Honey-Lavender Lemonade

Our lavender is beginning to bud. When I sit in the field on a warm day, the earthy, floral scent of thousands of purple blossoms wafts up my nose and relaxes all my senses. Each night after dinner, Zach and I find ourselves in the lavender field. We don't discuss it, we usually head out to feed the animals and almost subconsciously our senses draw us to those heavenly plants. It's as though our bodies and minds crave that scent and experience after a long day. I used to think that aromatherapy was a bunch of woo-woo. But there's something about sitting in the lavender field that acts like a warm bath for the soul at the end of the day.

In the winter, when the lavender is dormant, my daughter and I enjoy drinking dried lavender tea before bedtime. It's a fancy little ritual we have with flowered china tea cups and sugar cubes or honey.

As the weather warms up I miss the lavender tea in the summer, we usually stop drinking it as the days get longer and the evenings get hotter. We don't have air conditioning in our home and in warm summer evenings, a steaming cup of tea is the last thing I want to drink.

This lemonade, however, is quite refreshing and still infuses that delicious lavender flavor into an enjoyable drink.

This is an overnight lemonade, as the cold extraction process takes time to draw out the lavender flavor. I've tried recipes where you simmer the lavender in a pan to extract the lavender essence, but I feel like the heating process changes the flavor of the lavender. It's a cooked flavor, like tea. The flavor isn't as bright nor fresh tasting. (Think fresh basil vs cooked basil)...totally different taste experience. Lavender can also go slightly bitter if it's over-steeped.

This lemonade is seriously so bright, and refreshing. The lemon juice is tangy and tart, the lavender is floral and slightly herb-y, and the honey is sweet and floral as well. I've tried this with maple syrup and sugar, and they were both...fine. But I feel like the honey and the lavender just pair so well!

To make this lemonade you will need:

• A quart mason jar
• fine mesh sieve
• The juice of two fresh squeezed lemons
• 1 Tbsp dried or fresh lavender blossoms
• 3 Tbsp honey
• water

Instructions:

To the jar, add the honey and lemon juice. Stir until the honey dissolves. Add the lavender blossoms and fill the jar with cold water. Place in the refrigerator overnight.

The lemonade will turn a beautiful rosy pink.

The next day, strain the lavender buds off the lemonade and serve over ice.

You can double or triple this recipe. I keep it in rotation in our fridge. I just rinse out yesterday's jar and make tomorrow's batch.

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