lavender — pleasure in simple things

Tag: lavender

lavender iced coffee

May

I love culinary lavender.

A subtle taste of lavender in a drink or a baked item is delicious! So, I was very excited when I heard Starbucks added lavender drinks to its menu. An iced coffee with a hint of lavender sounded very appealing to me! That is, until I actually visited my local Starbucks and found out the only way to get a lavender drink was with the addition of a lavender sugar syrup! “Is there any way to add the lavender to a drink without adding the sugar?” I asked the barista. “The lavender is part of a sugar syrup. That is the only lavender we have” was the response I received. Yuck! Determined to enjoy a lavender iced coffee without sugar, I set out to make my own.

The usual iced coffee I make at home is made from organic coffee. I combine brewed coffee I keep in the fridge with walnut ‘milk’. The walnut ‘milk’ I buy is from Elmhurst and has two ingredients – water, walnuts – that’s it! (These ingredients make my everyday coffee very clean!) Using my usual iced coffee ingredients, I was determined to create a lavender iced coffee. I came up with a very simple way to accomplish this!

I filled a tea infusion ball with culinary lavender and dropped it into a glass jar filled with my walnut ‘milk’. (Use whatever nut ‘milk’ you prefer.) I left this jar in the fridge overnight and by the next morning the milk was infused with a lovely, subtle lavender flavor!

I combined my infused ‘milk’ with some of my cold, pre-brewed coffee and voila! I had a lavender iced coffee with no sugar or other unwanted added ingredients!

The taste of my lavender iced coffee was perfect! (Of course, the longer the lavender remains in the ‘milk’, the stronger the flavor. Overnight was just the right subtle flavor for me.) Mission accomplished!

I hope you will try your own iced coffee creation by creating your favorite flavor(s) in a clean way!

Thanks for stopping by!

Have a fabulous weekend and remember to take pleasure in simple things, Jackie

P.S. Be sure to use culinary grade lavender – lavender that is intended for ingesting! It will be marked accordingly. I usually can find it at a bargain at Home Goods or TJ Maxx – in the food aisle. Try it in your scones!

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lavender in connecticut

July

I’m still trying to recover from an exciting weekend! Our family had a big (white party) celebration on Saturday and it is taking me some time to get back into my work routine!

Today, I wanted to let my local friends know that right now is prime lavender blooming time here in Connecticut! If you have not yet visited Lavender Pond Farm, now is the time to go!

With over 10,000 plants on 25 acres, Lavender Pond is the largest lavender farm in New England.

It is easy to find off the Clinton exit of I95 – just a couple minutes north of the outlets.

The photos here were taken before the prime blooming season – about a month ago.

Thanks for stopping by!

Have a great week and remember to take pleasure in simple things, Jackie

P.S. In other news – It is SHARK WEEK on the Discovery channel!

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4 ways to enjoy lavender in the kitchen

August

I love the floral note lavender adds to desserts – part of the reason why my ‘must have’ summer ice-cream flavor is lavender fig made at a nearby ice-cream shop!

I recently used a culinary grade lavender (I wouldn’t use it from the garden since I’d be worried about contaminants!) to experiment a little bit in the kitchen.

Here are a few ways I came up with to use it…I hope to inspire you to come up with some of your own creations!

Lavender Iced Butter Cookies. I added a tablespoon of dried lavender and 2 drops of lavender essential oil to a standard butter cookie recipe. After the cookies were baked and cooled, I glazed them with powdered sugar, thinned with milk, and garnished the top of each cookie with dried lavender while the glaze was still wet. The finished product – butter cookies with that great subtle floral note of lavender!

Lavender Butter. A fabulous butter to use on scones – I just crushed some dried lavender and added it to softened butter. Great to serve with tea and scones!

Lavender Lemon Bars. Adding a teaspoon of crushed, dried lavender to the crust of lemon bars, as well as using some as garnish, adds the floral note of the flower to this summer dessert classic!

In addition to baked goods, lavender is great in summer beverages. I played around a little with ingredient quantities and came up with this satisfying lemonade!

