Chocolate for Valentine's Day...how about a recipe for dark chocolate truffles-plain, lavender, balsamic and /or mint?

I am not a huge dessert fan...would rather have a little more of the main course...and my favorite way to end a meal is with a bit of chocolate with my last glass of red wine. These truffles fit the bill perfectly...excellent chocolate, either plain or subtlety flavored with my favorite herbs, fruit and/or balsamic vinegar. For Valentine's Day I thought I would make four of my favorites...a small assortment for those I love.

Please don't be put off by the thought of the herbs or balsamic vinegar...give it a try. As my husband Peter..a die hard plain chocolate advocate says..."They are surprisingly delicious".

My Valentine gifts this year are going to be dark chocolate truffles! I don't think it can be Valentine's Day without chocolate, do you? But...here is the best part....homemade truffles are really easy...and they don't have to look perfect...I think the handcrafted look looks best anyway.

This recipe makes an equal amount of four flavors of truffles...pure dark chocolate, balsamic, mint and lavender. Use the proportion of 2 to 1 chocolate to cream to make fewer flavors...I like the variety! And,because there are only two main ingredients, use the best quality you can afford. The ingredients really do make the difference...

**IMPORTANT** if you are making more than one type of truffle be sure to label each bowl as you go...otherwise, they all look the same and you will need to taste to know which is which*** (not really a hardship)
Farmhouse Dark Chocolate Truffles
16 oz best quality (70% cacao) bittersweet chocolate (I use Scharffenberger) well chopped
1 cup organic heavy whipping cream
1 tbsp dried organic lavender buds
1 tbsp fresh organic mint leaves
2 tsp good quality pure balsamic vinegar
1 tsp pure Tahitian vanilla
best quality chocolate cocoa powder (I use Valhrona)
additional tiny mint leaves and lavender buds for garnish
1 tsp pine nuts, sliced in half lengthwise
finely chopped pecans

For lavender truffles:  bring 1/4 cup whipping cream and the lavender buds to a gentle simmer. Remove from heat and let steep for about an hour. Strain lavender buds from cream (discard lavender) and return to stove. Bring back to hard simmer. Place 1/2 cup chopped chocolate into small bowl. When cream is ready, remove from stove and immediately pour over chocolate in bowl. Let sit for a couple of minutes without stirring. After 2-3 minutes, whisk chocolate into cream until smooth. Refrigerate for a couple of hours.

**note...the lavender cream is delicious on its own...try it drizzled over pound cake and strawberries...or poured over any fresh fruit***

mint truffles:
Thoroughly wash all cooking equipment to avoid taste crossover. Follow exact same process as for lavender truffles, substituting the mint.

balsamic truffles:
Bring 1/4 cup whipping cream and the balsamic to a strong simmer...place 1/2 cup chopped chocolate in a small bowl...when cream is ready, immediately pour over chocolate in bowl.  Follow rest of directions for lavender truffles.

pure dark chocolate truffles:  
Follow the balsamic truffles directions, substituting the vanilla for the balsamic.

Remove truffle mixture(s) from refrigerator after a couple of hours and allow to sit at room temperature for 15-20 minutes...the chocolate should just begin to soften. I use a mini ice cream scoop for the next step, but you can also use 2 spoons. Starting with one flavor of truffles, shape mixture into small round balls...whatever size you like. Place each ball on a parchment paper lined baking sheet. Remember to label each flavor on the sheet...I just use a post-it. When you have finished with all flavors, refrigerate truffles overnight.

Remove from refrigerator. Place nuts on one plate and cocoa powder on another. I roll the lavender, mint and balsamic truffles in the cocoa powder and top each lavender truffle with a couple of lavender buds, mint truffles with the tiny mint leaves and the balsamic with 2 pine nut slices...looks pretty and identifies the flavor. I roll 1/2 of the plain truffles in more cocoa powder and 1/2 in the chopped nuts. The fun part of this step is you can be as creative as you want...roll in cocoa, nuts (any kind you like) powdered sugar, sanding sugar, melted chocolate...whatever you like...

Refrigerate truffles until ready to eat.

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Are you cooking or baking for loved ones this Valentine's Day? What are you making?

