Below is a picture of us drying this gorgeous lavender in our cottage. I think it looks just heavenly.
We use this variety of lavender in our neck rolls & comfort hearts because of it's strong and calming natural aroma.
Winter is here and I haven't decided if I am ready for it yet. Above is a picture of our farm last year once Winter was in full swing. Lots and lots of snow.
As promised, here are some pictures of how we get the tens of thousands of lavender buds off our lavender bundles. This process takes a great deal of time, energy and patience. Thankfully, we have a number of young and energetic people to help us out.
1st, we take down the dried lavender bundles from the cottage and place them in a wheel barrow or large basket.
NEXT, we give these bundles to two darling and energetic sisters and they go to work separating the buds from the stems. This process takes days and many hours to complete. It is tedious but the end result is well worth all the work.
Below are pictures of the girls as they roll the lavender bundles. When they do this the buds easily (and sometimes not so easily) fall into the bowl. We place the stems after the buds have been removed aside (they make great kindling for fire and smell great too).
After all the buds have been separated we have thousands upon thousands of lavender buds ready to be used in our products. Our lavender truly is straight from our farm to you.
Last but not least, I know I promised to post a White Hot Chocolate w/Lavender recipe but, I want to tweak the recipe a little more before I post it. So I have posted an oldie but goodie recipe for you. My famous "Mimi's Mousse". Named after my darling granddaughter, who helped me make it the first time.
Mimi's Mousse
3 cups mini marshmallows
1/2 cup (1 stick) unsalted butter, softened
9 oz best quality semi sweet chocolate, chopped (we used Hershey's dark chocolate)
1/4 cup warm water
1 cup whipping cream, whipped
1 tsp. vanilla
in a sauce pan combine marshmallows chocolate, butter and water. Heat gently, stirring occasionally. When all ingredients are melted and combined set aside to cool. Whip cream with vanilla until stiff. Fold cream into cooling chocolate mixture. At this point you can fill pretty glasses with this mousse as we did in the picture. Or chill and create your own temptations.
Every year we harvest our Lavender. The first year we planted we were able to harvest ourselves, but as the years have gone by and our lavender has grown we have needed to employ some extra hands. And these hands belong to some wonderful young people with a lot more energy and stamina than us older folk.
(Below and above are just a portion of the lavender we harvested this year.)
After harvesting the lavender from the fields the real work begins. In order for lavender to keep it's rich color and fragrance it needs to be hung in a cool dark place.
Next, we take the harvested lavender to our cottage and begin the process of separating, sorting and hanging it.
After hours and hours of labor, our cottage is full from top to bottom with hundreds upon hundreds of lavender bundles. They hang in this cool dark place until dry.
Tomorrow, we'll show you how we get all those thousands of buds off the stems and into our products. We will also share a delicious recipe for white hot chocolate with a touch of lavender. Yum.
This year we also planted and harvested gorgeous white lavender for the first time. We are excited to post pictures of this gorgeous and majestic looking variety of lavender.
This year we also planted and harvested gorgeous white lavender for the first time. We are excited to post pictures of this gorgeous and majestic looking variety of lavender.
Fall in Cache Valley is simply spectacular! Below are some pictures of the old barn located on the dirt road that takes you to our lavender and apple farm. I also added some gorgeous photos taken of the Logan Canyons. Country living at its best.
above photo courtesy of John Harvey
above photo courtesy of N.M. Smith
Tis the season to collect all those delicious vine ripe tomatoes and create something fabulous with them. As you know, I'm a big fan of roasting veggies. Their flavor becomes more rich through the roasting process. Each season I roast my tomatoes. I like to make spaghetti sauce, soups and stews with them.
Roasted Tomato Sauce/Puree Recipe
preheat oven to 400
8 tomatoes
1 small yellow onion
3 cloves garlic
1/3 cup fresh herbs (anything really, parsley, sage, thyme or basil)
pinch of salt & pepper
Wash and core tomatoes. Cut into quarters. Add cut onions, garlic and fresh herbs. Toss with olive oil and then add salt and pepper; I also like to add our own blend of Herbs de Provence. Toss your veggies well and place on a cookie sheet, being carful not to crowd. Roast in oven until all veggies are golden brown. Take out of oven and cool. At this point I like to place them in a freezer bag and freeze. When you want to use them just take them out and un-thaw.
Puree the sauce and add chicken, then pour over pasta. You won't be sorry you went to the effort to preserve these delicious tomatoes!
We here at the Lavender Apple are getting ready for the Holidays and are in the process of putting together a number of gift basket with our products.
We are also going to make baskets of all prices and varieties. Such as Culinary baskets with things like honey & herbs, Bath & Body baskets with soaps, oils & lotions and Home Goods baskets with lavender sachets, framable cards & essential scented oils and more. We also want to give our customers the chance to put together their own custom gift baskets.
We are excited for the coming holiday season and are excited to be a part of your experience as you share our organic handpicked lavender and homemade goods with friends and family!
Since we moved to an apple farm/orchard with over 50 trees full of delicious vintage apples I have been looking high and low for a good caramel dipping sauce recipe. Well, the search is over. Here it is. If it is not THE best caramel sauce you've ever had, then... something is wrong with your taste buds.
*just kidding - kindof* ;)
C a r a m e l S a u c e
(with a little peggy twist)
1 cup firmly packed light brown sugar
1/2 cup butter
1/4 cup whipping cream
1/4 cup honey
1 teaspoon culinary lavender (peggy-twist)
PEGGY-TWIST (YUM!): Steep lavender in whipping cream.
How to steep lavender:
in a medium saucepan bring whipping cream and lavender to a slow boil over medium-high heat; stirring constantly. Remove from stove and separate lavender from the whipping cream, with a fine strainer, picture below. (it's ok if a couple of lavender buds slip through).
NOW GO ON WITH THE ORIGINAL RECIPE...
ORIGINAL RECIPE: Bring the above ingredients to boil in a medium saucepan over medium-high heat, stirring constantly; boil, stirring constantly, 2 minutes.
Remove from heat and cool for 15 minutes before serving.
Store in airtight container in refrigerator up to 1 week. To reheat, microwave at HIGH 10 to 15 seconds or just until warm; stir until smooth.
Makes about 1 1/2 cups.
pic1: the cream and lavender (after steeping), pic2: adding butter and brown sugar
pic3: as all the ingredients are melting
Above picture: lavender being separated from cream after being steeped
(basically, this is how the cream takes on the lavender flavor)
*Recipe courtesy of Southern Living