.

I’m so smitten by the simplicity of the bean making process.  It’s romantic.  It really is.

I come to you every few days with recipes.  Sure… you know how to follow instructions and find success.  I hope this also inspires you to think beyond the recipe.  I hope this inspires you to make food that you don’t hover over with a camera.  When in doubt, add kale, add a heaping dose of good jam, add a hearty turn of olive oil.  Dip and submerge and soak.  Try something beyond!

London oh London, how I love you!

Can I show you some images from my trip to England?

Now… before you go thinking me all sorts of fancy, I need to make a confession.  This is the very first time I’ve used this little blue passport.  Seriously.  The first time!

Here’s a bit of London adventuring.  Thanks for letting me share!

I was in London with the lovely people of Beefeater and Plymouth gin.  They were kind enough to cart me and my American accent all over town teaching me about gin.  I even distilled my very own gin.  I’m contemplating a semi-permanent blog change:  Joy the Distiller?

…doesn’t quite have the same panache.

I arrived in London on the day of the London Marathon.

I love this picture of a photographer checking his marathon shots.

I met Jen Pelka.

Not only is Jen the editor of one of my very favorite shopping websites, GiltTaste… Jen is also hilarious, insightful, and a champion gin drinking partner.

Gilt is nothing but glorious shopping trouble.  If you don’t know, now you know.

Meet James Burrough.  He’s the founder of Beefeater gin.

I’d like to thank Mr Burrough, and juniper berries for co-existing and bringing us gin.

I love heartwarming signs in cozy dark bars.

This is JubJub Bar.

A bathroom wall covered floor to ceiling in cassette tapes.

I met two crazy loyal blog readers in London.  Jamie and Katy, you’re both gemstones.  Your accents sound totally posh, and make me sound like a silly American… I swear.

Also… thank you for saving me from nearly getting hit by a car.  Your streets are so confusing!

The Eye of London.  Or. Wait.  Is it the London Eye?

Waterproof cover-alls?  Check.

Oversized raincoat?  Check.

Totally still wearing heels?  Duh.

On a boat down the River Thames?  Check.

A bit of rain?  Check.

Big Ben?  Check!

Nothing but contagious laughter and smiles?  Check.

London is HUGE and total CONFUSION to my eyes.

And oooh, how I love a map.

Self portrait in the cream jug.

Cream jug is totally not the correct name for that vessel.

In a taxi with Lauren and Ali.

Lauren is a wonderfully talented writer, and I love her eye for photography.

Alie, of Alie and Georgia, is so funny she literally makes my body ache.

These are admirable ladies… with smart things to say, hilarious jokes to tell, and nice hair too…

The American Bar at the Savoy (just the most wonderful hotel in London) is THE PLACE to have a cocktail.

It’s gorgeous, regal, it’s drenched in history and style, charm and grace…. and the cocktails are like egg white frothed dreams.

I’ll be back, Savoy… and I’ll be wearing a gown, and emerald earrings… just because.

The Savoy Cocktail Book is my small attempt at bring this beautiful place home with me.

The view from Plymouth, England.

This takes my breath away… and makes me want to do cartwheels.

The water in Plymouth runneth over.

Plymouth is green, lush, and the air feel crisp… and so different from Los Angeles.

This river.  Aaaah… this is where I met my favorite gin of all time.  Plymouth gin, served with a few dashes of bitters, and fresh, cold river water.

Seriously!  A cocktail served simply… with fresh water that’s been filtered by English peat moss.

What a world.  I wanted this moment to last for always.

Thank you, England!

Thank you for showing my eyes new sites.  Thank you for inspiring to make a Sunday roast.  Thank you for introducing me to Devonshire Cream and Plymouth Gin and beautiful new friends.

Very soon I’ll be visiting Jamie Oliver, my beloved Nigel Slater, and Nigella Lawson.  Let’s make a roast!  Let’s make some biscuits and call them scones!  Let’s make a gin cocktail… even if it’s not made from English river water.

What would you do if I told you that I’m in just a teeny-tiny-weeee bit of a rut?

I’ve got some nerve, right?  Soooome nerve.

Lately, I’ve been lucky enough to travel the country on book tour meeting so many of your smiling faces!  You people have been amazing!  You’ve helped me set my shyness aside, and jump out into the world with you.  You’ve welcomed me, and my book with such sunshine and enthusiasm, and I’m so so grateful for you!

I’ve also had adventures in London… and I can’t wait to show you the images.  I have a couch to sit on.  I have a kitten to cuddle with (when he’s not feeling claw-y).  I have Tracy and Michael.  I even have a man that brings flowers and hot coffee.  I mean… come on!

What the heck do I have to be in a rut about?

I suppose ruts (I totally just typed ‘nuts’) have no rhyme or reason.

I’m coaxing myself out of this rut with a simple skillet.  I’m eating myself out of this rut with easy eggs, and well cooked mushrooms.  Bacon clearly doesn’t hurt either.  Oh, and I’m about to start reading myself out of my rut with The Happiness Project.

