Please Eat the Violets

We had such a great weekend and Lord's Day. Syd and I got some things done around the house, took a walk and later picked fiddleheads to have for dinner. We'll have another mess of them tonight. At noon I dropped our friend, Evelyn, up at Mom's for them to have an afternoon visit, which they really did enjoy. I made us all a lunch then left them to "puzzle" and chat for a few hours. After these visits, I ask them what they talked about and they just say, "oh, everything". It is so nice to have two ladies who are almost the same age and both from the same hometown be able to get together and reminisce.

Yesterday after church we had a nice picnic beside the brook which runs behind the Parsonage. The children swung (or perhaps they "swang"), many of us played horseshoes or just sat around and talked and ate hot dogs and pizza. The brook babbled out beautiful background music (say that 10 times, fast!) and we were even treated to a nice concert by Cliff and Hannah, playing a couple of songs that they will do at their violin recital this weekend.

Violet - or "Heartsease"

It's a sunny, Spring day with temperatures possibly up toward 70, they say. As you can see, Aunt Janet had a suggestion in today's "Aunt Jan's Wild Corner", of making violet syrup. I did look up a recipe for the syrup, which I included in her corner today. Below are a few more simple ideas to try with violets.

Remember, try these suggestions at your own risk. I read MANY blogs and articles in preparation for this, both today and in the past, and there are almost no dangers of eating violets; a suggestion was made to start with a small amount of the flower heads on a salad (which I've done, mmm!), to be sure there is no allergic reaction. Do not use yellow violets (these grow in clusters and are in violet family, found mostly in the woods), but use the common white, purple or lavender ones which grow profusely at this time of year. Don't pick them from places that may have been treated with chemicals or lawn fertilizers either, of course. Do not eat African violets (house plants).

Violet Honey:  2 C violet flowers. Place in a blender with 1 C raw honey (for those of you whose children, less than one year old, you can use pasteurized) and the juice of one fresh lemon. Blend well. Store in a glass jar in freezer. Use as a spread on crackers or toast.

Violet Vinegar: Stuff as many violet flowers as possible into a pint jar. Cover with white wine vinegar; top with lid and allow to steep for one month in the refrigerator, shaking daily. Strain and refrigerate, for use in dressings or over cooked greens.

Violet Ice Cubes: Simply place a violet blossom in each segment of the ice cube tray and fill with water. It's such a beautiful addition to a cool glass of lemonade!

I hope you have an adventuresome day. Thanks for stopping in. Next time I hope to have some of these pretty ice cubes that we can drop into lemonade sweetened with violet-syrup!