LIVING LA VIDA LOCA….SEVEN DAYS OF EATING LAVENDER, DAY ONE (LAVENDER WATER)

I love lavender. In fact, I wear a lavender body spray from Bath and Body Works every night before I go to bed because I love the scent so much and have for years. They say lavender has many medicinal properties such as anti-inflamatory properties, help for insomnia, pain relief, and can help one relax. I’m not sure about any of that, but I just love lavender.

In my ever-present search to “shake things up” to live my life fully, I came up with the crazy idea of EATING lavender for seven days. Why not? Sounds fun. My daughter, who is game for just about anything, celebrated my search for satisfactory lavender recipes and offered some recipes she found herself. Other people I spoke to wondered WHY on Earth would we EVER eat lavender and remarked there is probably a reason lavender is not as ubiquitous as rosemary, thyme, oregano, sage, basil, or parsley. All the more reason to give it a whirl I said.

Day One. Having just received our culinary form of lavender (culinary form is important to avoid pesticides, chemicals, etc…), I was excited to begin. I thought we would start out with something simple. My daughter and I love fruit flavored water, so we decided we would try LAVENDER flavored water. We had already ordered culinary lavender from Amazon and were ready to begin.

I was thinking that the addition of another flavor might work out well, so I tried a recipe for lavender-mint water with the mint we grow in the yard. How could I go wrong with mint? This recipe was quick and easy, as you put some lavender in a tea strainer along with water and mint sprigs in a mason jar.

The mason jar steeps at least 8 hours in the refrigerator and is ready to drink after being strained for any stray lavender buds. Ready…..set…..drink……

Soap. Soap is what it tasted like to me. Not refreshing. Not anything but soap. My best friend here said to look on the bright side, and I should be glad at how clean my insides might be from this soapy confection with a laugh. And maybe the other person who said there probably is a reason why we don’t use lavender in our recipes was right. Just maybe that person who said that is always right. Note to self: try lavender in a recipe with some other flavor that “cuts’ the strong flavor of the lavender somehow. After a little research, I found out that lavender is, in fact, better if the flavor is “cut” somehow with something like dairy, lemon, or honey.

Can’t wait for tomorrow…….day TWO of la vie de loca with lavender.

Life is good; find something to shake things up today. Do the unexpected. Eat something you normally don’t or won’t eat.

Carpe diem, friends…..

(photo 1, 2,3 :dreamstime)