This awesome “Lavender-Vanilla Honey Shake” completed our wonderful Valentine’s Day! Thanks to one of our customers that sent this recipe, along with her kind note!

“Hello, I just wanted to let you know that your culinary lavender is lovely!! I use it to make a shake called, Lavender-Vanilla Honey Shake. It’s really good stuff!! So you know I’ll be reordering your lavender quite often!! I hope you enjoy this as much as I do.  I got the idea from a raw food restaurant over here in Brooklyn, NY called Rockin’ Raw. Then figured out the measurements for the recipe.”

Lavender-Vanilla Honey Shake

2 T Raw Almond Butter

2 T Raw Honey

3 Vanilla Beans (add vanilla flavor if more vanilla is desired)

1 tray of small ice cubes

1/2 cup water (more or less to desired thickness)

1 tsp Lavender

Blend until smooth. Serve in tall glass and garnish with Lavender

Variation: Almond milk can be made with soaked almonds and

water in a blender. Then strain it through a nut milk bag. Omit the

1/2 cup of water in recipe above if using almond milk.

My Husband Loves it!!

Hey, here is a recipe on 1 of our customer’s blogs. Joe and I make this Mate drink quite ofter…

Perfect Winter Drinks: Lavender Yerba Maté Latte Recipe.

This week I’m making products for a local show that we are participating in on Saturday and Sunday. The “Last Chance” Christmas bazaar show is at our local fairgrounds, not far from where our farm is located. In case the weather gets bad with snow or freezing rain, we can always slide down the hill to get there.  :)  So, along with packing up tons of web orders, and producing products for the show, I’m keeping warm inside, while I listen to my favorite Christmas music. Then to relieve my cabin fever, when the weather warms up above freezing, I plan to venture outside for a walk with my two dogs, Sadie and Gunther. Enjoy the holiday!

Sadie and Gunther waiting for a walk

Check out the new recipe section for my new Gingerbread Lavender Scones, and Molasses Lavender Cutout Cookies. I love the combination of lavender and ginger!!! Try it!

Today I baked my newest version of my lavender shortbread, a slight change up for the holiday.  I’ve added pure anise extract, orange zest, macadamia nuts, with our culinary lavender, the “Signature Blend”. I think it is extremely scrumptious, and a perfect compliment for ladies “High Tea”, or any party.  :)

I also baked my traditional Italian Bread ,”Panettone”, that’s filled with gobs of chopped dates, golden raisins, dried cranberries, 2009 dehydrated pears, orange zest, chopped almonds, cashews, walnuts & macadamia nuts. This year I decided to make a natural, healthy Panettone bread, without the traditional candied fruit and citron, with all it’s added preservatives!! I baked several loaves, and wrapped them tightly, and stored them in the freezer for two weeks.  Well… all except one loaf, that my dear Joe had to indulge in! Me too!! There’s nothing like fresh baked bread, right out of the oven, with butter !!!  The others will be given out as gifts to friends & family, right before Christmas. I like this kind of personal gift giving!  (Now I better get back to packing up web orders)

Happy December, and happy baking. Enjoy your holiday! Inhale deeply, and take time to relax!

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Holiday Lavender Shortbread

1 1/2 cups (3 sticks) butter (no substitutes), room temperature

2/3 cup sugar

2 tbsp culinary lavender “Signature Blend”
1 tsp pure anise extract

¼ tsp orange zest

2/3 cup macadamia nuts (finely chopped)
2 1/3 cups flour
1/2 cup cornstarch
1/4 tsp salt

Lavender Powdered Sugar:

Seal 1 tbsp lavender in pint jar with a cup of pwd sugar for at least 1 day.

Cover baking sheets w/parchment paper. Cream together butter, sugar, lavender, anise extract, orange zest, and macadamia nuts, until fluffy (3min). Add flour, cornstarch, & salt; mix well. Divide dough in half; flatten & wrap in plastic. Chill until firm (To help flavors meld together, I like to store dough in the freezer for 1 week or more). On floured board, roll out dough 3/8” thick. Cut into 1 1/2” squares. Bake 1” apart; Prick squares w/fork several times. Bake in preheated oven 325’, 20-25 min. Cool slightly & sprinkle w/lavender sugar. Store in tin cookie boxes or sealed containers.

It’s Gravenstein Apple Weekend in our beautiful valley, and to celebrate this I’ve made Apple-Cinnamon-Lavender Cookies and Lavender-Ginger Apple Cider to give as samples to all our customers. We hope our visitors  come to relax a while on our covered patio, or stroll through the lavender gardens while sipping on Lavender Ginger Cider, and enjoy the calming aroma and serenity of the moment on this gorgeous August day….

 “What makes culinary lavender different from any other lavender?“  Good question!! First of all, culinary lavender is either an Angustifolia, “English” variety, or a Lavandin variety, “Provence”.  Secondly, all culinary lavender is harvested at peek season, “full bloom”, hung to dried, then cleaned and packaged with gloves on.  Our Angustifolia, (English” variety) is called, “Signature Blend”.  It is a blend of our finest English Lavender.  A white lavender, called “Melissa” is in the blend, along with several other dark purple varieties.  The “Signature Blend” of English Lavender adds a delicate floral note when added to  teas and other dishes.  I like to use “Signature Blend” in our Lavender Shortbread, because it lends a wonderful delicate floral note in combination with mint.

“Provence”, on the other hand, brings a more bold, savory floral note to dishes and teas. I like to say it’s a more “Herbie” flavor. We use Provence in our HRL Spice Blend, and also in our “Sel Gris”, Hand-harvested French Gourmet Grey Sea Salt, because it lends a more savory note of flavor into recipes.  We also use Provence in our Lavender Truffles, to obtain a more bold lavender flavor, blended with the decedent chocolate. It makes the lavender flavor “pop” out on your palate!

I suggest that my customers brew a separate tea with each,  Angustifolia “English”, and “Provence” culinary lavender. In this way you taste the difference in the unique, soothing, floral flavors. Have fun experimenting with different recipes with culinary lavender, hope you acquire a love for the taste, as we have for this lovely flower. And next, you might even want to grow a Culinary Lavender in your herb garden

Today I pickup a variety of handmade Lavender Truffles & confections. These lovely candies are made with our Certified Organic Lavender by two ladies that have been making candy for over 28 years. They are hand dipped, and made from only the finest premium ingredients, by these expert ladies hands!! I’ll list a few, Dark-on-Dark Lavender Truffles, MarianBerry Lavender Truffles, White Chocolate Cream-mint Truffles, Lavender Carmellows, Lavender Marshmallows, and Lavender Divinity. Now the hard part is to decide on only three that we’ll have available on our website for Valentine’s Day!!!! We will start taking orders on Feb. 1, so I had better start choosing soon…

Send me a comment, to help me decide, and I’ll send a free box of 3 truffels, to the winner!