Lavender.

To: herblist <herbs.teleport.com>
Subject: Re: Herb Vinegars
From: Russell Hansen <Russell.Hansen.qed.qld.gov.au>
Date: Fri, 8 Mar 1996 16:29:59 +1000

> Last year I made lavender vinegar. It's nothing I'd want to use for cooking, but I do use it for cleaning. Vinegar happens to be a great

Funny you should say that. My wife and I went to a restaurant once that specialised in 'Australian Flavour' cooking with things like camel and crocodile steaks, eucalyptus ice cream and the desert I tried was something with 'Lavender Candy'. It was like a toffee made from real Lavender. Now if anyone thinks this sounds interesting - FORGET IT!! It tasted disgusting (all I could think was I was eating toilet cleaner). I don't know what ever possessed me to order it in the first place.

Lavender might be a nice scent, but it's a horrible taste. Is there anyone who's actually eaten anything like this and liked it?

From: Marilyn Edmison-Driedger <herbs.kwic.com>

I really think lavender is getting a bum-rap. Have you ever had the pleasure of tasting fresh strawberries and fresh lavender blossoms, I can't wait till June! Lavender steeped in white wine passes on pure knowledge to he who sips the wonderful aromatic beverage. What more could one ask for I once sipped a generous amount on The Gardener's Journal. (True I haven't been the same since them but no matter). Lavender lemonade is to die for!!!! And hold on for lavender ice-cream-I love it. Lavender has charm and tastes good too.

"Take the flowers new so many as you please,
and beat them with three times their weight of White Sugar
.....they will keep one year"
_from "The Queen"s Closet Opened" 1655

Lavender vinegar also saved the four thieves. And if all else fails have a lavender bath to sooth the soul and relieve stress!
Lavender blue ....

Lavendered, Marilyn

From: Judith Burley <jburley.trianon.worldtel.com>

I also really like lavender and for those of you who wondered if you can eat lavender here is a recipe that I have made and my friends and family enjoy.
It is from Lara Brody's "Deserts from Your Bread Machine"

Lavender Sweet Cheese Pastries
The marrying of the flowers and cheeses of provence in a sweet pastry turns out to be a joyous combination. The delicate sweet scent of lavender forms the perfect backdrop for the honey sweetened goat cheese filling. Dreid lavender flowers are available in most health food stores. These are the ones to look for - not the artificially scented types used in potpurri. Make sure to select a mild, neither aged nor spiced goat cheese.
The inspiration for this recipe came from Beth Hensperger's wonderful book , Bread.

Dough:
Add to your bread machine in the order given, program for knead and first rise and press start, Meanwhile prepare the filling. At the end of the cycle remove the dough and proceed with completing the pastries.

¼ cup milk
2 extra large eggs
6 tablespoons of unsalted butter - melted
¼ cup honey
1 teasp. salt
3 & ¼ cup unbleached white dlour
1 & ½ teaspoons finely grated lemon rind or ½ teasp. lemon oil
1 tablespoon dried lavender flowers
1 tablespoon yeast

Completing the Pastries:

Heaping ⅔ cup (6 ounces) cream cheese not whipped at room temperature
Heaping ⅔ cup (6 ounces) fresh goat cheese at room temperature
¼ cup honey
1 egg yolk
finely grated rind of one lemon
Confectioners sugar for dusting

To make the filling - either by hand or in a food processor combine all ingredients except the confectioners sugar- mix until smooth.
Lightly grease 2 heavy duty cookie sheets. Place the dough on a lightly floured work surface. Cut the dough into 4 pieces and working one piece at a time, and using as little additional flour as possible, roll it out into a 12 x 8 inch rectangle. Use a long sharp knife or pastry wheel to cut this into six 4 inch squares. Place a heaping tablespoon of the filling in the centre of each square. Bring one side over to form a rectangle and pinch the edges to seal them closed. Place the pastries 2 inches apart on the prepared cookie sheets.
Allow the pastries to rise, uncovered in a warm draft-free place until doubled in bulk. Preheat the oven to 375 degrees f. with the rack in the centre position. Bake the pastries for 15 to 18 minutes or until the tops are puffed and golden. transfer them with a metal spatula to a rack to cool. Just before serving dust with the confectioners sugar.

