Inspired by a yummy gift from a girlfriend, homemade lemon cordial, and a garden bursting with one of my favourite plants…. I tried my hand at LAVENDER LEMONADE.

I picked about 20 flower heads…. as many as you see in the basket… I did this first thing in the morning (when their essential oils are their most potent). After a quick rinse (I have an organic garden so no worries about drinking any chemicals) I put them in a bowl with 6 cups of boiling water, essentially making lavender tea, and let them sit over night.

In the morning I strained the tea and added the juice of nine lemons, another 6 cups of water and then 3 tablespoons of honey (you can add as much or as little as you’d like depending on your sweet tooth). After a vigorous stir all the honey dissolved and guess what…. THAT’S IT!  Lavender Lemonade!!! YUM, YUM, YUM!!!!

No it doesn’t taste like some kind of perfume or potpourri experiment gone wrong…. it’s REALLY lovely and refreshing. Probably more suited to summer than to the 0 degree temps we’ve been waking up to this week, but hey, make Lemonade while the Lavender flowers!

With the quantities I used I was able to make three bottles worth. Next batch I’ll be making a whole lot more. What I really need to do is sacrifice one bottle to see how long you can keep it before it goes off….. but there is no way I’m going to be able to hold back from drinking it. In fact I had friends over today and we polished off one bottle, and I’m off for a weekend away with some girlfriends…. so, doubt it will last till sat really!