It's almost Valentines day and your heart goes pitter patter over the idea of flowers...
Instead of just sending (or receiving) roses, why not try a much more unique option? Once thought to be THE romantic flower of its day, LAVENDER still holds sway, and causes swaying, with it's heady fragrance, enchanting color, and rich lore.. Indeed, lavender has spent centuries alongside man, in both bouuquets, and medicine chests, enhancing and enchanting our lives....
THE HISTORY OF LAVENDER
Those tiny bluish-purple buds are more ancient than you'd think: lavender can be found amongst manuscripts in Egypt, where it is said that mummies were wrapped in materials dipped in lavender oil. Later the Greeks would use lavender medicinally, while the Romans officially recognized it as a perfume. They annointed themselves heavily with it and used it in their public bath houses. They eventually took it with them once they invaded Britain and this, it is believed, is how lavender was first "imported" to England.
During the Middle Ages, the superstitious public, and church, used the sweet smelling flowers to ward off evil, and as a medicine for everything from headaches to the Plague! Indeed, lavender has a mild antiseptic quality and is a vermifuge; it's scent has been said to be strong enough to discourage mice and fleas. Fleas were known to transmit the Plague (often to mice and rats)and thus, there may be some validity to the claim.
As it made it's way to the Victorian Era, lavender was made so popular that it could be found in almost every product for personal use. Furniture was polished with it's oil, it was hung in sachets to freshen the house and repel house pests, it was used in all manner of creams, toilet water, perfumes and other beauty treatements and, of course, it was used in beautiful wreaths, nosegays and other bouquets. During the famous Victorian Teas, one could count lavender cookies amongst the more ingenious ways to use flowers in food (alongside rosehips tea, and more).
Today, lavender enjoys its continued popularity, with new and ingenious ways to use it for beauty, comfort and all around usefulenss in daily life. Why not try lavender in these ways to brighten your day?
Lavender Tea
Yes, tea. To be honest, the tea is sometimes too sweet, or too fragrant for some, so we've added another version which blends it
with more traditional tea for a much simpler flavor:
Lavender Tea #1
Take 2 huge teaspoons of crushed culinary lavender (and it HAS to be culinary lavender, which is approved for cooking. Non-culinary, or "regular" lavender might have dangerous chemicals added during it's growing phase, so be careful. Several health food stores and online special orders carry culinary lavender) and add it, in a tea ball, to a steeping pot of hot water. Let simmer for up to 20 minutes. Pour into your favorite teacups and add sugar and honey to your liking. Enjoy the unique scent and taste as your tea experience.
Lavender Tea #2
Make your favorite tea, as you normally would. Add half a teaspoon of crushed culinary lavender in a tea ball (or, you may want to strain it out before you drink the tea). Add sugar, milk, or honey as you desire. Enjoy!
Lavender sugar
Use 2 Tablespoons of fresh lavender, or 4Tbspns fresh lavender for each cup of sugar. Add lavender buds to sugar. You may keep in a container in a warm place, perhaps a windowsill. Shake the container to distribute the lavener evenly within the sugar. After about 2 weeks, pour the sugar through a sifter--the sifter will catch the spent lavender buds. You can then use the sweetly scented sugar to sprinkle on deserts or to place in tea. Heavenly!
Lavender Clotted Cream
1 cup heavy cream
1 Tbspn crushed CULINARY lavender
1/4 cup sugar
honey, to taste
Place the heavy cream in a bowl. With an egg beater, whip the cream until it is stiff. Add either 1 Tspn crushed culinary lavender, 1/4 cup sugar, and 1 teaspoon honey, if you like. Or, instead of the lavender, sugar, and honey, you may use 2 teaspoons lavender sugar (see recipe, above). Add this clotted cream onto scones, muffins, or even pancakes.
Lavender Jam
2 1/4 cups bottled apple juice
1 cup lavender flowers
3 1/2 cups granulated sugar
1/2 (4 ounce) bottle liquid pectin
Place apple juice and lavender in a saucepan and bring to a boil. Cover and remove from the heat. Let stand for 15 minutes, then strain.
Return 2 cups of this juice to the heat, add the sugar, and stirring constantly, bring to a full boil. Stir in the liquid pectin and bring to a rolling boil for 1 minute, stirring constantly.
Remove from the heat, skim off the foam, and pour into jelly glasses with a sprig of jelly in each glass and seal. Process for 5 minutes in a boiling water bath.
Lavender Hand Cream
This might be an interesting project for you self sufficient herbalists/beauty product mavens...
4 oz. sweet almond oil
1 oz. beeswax
2 oz. water
10 drops Vitamin E oil
10 drops lavender essential oil
1 oz crushed lavender buds
Melt the almond oil and the wax in a double boiler. Once these are completely melted, remove from heat, add water, and stir thoroughly.
Add your Vitamin E, lavender essential oil and stir continuously until cool. This cream should become thick.After you have added the essential oil and the cream is still warm enough to pour, carefully pour it into salve jars or metal tins. It is very moisturizing
and is perfect for rough, chapped or winter skin. It also has a great scent!
Lavender Wands
Lavender wands (which are sometimes known as "lavender bottles"), are whimsical works of lavender art. They are made from freshly-cut stems of lavender. Start with an uneven number of stems, bend the stems back over the flowers and weave a narrow ribbon in and out between the "spokes." Your first attempt may be less than perfect, but it gets easier with practice. You may hang them in a room and enoy the scent from your enchanted wand!