From: Denise "Kenneth C. Keppel" <kck.mindspring.com>

I mixed dried lavendar and chammola (chamomile? -Henriette) for a great tea. Lavendar makes a good
tea in itself.

From: jeason.midway.uchicago.edu (James Eason)

I once made a fondant icing with lavender. It wasn't very good, but it wasn't quite up to the "toilet cleaner" standard! I used it sparingly on a cake frosted with various experimental flavors (lemon balm was the best).

In Provence you sometimes see cheese wrapped in lavender (stalks & flowers). I had a goat cheese of this sort, and it wasn't bad.

From: Stone_Haus_Farm.prodigy.com (MRS PAT E SWEETMAN)

In saving the reputation of lavender and cooking. I havea wonderful recipe for lavender cheesecake, cookies as well as a punch. GUYS even like them if you don't tell them what is in it (that is not meant for all you liberated guys here on the list, of course). If you make a tea with it and sage it is a good tea for PMS or menapausal times because the lavender is a good nerve tonic and the sage has a natural estrogen in it that helps us get thru those times. For the guys out there--if you are around someone going thru either of those problems...I'd just have the lavender tea and forget the sage. Then you both would be sailing smoother.

From: Stone_Haus_Farm.prodigy.com (MRS PAT E SWEETMAN)

Oh, I keep forgetting to send these lavender recipes along...Sorry. So here thery are:

Lavender punch
1 c water
½ T whole cloves
6" stick cinnnamon
5 T lavender flowers (fresh-3 T dried)
6 oz frozen limeade
2 c pure grape juice
1 liter gingerale

In a covered non aluminum pan simmer water and cloves to for 15 minutes
Strain into container discarding the herbs into the compost bin.
Stir in the limeade and grape juice
Cover and refigerate
Just before serving pour into a pitcher with the gingerale
It is good stuff.

Lavender cheesecake
Preheat oven to 350 degrees
Combine the following and press firmly into a 9" springform pan:
1 ½ c graham cracker or gingersnap crumbs
½ melted butter
¼ sugar
½ c chopped walnuts

Filling:
On high speed with the mixer combine:
24 oz softened cream cheese
1 ½ T sugar
with mixer on low add:
6 eggs
2 c sour cream
2 T cornstarch
1 T lemon juice
1 T crushed dried lavender flowers
1 ½ t vanilla
Blend all on medium for 3 minutes
Pour in chilled crust and bake for 1 hour
Turn oven off and leave in oven for 30 more minutes longer
Remove from oven and let cake cool in pan
Chill

ToppingMix:
8 oz sour cream
1 ½ T sugar
1 t dried lavender flowers
¼ t vanilla
spread over cheese cake
Cover and refrigerate
To serve: Remove the rim of the pan, loosen the cheesecake from the bottom and slide it onto the plate.

Lavender tea cookies
1 c unsalted butter
⅔ c --minus 1 T-- superfine sugar
(I throw it in the blender for a few minutes)
1 beaten egg
1 ¼ c--minus 1 T--self rising flour
1 T fresh lavender flowers

These cookies spread a bit. I line the pan with parchment paper.
Cream butter, sugar. Add egg and beat well.
Stir in flour and flowers.
Drop by teaspoon (no more) on parchament paper spacing widely to allow for spread. Bake 15 to 20 min at 350 F until pale golden and brown edges. Remove to waxed paper. They will be soft until cool. Store in air tight tin.
Yield 30 cookies

THAT'S IT
Hope you all enjoy them. They are all really good but the cookies are are a pain to make.

Well, it is thyme to check on the sheep.