Happy Valentine's Day!

best,

diane
napa farmhouse 1885

red or green?
california girl in taos
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o.k...the holiday baking has begun...so fig jam thumbprint cookies, anyone?

i have spent most of my adult life traveling for business...whether driving, flying, or taking trains...corporate life required being away from home much of the time. i confess, in my "new" life i have gone in completely the opposite direction. you need a crowbar to get me to leave napa. we just returned home from a long weekend in southern california for the thanksgiving day holiday. this year, my cousin maria planned a family reunion celebration for the big day...and by reunion i mean the whole gang...my parents, sisters, husbands, nephews, aunts, uncles, cousins, cousins kids...you name it...a huge crowd. i loved every minute...family is that "crow bar" i was referring to.

but now that i am home i really have no desire to go anywhere else for a while. so...i must confess...i reacted with dread when my friend sondra invited me to a "holiday cookie exchange" party in san francisco this month. (sorry sondra)...i love her...and have not seen many of my sf friends for a long time...but...that drive!!..in traffic!!! i almost declined the invitation. then i had a long talk with myself and decided to get a grip...i mean, c'mon...san francisco is an hour drive from napa...not exactly the same as packing for europe...traffic? i grew up in los angeles people...am an old hand at traffic. and i reminded myself of the important things in life...family and friends being at the top of the list...and what would the holiday season be without a ton of baking?

so...cookie exchange...here i come.... anyone interested in thumbprint cookies with fig and grand marnier jam? maybe the peanut butter and jelly cookies i told you about last month?...and then there are lavender cookies to consider...and what about chocolate with balsamic......?

i created these cookies to go with our fig & grand marnier jam....you can substitute regular fig jam and add orange zest....or use a citrus marmalade...whatever you like...

thumbprint cookies with fig-grand marnier jam

1 cup butter (2 sticks) room temperature

2/3 cup sugar

1 egg

1 tsp pure vanilla extract

2 1/2 cups all-purpose unbleached flour

1/2 tsp salt

1 tsp orange zest finely grated and minced

fig and grand marnier jam or 1 cup fig jam mixed with 2 tsp finely grated orange zest

preheat oven to 350 degrees. prepare 2 baking sheets by lining with either silpat or parchment paper. in the bowl of a mixer, beat together the butter and sugar until well mixed and fluffy. add the egg and vanilla extract and beat until completely incorporated. in a separate bowl, sift together the flour and salt and then add to the mixer ingredients. mix until dry ingredients are combined with the wet ingredients...do not over mix. stir in the orange zest.

roll the dough into balls about 1 1/2 inches in diameter and place on prepared cookie sheet. use your thumb to make a small hole in the center of each cookie...press about 1/2 way down the dough ball. bake in preheated oven for 10 minutes. remove from oven and fill each "thumbprint" 1/2 full with the jam. return to oven and bake for an additional 8-10 minutes until cookies are just beginning to turn golden. remove from oven and fill the rest of the thumbprint "hole" with the remaining jam. place on racks to cool before serving.

happy holiday baking everyone...whatcha making?

best,

diane

diane padoven

napa farmhouse 1885 (tm)

"live a green life of style"(tm)

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how does roasted pork tenderloin with figs & balsamic reduction sound?

i know, i know...i have written many stories about figs...but, c'mon...fresh figs?? who can resist? i am always looking for new and different ways to serve the fig bounty i get twice a year from my tree. regular readers are familiar with my fig/chocolate cake, jam, appetizers, balsamic reduction, fig, bacon & blue cheese tart...etc. today...as i look at the few remaining figs on my tree for this season...i thought i would share my family's newest fig obsession...roasted pork tenderloin with fresh figs & balsamic reduction....how good does that sound?

fig & gran marnier jam

i first made this dish on an unusually chilly day in august for peter...he loved it and said.."o.k. you can make this often this fall". so, i made it again a few weeks later for some weekend house guests. major success (yes!)

fig cake

it has become an annual tradition for my mom and sister susan to visit napa in october. sometimes my dad comes too...and, since they live in southern california, they get to experience a bit of fall...crisp weather, leaves turning (did you know the leaves on the grape vines turn beautiful colors of reds, golds, oranges....truly beautiful)and harvest in the napa valley. we cook, eat, bake, drink wine, take country drives (although NOT after the aforementioned wine tasting) and talk...endless, endless talking.... sharing stories...making up stories...repeating stories we have all heard a million times....and, best of all...creating new family stories....have i told you how much i adore my family?

