Lavender in bloom

I am a gin n' tonic girl if you must know. I enjoy this bitter refreshing drink quite a lot and if asked if I want an adult beverage it would always be my first choice. And then something strange happens to be about this time of year and I start to crave fruity drinks. Not crazy fruity drinks with umbrella's in them, but I still want something with just a slight taste of summer in them. Last night I decided to make rhubarb syrup. I took 2 cups of sliced rhubarb, one cup of sugar and one cup of water and simmered over high heat for about 20 minutes and then strained and added a touch of this syrup to some gin, lime and tonic. It was pretty tasty.

Today, when I got home from work I walked out to my backyard to check on the garden. The arugula, beans and peas are all coming up nicely which makes me happy. Then I glanced to my left and noticed that my gigantic lavender bush (is it a bush really? I don't know, but just roll with me on this one) and noticed that all of it's flowers are in bloom. This got me to thinking. What could I make with lavender.

 

After about 30 minutes of googling I settled on these as the top 3 with a 4th that is TOTALLY not a drink but sounded so good I had to share.

I will try these over the summer and if you comment on this post and perhaps vote for the one you think I should try first I may even share with you.

Lavender syrup

I love the idea of adding a splash of this to a glass of champagne or to cookie dough or ice cream. It seems so versatile and makes my mouth water just thinking about it.

Lavender Haze

A nice iced lavender drink on a day where it was close to +40 sounds about right

Lavender Ghost

This recipe had me at 'fancy version of gin sour'

Rhubarb fool with Lavender Cream

I am not going to say anything about this one...just read it and you will know why I chose it.