Note.  Very important note.  It’s not wise to go shopping for jean shorts while in a rut… with very pale legs.  That’s solid advice I wish someone would have told me.   Shopping for jean shorts is much like shopping for a bathing suit.  Not to be taken lightly.

K.  I love you!  Byeeee!

I don’t know what it is about mushrooms.  Every time I buy mushrooms, I feel like I’m treating myself.

These are cremini buttons and beautiful oyster mushrooms.  With spicy arugula… this feels fancy.

Two slices of bacon.  Just two.  We’ll make them go a long way.

I’m super smitten with this Black Forest Bacon.  Fancpants (new word alert).

Mushroom rough chop.

I’m starting to come out of my rut already!  It’s probably the smell of cooking bacon…

I use every meal as an excuse to bust out a crusty loaf of bread.

This is a mini olive loaf.  Slice.  Dredge in olive oil.  Toast.  Snack.  And serve.

This breakfast, and this rut getter-outter  is inspired by Tyler Florence Family Meal.

This book is earnest and meaty.  Seriously… there’s a lot of meat in this book.  It feels like a good cooking-for-a-dude book.  Also… T-Flo’s family looks just beautiful.  I like when people put big pieces of themselves in their books.

Deeeep  breath… just look at the comfort we’ve created!  Runny yolks, salty and crisp bacon, golden brown mushrooms, and fresh arugula.  I go heavy on the fresh cracked pepper… and I also totally doused the finished dish in hot sauce, like bonkers.

Today I was totally successful at inspiring frustration and anger in at least several people. At least several. Ooooh my goodness. Have you ever had one of these days?  It’s the kind of day when you think the world (or at least all of the people around you) have gone mad, only to realize that you are the common denominator… meaning that you, in fact, are the common jerk?  I’m completely talking about myself here. You are a kind and lovely person who never loses yourself to angrybears. I am not always as kind… and that’s why you inspire me.

Since I was in a crunchy attitude, I made the appropriate cookies.  These biscotti are crunchy and sweet… and I guarantee that, when served with a bitter cup of black coffee,  they inspire an attitude adjustment.  They help flip the switch.  Yes… I use food to adjust my feelings.  Welcome to my real life living.

I’d like to now entice you to make candied pecans.  This can go one of two ways.  You may want to attack me with a happy bear hug… or you may want to kick me in the shin.  These nuts are so good, they usually inspire a dramatic response.

Raw pecans are coated in a sweet and spicy egg white glaze.

It’s a drippy business.

Candied pecans are crusty, sweet, and crunchy gems.

We’re going to bake up two cups of pecans, but only add about 1 1/2 cups into the biscotti dough.

You see what we did there?  That leaves us 1/2 cup for snacking!

This is a ‘know thyself’ situation…

Biscotti dough is simple and spiced.

Cinnamon and nutmeg will do the trick.

Biscotti dough is tenderly moist, but not overly wet.

Could this dough get any nuttier?  It’s a good thing you snacked so hard.

Biscotti dough is shaped into a perfect and flawless rectangular log of dough.

… or you could just press it into a haphazard rectangle with finger marks all over it, and call it a ready.

Here is where biscotti magic begins.

The slicing of the cooked and slightly cooled dough.

Here we have a choice.  Flip and double bake the biscotti for a crispy cookie (perfect in you’ve got a crunchy attitude), or single bake them and leave the cookies soft and tender.

 Pecan studded and sweetly spiced.  These cookies are dry and hard to the tooth.  They do well with a good dip into black coffee.  The toasted pecan flavor makes them alluringly sweet with the candy coating.  Consider these crunchy (attitude adjusting) dipping cookies.

I’m back from London, and I already miss the Queen, the polite taxi drivers, and Beefeater (the gin… and the red-coated dudes with the bear skin hats).

London is so lovely.  The only problem is that I always feel like I’m doing something disastrously rude or uncouth.  I don’t hold my fork and knife in the correct hands.  I’m not sure if I’m allowed to clink my tea cup.  Good grief, I think I just slurped my tea.  Holy smokes… that’s the third time I’ve almost been hit by a car.  Which way am I supposed to look down the street!?!?

I’m back in Venice where I can put my feet up on things, and slurp whatever I see fit.  There’s a super hippie drum circle taking place down the road… no matter what I do, I look pretty posh in comparison.

In honor of thirst and homecomings, I’ve gussied up a pitcher of lemonade using dried lavender.  It’s simple and divine.  Most likely Queen and drum circle approved.

Lemons into lemonade.

Lavender into lemonade instead of a sachet.

My parents got this juicer as a wedding gift in 1979.  Much like my parents, it’s never allowed to die.

Lavender is steeped in a mixture of warm water, sugar and honey.

The slightly brown color behind the dried lavender buds is natural sugar dissolved in water.  Honey adds to the color.

This mixture is super fragrant.  Spa and nap inspiring.

Let’s play find the kitten nose.

This lavender lemonade is totally going to be a summer staple.  Topped with a bit of unsweetened iced tea… it’s just perfect.

Everyone likes their lemonade to taste different.  Some like it sweet.  Some like it tart.  This version leans towards the sweeter side.  Feel free to adjust as you find necessary.