anyway...as i suspect you have guessed by now...i served the pork and fig dish one night....my family loved it...it turned into another story telling moment about my grandparents' fig tree....and led to one of those nights around the dining table...talking and laughing until almost midnight...

try the dish...and create family stories of your own....

the uncooked pork

roasted pork tenderloin with figs & balsamic reduction

1 2 1/2 lb pork tenderloin

12 cloves fresh garlic, peeled

grey salt

freshly cracked black pepper

1 tbsp organic lavender or rosemary, minced

1/4 cup extra virgin olive oil

12-18 fresh figs, sliced in half lengthwise

1/2 cup fig-balsamic reduction or regular balsamic vinegar

preheat oven to 375 degrees. using a small paring knife, cut 12 small slits into pork (about 1/4 inch each) stuff each slit with a garlic clove. sprinkle salt and pepper over the tenderloin.

heat 2 tbsp of the olive oil in a large skillet over medium heat and add the tenderloin. turn the heat to high and brown the meat on all sides. remove skillet from heat. place the pork in the center of a roasting pan lined with foil. surround the pork with the figs. drizzle the remaining olive oil over the meat/figs..sprinkle with additional salt & pepper and either the lavender or rosemary. drizzle the balsamic reduction over the entire dish and cover roasting pan with foil. roast in preheated oven for 15 minutes. remove foil and roast for an additional 10-15 minutes until the pork reaches 160 degrees on a meat thermometer. remove from oven and let rest for 15 minutes. slice and serve pork accompanied with a few figs with some of the pan juices drizzled over dish...serve over pasta...or with soft polenta...or with roasted sweet potatoes....or whatever sounds good to you....

o.k. everyone...thanksgiving is next week!..are you ready?

best,

diane

napa farmhouse 1885(tm)

"live a green life of style"(tm)

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how about balsamic wild mushroom ragu' with polenta?

i have written many times about my love of recreating recipes...i adore eating a delicious meal in a restaurant and then trying to make the dish at home. now i never actually request the recipe from the chef...where's the fun in that?...rather i imagine the tastes...textures...flavors and then "make it up". if it turns out excellent...i serve it to family & friends...and then blog about it, of course giving the inspiration credit to the restaurant's chef.

today i want to tell you a bit about bottega, chef michael chiarello's restaurant in yountville here in the napa valley of california. bottega opened last winter but, for unknown reasons, i did not go until a couple of months ago...not sure why except i seem to be spending much more time entertaining at home where i can cook...instead of going out to restaurants. maybe it is because i spent so many years traveling for business. let me tell you something...traveling gets old...especially travelling on business... even very cool hotels and fantastic restaurants can't make up for the fact that you are not home...at least that became my experience. anyway, bottega opened to terrific reviews. i loved michael's first restaurant, tra vigne, when he was chef/owner there....and i am a big fan of his style of italian cooking...so i just had to try his newest restaurant...

first of all, the experience was perfect and the food was amazing. i am not a restaurant critic and rarely write about restaurants...but this was such a perfect evening that i almost decided to write this entire post about bottega. notice i said "almost". here's the deal.... we went to dinner with a couple of good friends. one of them used to work for chef chiarello years ago. he is also a life long napan...knows everyone...so going out with him is always an experience. our friend knew everyone at bottega...the entire wait staff...all the busboys...the cooks...bartenders...you name it...he knew them. so, of course, the service was fantastic... people stopped by our table all night...constantly checking in to ensure we had everything we needed. the food was flawless. now...maybe this is true for everyone...and the restaurant is just that good. but before i actually recommend it to all of you, i think the fair thing to do is go back...with just my husband...and compare the two experiences....if the second time measures up to the first, we really have a winner here...

but...until then....there was one dish that was so amazingly good, i had to try and recreate it at home. it is listed as an appetizer at the restaurant and called "polenta under glass, caramelized wild mushrooms, balsamic game sauce". we ordered a number of dishes to share...this was one of them...and it was love at first sight. dramatic i know, but the dish comes served in a mason jar...and, if you know anything about my company, mason jars are one of my favorite things....i package many of my products in mason jars, so i loved the whole presentation...it was really unexpected. then, the taste....creamy polenta, mushrooms, balsamic....this stuff won rave reviews from all of us....definitely on my list of dishes to recreate...