Honey Lavender Lemonade Recipe

3 cups cold water
Juice of 3 lemons
½ cup honey
¼ cup dried lavender (make sure it is culinary grade)
1 cup boiling water

Add the dried lavender to the boiling water, cover and let steep at least 15 minutes. Strain the water to remove the lavender. Dissolve the honey in the hot water. Add the cold water and lemon juice to the mixture. Serve over ice.

I hope you enjoyed my lavender experiment results! I’d love to hear how you have added lavender to your summer recipes! I recently found a recipe for lavender white chocolate ice cream that I may need to give a try before the summer is over!

Thanks for stopping by! Remember to take pleasure in simple things, Jackie

P.S. Here are some links for other ways I have used lavender! Enjoy!

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love letter heart tags diy

February

For Friday field trip today, I am sharing one last Valentine’s Day idea before the weekend. These are really sweet, easy to make love letter tags made with hearts of dried lavender. I have been on a lavender kick lately – adding lavender to my shortbread cookies, making lavender heart shaped linen sachets, and now…using lavender on gift tags!

Just follow the easy steps pictured and you can have some romantic tags put together in no time flat! There are plenty of options for the ‘love letter’ part… you can use printed paper from the craft store, paper from an old book – an old poetry book is perfect – or, print something from your computer printer.

(1.) Cut a piece of cardstock to size and (2.) glue ‘love letter’ paper to the front of it. (3.) Draw a heart shaped bead of glue onto the front of the card. (4.) Sprinkle dried lavender over the glue and press lightly. ( 5.) Let dry before shaking off excess lavender. (6.) Trim the top corners of the cardstock and use a paper punch to add a hole. Add some twine or cord.

That is all it takes to create a romantic little tag with a wonderful hint of lavender fragrance! Enjoy!

Thanks for stopping by! Have a wonderful weekend!

Remember to take pleasure in simple things, Jackie xo

Sharing with Nancherrow, House of Hipsters, Craftberry Bush, Crafts a la Mode, The Shabby Nest, and French Country Cottage.

10 comments » | diy, gift ideas, inspiration

easy lavender heart sachets

February

Who wouldn’t want to receive a heart on Valentine’s Day? A great way to give one is to gift a homemade heart-shaped sachet.

Today I am sharing some really easy ones I made up using lavender. These sachets are created with just a basic straight sewing stitch and do not require any measuring at all. I used a sewing machine, but they can also be sewn by hand if need be. (If you would rather try a sachet with a no-sew method, click here for a great option.)

I made a template using a piece of scrap paper by folding it in half and cutting out the squatty heart shape I wanted…approximately 6 1/2 “ across – making it palm size and the perfect little heart to tuck into a drawer. I purchased a small piece of pale pink linen and pulled out a scrap of white linen I had at home in my pile of fabric scraps. Muslin would also work.

lavender heart shortbread cookies pleasure in simple things blog

Another great way to use lavender for Valentine’s Day…add some to your heart shaped shortbreads! (Be sure to use culinary grade lavender.)

I stamped a message on a small piece of the white linen and pulled threads to fray the edges on all four sides. Using the heart template I made, I cut two heart pieces from the pink linen. On the right side of the fabric on one of the pink linen hearts, I positioned the white message piece and attached it with one short running stitch up the middle.

Then, I positioned the two heart pieces – right sides out – together and stitched around the border, roughly 1/4 “ from the edge. Remember – I did no measuring! About 1” before reaching around the heart with the stitching, I stopped to add in the lavender. I spooned in enough lavender to get the look I wanted. Then I went back and finished the stitching.

I think these sachets are so sweet…and, the lavender smells so lovely!

Because I wanted the look of the raw edges on my heart, it really simplified the sewing and made this a super easy project for any skill level! There is still plenty of time to make some up before the weekend!

Thanks for stopping by! Remember to take pleasure in simple things, Jackie

Sharing with Sand & Sisal, Homework, and Elizabeth & Co.

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