Wow, I just went to beverage Heaven! I made my first drinkable batch of lemonade. Like so many, I've tried a few times to make lemonade from scratch...only to pour it down the drain because it was either bitter, or way too sweet. I'll tell you what made the difference this time. Two things: raw honey and lavender water.
So...what the heck is lavender water? It's where you take a handful of organic lavender and steep it in a quart of boiling water. In my case, it was ten long-ish stems with the fully blooming flowers still on. After about ten minutes, strain the lavender out, and voila! You have lavender water, also known as an infusion of lavender. By the way, when using lavender for cooking you do need to make sure it's organic, or culinary grade. Any lavender marketed for crafts may contain chemicals that you do not want to put in your mouth.
In case you want to try it yourself, here is what I did to give myself a rush of YUM:
5 cups water, not quite tap-cold
3/4 cup raw honey
Juice of 3 lemons, plus chopped peel of one
1 1/2 cups lavender water, chilled
Ice to fill pitcher to 2 quarts
Add honey to the water, and shake it up - it might take a couple of minutes for the honey to dissolve. Warmer water will dissolve the honey more quickly. Then, add the lemon juice and lavender water. Follow those with ice cubes to make 2 quarts, and the chopped lemon peel. Give it another good shake, and pour over ice.
My lemon peels are still in the pitcher - it's only been a half hour so far. I'll let you know when I take them out. If you're trying this, I'd love to hear how long you leave in the peels. Or what else you like to use lavender in!
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