a couple of weeks later i saw dried porcini mushrooms at a produce stand...and polenta style cornmeal. i always have many types of best quality extra virgin olive oil and aged balsamic vinegar on hand...so...here goes!

the dish at bottega was really rich...i wanted to lighten it up just a touch....and eliminating the "game" in game sauce seemed like a good place to start. i love mushroom ragu...so i thought ragu with balsamic...and creamy polenta with e.v.o.o. and parmesan...could be really good. you know what? i made it and it was delicious!...made a big platter of my version...which i named balsamic wild mushroom ragu with polenta...served it with grilled steak and a big salad....invited some friends over and they proclaimed it...bloggable!! (the highest compliment you can pay me these days.) so, here it is....please let me know what you think...

balsamic wild mushroom ragu with polenta

8 oz fresh baby bella mushrooms, sliced

3/4 oz pack dried porcini mushrooms

best quality extra virgin olive oil

1/2 onion, diced

4 garlic cloves, minced

1 small carrot, finely chopped

1 cup dry red wine

1/4 cup balsamic vinegar di modena

1 tbsp fresh rosemary, chopped

1 tsp dried lavender flowers

grey salt

freshly cracked black pepper

best quality extra virgin olive oil, for drizzling

best quality aged (min 19 yrs) balsamic vinegar di modena for drizzling (if you can't splurge on this type of balsamic vinegar, no worries...use our recipe for balsamic reduction)

2 small sprigs fresh rosemary

parmigiano reggiano, freshly grated

soft polenta (recipe follows)

place dried mushrooms in a small bowl. cover with 1 cup very hot water and allow to soak for 10 minutes. pour softened mushrooms through cheesecloth lined fine mesh strainer placed over a small bowl, reserving mushroom liquid. rinse mushrooms and rough chop. set aside mushroom liquid for use later in recipe.

add 2 tbsp olive oil to large skillet over med high heat. add the fresh and dried mushrooms and season with salt and pepper. cook, stirring frequently, until mushrooms are very tender and begin to caramelize...15-20 minutes. add onion and carrot, cook an additional 5 minutes. add garlic, stir well, cook another 5 minutes....mushrooms should be very caramelized..do not let garlic burn. add wine and cook until skillet is almost dry. add balsamic vinegar, reserved mushroom liquid, rosemary and lavender. cook until liquid is thick and reduced by half. taste and add salt and pepper to taste.

to serve: place prepared soft polenta in rimmed serving dish. top with mushroom ragu. generously drizzle with the aged balsamic (or balsamic reduction)...about 1/2 cup total. drizzle with a small amount of extra virgin olive oil, sprinkle with a handful of the parmigiano-reggiano. top with the sprigs of rosemary and serve immediately.

soft polenta

6 cups water

1 1/2 cups polenta type cornmeal

2 tbsp best quality extra virgin olive oil

1/4 cup parmigiano reggiano, freshly grated

grey salt

bring water to a soft boil in medium saucepan. add 1 tsp. salt. reduce heat to medium and gradually add polenta to pot, about 1/2 cup at a time, stirring constantly until totally incorporated into the water. continue stirring until mixture thickens, about 10 minutes. stir in olive oil and parmigiano reggiano. taste and add additional salt if needed... serve immediately

do you recreate dishes? tell me about your successes...and non-successes in the comments section of this post....and please tell us about any of your new favorite restaurants....

best,

diane

diane padoven

founder/president

napa farmhouse 1885(tm)

"live a green life of style(tm)

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can "just a salad" really be dinner?

for me, the answer is yes and...especially in summer...this is a frequent solution to the "what's for dinner when it is hot?" question. last night we had a big taco salad...greens, red onions, extra sharp cheddar cheese, organic kidney beans, chopped peppers, sliced black kalamata olives and corn tortilla chips tossed with a balsamic/chipotle vinaigrette. extra tortilla chips, salsa, guacamole...and, of course, freshly juiced lime margaritas completed the meal. easy, delicious, satisfying...perfect for a lazy saturday.

i was thinking this morning about how often salads have been my go-to option when entertaining...and decided to tell you about my new favorite series of salad recipes.

