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.

Rhubarb Madness

So I have been talking non-stop about the rhubarb in my garden to almost anyone who will listen. I spoke to my neighbour Bob over our fence on the weekend about how much rhubarb we have this year and that it took me til this summer to see the merits of it. I chatted my friend Kim's ear off this evening talking about the rhubarb jam I made that I have been smothering my toast, my pancakes and my yogourt with since I made it last week and I told my co-worker Rebecca about how delicious it is. Probably to the point of exhaustion...so my apologies friends and family.

I think I have a problem.

My husband has always loved Rhubarb and he would make it with custard all last summer. At the time I wasn't buying it. But this year my tastebuds did a 180 and I can't seem to get enough.

With that in mind I have been scouring cookbooks, blogs, my mom's old recipes for more ways I can twist and contort this wonderful spring time delight and thought I would share with you some of my favourite discoveries.

We will start with a recipe for Rhubarb Shrub. I love this recipe for a couple of reasons. I always love discovering something new and I had never heard of Shrub. But the other reason I love this is as I read the recipe my mouth actually started to water and I knew I had to try to make it. I even had to rush out and buy a scale. It is currently sitting in my downstairs fridge waiting for the first taste test.

The next recipe I found as I was trolling for good food blogs and came across this article in the National Post and started to click through to some of the blogs listed in it. The name of the recipe alone made me weak in the knees; Rhubarb Fool with Lavender Cream and Pistachios. Do I even need to say another word? I think not.

Then the justoposition of Rhubarb and Rosemary made me try this recipe last weekend and you wouldn't imagine this, but it tastes fabulous as a side with some roast pork. Trust me, it does...Rhubarb and Rosemary jam tastes great with pork.

Finally I will share a relatively simple recipe that my friend Allen shared with me last year. I sadly can not tell you if this is an original creation of his or if it is family recipe or something he got out of a cookbook. I just know that as he said when he sent it to me, that it is a winner:

Roasted Rhubarb Tarts with Strawberry Sauce
Yield: Makes 6 servings
Active Time: 25 minutes
Total Time: 1 hour

1 sheet frozen puff pastry (from a 17 1/4-ounces package), thawed
1 lb rhubarb stalks, trimmed and cut crosswise into 1-inch pieces
1/2 cup confectioners sugar
1 (10-ounces) package frozen strawberries in heavy syrup, thawed
3/4 cup crème fraîche or sour cream

Bake pastry:
Preheat oven to 425°F.
Unfold puff pastry sheet and gently roll out with a floured rolling pin on a very lightly floured surface into a 12-inch square. Trim edges with a sharp knife, then cut pastry into 6 rectangles (about 6 by 4 inches each). Arrange rectangles 1 to 2 inches apart on an ungreased baking sheet and prick them all over with a fork.

Bake in middle of oven until pastry is puffed and golden, 13 to 15 minutes. Cool pastry on baking sheet on a rack.

Roast rhubarb while pastry is cooling:
Reduce oven temperature to 375°F.
Arrange rhubarb in 1 layer in a lightly oiled shallow 15- by 10-inch baking pan (preferably nonstick) and
sift 2 tablespoons confectioners sugar evenly over it. Roast in middle of oven until tender, 15 to 25 minutes, then cool in pan on a rack.
Make strawberry sauce and cream filling while rhubarb is roasting: Purée strawberries with syrup in a food processor, then force purée through a very fine sieve into a bowl.
Sift 5 tablespoons confectioners sugar over crème fraîche and whisk to combine.

Assemble tarts:
Sift remaining tablespoon confectioners sugar over pastry rectangles. Make a 3-inch lengthwise trough in the center of each rectangle by gently tapping with back of a teaspoon. Divide cream filling among troughs and top with rhubarb, then drizzle with strawberry sauce.

Cooks' note:
Strawberry sauce and cream filling can be made 1 day ahead and chilled separately, covered.

So now go forth and buy fresh rhubarb at the closest Farmer's Market to you, climb over your neighbours fence in the cover of darkness and pick some (unless you are my neighbour of course :)) and make something delicious with rhubarb.

Then we can talk about our addiction together and I won't feel so alone.

