Lavender Sugar

In my garden, I have a walkway that is lined with lavender. The flower heads lean over the flagstones as they reach for the sun, brushing up against me as I walk along. The fresh relaxing scent of lavender is released, reminding me to slow down and breathe deeply. Sometimes I stop and press the flower between my fingers to get an extra waft of the romantic fragrance. I have tucked it in my drawers, put it in bowls in my living room and made small pillows to give sweet dreams. I love it in food...sweet or savory....so why not add it to sugar for everyday use? I had a jar of white sparkling sugar and plenty of lavender flowers to harvest, so I mixed them together. Now I will have another reminder of summer's sunshine and thoughts of lavender fields, near and far.For your Lavender Sugar always only use lavender that has not been sprayed with any pesticides. If you buy the flowers, you can never be sure if they are pesticide free unless stated. I like the look of seeing the loose flowers in the sugar, but if you only want the flavor, tie them in cheesecloth. This sugar may be used to flavor cakes, cookies, ice cream or to simply put in your tea. It makes a great gift, especially if it's from your own garden.

Lavender Sugar

8 ounces white sparkling sugar or white granulated sugar
3 tablespoons lavender flowers, removed from stem

Mix sugar and lavender together and store in an airtight container. If you don't want the loose flowers in the sugar, tie the lavender flowers into a small piece of double cheesecloth and remove after 2 weeks. It takes about 2 weeks for the flowers to flavor the sugar.
To use, sprinkle into tea, on pastries or bake with it.

Lavender Sugar recipe (pdf)

Daylily Tarragon Chicken Salad

As I was looking at my daughter's vacation pictures from Cambodia on Facebook, my friend Debbie (another stew) called with a great idea. She just had a luncheon of lobster salad nestled inside colorful day lilies. She scooped up the lobster with the daylily petals, eating lobster salad and petal together. This sounded like a pretty and pretty unusual presentation. I did some research here and found that daylilies are not only edible, but have a long history in Chinese medicine and cuisine. I have a daylily bed with a wide variation in color and blooming time. I love the pinks, corals and purple all combined together, but today I was inspired by the golden and deep orange of the Cambodian Buddhist Monk's robe. The common orange daylily looked exotic as it enshrined the Tarragon Chicken Salad I made to go in it. It made me think of my daughter as she lives half way around the world, teaching art and learning about other cultures. Wanderlust seems to run in the family! Use your imagination and be inspired by your own daylilies and life to make this platter of happiness.
Tarragon Chicken Salad

2 cups cooked chicken, cut into 1/4 inch cube
1/4 cup mayonnaise
2 tablespoons chopped fresh tarragon
salt and pepper to taste
1/2 cup champagne grapes (you may use larger grapes, just cut them in half)

In a medium bowl, mix chicken, mayonnaise, and tarragon together. Salt and pepper to taste and fold in the grapes.

Serves 4.

To use a daylily to fill with chicken salad, remove the stamen and pistil. Lightly rinse the flower and shake any excess water out, before filling.

Tarragon Chicken Salad recipe (pdf)

Thanks Debbie and Sam for the inspiration!