Chive flower blossom vinegar

I came home from work this evening knowing that I would be enveloped in raspberries for the better part of the night. Tonight I had raspberry jam making on the agenda.

But before I got down to business, I popped out into the garden to check on something that I have been checking on every evening for the past week. My chives! When-oh-when are those babies going to blossom? Each night I pop my head out the door anxious to see if the flowers will have opened, because I have plans for those babies. I love chives. I could put them in almost anything. Great in a salad, great in salsa, great in chili...you get the picture.

I made tarragon vinegar a couple of months ago and I just can't get enough of it. Flavoured vinegars are amazing and so versatile, so I started to think about what chive blossom vinegar would be like and in my mind, it sounded GREAT!

Flavoured vinegars are so easy, so if like me, you have noticed that your chive blossoms are about to open up their beautiful little blooms and you are wondering what you could do with them, you have come to the right place cause I am about to tell you.

Like me, you wait until those babies have bloomed and the flowers have opened. Then you cut them all off, put them in a big bowl of cold water and give them a good rinse. You are not the only one that has been waiting anxiously for these flowers to open. Numerous insects have been waiting to enjoy them as well and we don't need any protein in our flavoured vinegar. So give them a good rinse. Use a salad spinner if you want to be extra thorough.

Then get your jar, which you will have previously sanitized and stuff the flowers inside it. 1/2 or 3/4 full is what I always aim for. Then depending on your budget you can do one of two things. 1) you can fill that jar full of regular old white vinegar or 2) you can fill the jar full of white wine vinegar. I usually opt for white wine but you can do either.

Then cover that jar with 2 layers of saran wrap and let it sit for at least 2 weeks in a cool dark place. Give the jar a swirl every couple of days. 2 weeks later, strain the liquid, discard the flowers and put your vinegar into a pretty jar of your choice and enjoy!

Not only does this vinegar taste ever so subtly of onions but it will turn a soft purple lavender in colour which makes this vinegar particularly lovely to look at in a jar and makes a great hostess gift for all of the bbq's or cottages you will get invited to this summer.

3 easy steps to an afternoon pick-me-up

I was out later than usual last night. My friend Sheri was in town from Scotland and a group of us met up for a few drinks. So this afternoon after I took a nap on the lawn in the sunshine with my dog Betty I needed a little something to shake out the cobwebs and get me energized to make a batch of jam. Allow me to introduce you to the Afternoon Energizer

Ingredients:

4-5 ice cubes

1/2 cup of milk

1/4 cup of Coffee Booziness

Mix all 3 ingredients in your blender of choice, pour into a nice tall glass and enjoy. It is exactly what this Sunday afternoon called out for!

Happy Easter! And Oatmeal pancakes

So this post was really inspired by Brad when he commented on my Coffee Liquor post on my facebook wall. He suggested it might go well with pancakes. Well that thought stuck in my mind like a burr and this morning I decided to treat James to a nice Easter breakfast. Well at least that is what I told him ;). In reality it was more for me.

I have an oatmeal pancake recipe that I just love. I like pancakes but I find they can be rather heavy. These pancakes are almost more like a crepe than they are a pancake. What would you call that a prepe? Anyways, my friend Kim Turner out in BC shared this recipe with me a few years back and since then it is all I ever make.

Kim's Oatmeal Pancakes

1 cup buttermilk fresh*
1 egg
3 tbsp corn oil or butter
3/4tsp  baking powder
3/4tsp  baking soda
1/2 cup white flour (no substitutes)    
1/2 cup oats  (quaker quick oats not instant are best)
              
mix dry ingredients
mix wet ingredients separately
then add together

Put batter in the pan, once there are bubbles flip and lightly cook the other side.

* I have never used buttermilk when I make them. I take just slightly under a cup of milk and add a tbsp of vinegar and let it sit for 5 minutes.

I decided strawberries would be a nice addition to serve with the pancakes alongside the more adult syrup :), but I know my friend Kim cooks blueberries right into the pancakes, so feel free to experiment with whatever fruit you want.

Now doesn't that look like a perfect way to start the long weekend! And Brad you were absolutely right...it was delicious.

Have a great Easter weekend everyone!