two weeks ago my friend caitlin phoned to discuss our friend richard's birthday which was later that week. richard had told her that...instead of a big "to-do"...he wanted to celebrate with "family". i believe that, if you are very lucky, you will have friends that you care so much about you consider them part of your family...that is the case here so we quickly organized a birthday bash at the farmhouse.... now it was one of those weeks where i literally had something planned each day and night leading up to the birthday dinner...i had no time to plan...barely time to shop...and needed something easy, but still special enough to qualify as a birthday celebration meal. the answer was inspired by the grilled chicken summer salad from the july issue of gourmet magazine. really, this is a bunch of small salads that, served together on a platter, create the most amazing meal...looks beautiful and tastes fantastic. the recipes include a radish-cucumber salad, a chickpea (garbanzo bean) salad, a green bean salad, a tomato salad, a lettuce salad...and grilled chicken & mushrooms tossed in pesto....how good does that sound?

the brilliant touch is that all the salads, with the exception of the chicken, use the same vinaigrette so that the tastes all kind of meld together in a really fantastic way and the individual salads are separated just enough so that you can take what you like...and skip what you don't.

now, regular readers know that it is impossible for me to follow recipes as written...i just have to edit and tweak...but in this case i did stay pretty true to the original...i added another bean salad using cannellini beans and diced marinated peppers for a bit more protein for the vegetarians, roasted the almonds for the green beans in e.v.o.o. and aglio olio peperoncino (organic italian seasoning) to add a bit of spice...actually, i made a big batch of these roasted almonds and served some as part of the appetizers....and i threw in some feta with the tomato salad just because you can never go wrong with cheese!

dinner was really good...i grilled big slabs of bread...rubbed them with garlic and some of the pesto, drizzled with really good e.v.o.o. and served with the salads... for appetizers we had the aforementioned almonds, pecorino cheese, our cocktail biscuits and prosecco. we continued with more prosecco and some wine with dinner. caitlin brought a delicious birthday cake from abc bakery for dessert...perfect with more wine...and then we, of course!, ended with shots of limoncello....what a memorable meal. richard and caitlin were leaving the next morning for a weekend camping trip...so i packed up the leftovers (trust me, this recipe makes a ton of food)...so they would not need to think about cooking. they said the food was even better the next day....

last week for the 4th of july, we invited our friends mary and terry for dinner and fireworks watching. they are both vegans so i decided the same meal with a few revisions would be perfect. i eliminated the chicken and the green bean salad and substituted roasted asparagus, roasted/marinated red peppers, tweaked the garbanzo bean salad by adding organic cherry tomatoes, chopped green onions, basil, lavender & chives....and i used my balsamic vinaigrette instead of gourmet's version. i served the feta on the side for the non-vegans and eliminated the pesto from the grilled bread....an equally delicious meal...and i love the flexibility!

our garbanzo bean salad

2 15 oz cans garbanzo beans (organic if possible)

1 pint organic cherry tomatoes cut in half

1 bunch green onions, chopped with white and green parts separated

1 bunch chives, chopped

1 tbsp fresh basil, chopped chiffonade style

1 tbsp fresh mint, chopped

1 tsp organic lavender flowers (optional)

1/2 cup balsamic & mustard vinaigrette

add garbanzo beans, tomatoes and white part of green onions to medium bowl...add 1/4 cup vinaigrette and gently stir together all ingredients. allow to marinate a minimum of 1 hour in refrigerator (can be made up to 24 hours in advance). when ready to serve, add all herbs, the green part of the onions and remaining 1/4 cup vinaigrette...stir again and enjoy!

i plan to make versions of this salad all summer...of course tweaking the recipes all the time...how about serving grilled steak salad or barbecued shrimp in place of the chicken...maybe adding a watermelon, spinach and feta salad? or a vinaigrette based potato salad? i will let you know what works...and what does not. in the interim...what are your favorite salads as meals?....let me know in the comments section of this post....and happy summer everyone!

best,

diane

diane padoven

napa farmhouse 1885(tm)

"live a green life of style"(tm)

to learn about our company...and receive special offers only available to our private list...sign up to receive our emails....located on the sidebar of this blog

lavender cookie recipe?...go ask alice...

so i joined a book club. my friend brooke emailed me right before the holidays and asked if i would participate if she formed a club...she is amazingly cool and a brilliant writer (check out her blog...AficioNada)...and i immediately said "sign me up!"... last month, seven of us met at zuzu's (a local napa restaurant...tapas...really, really good...) and we crafted the "no rules, rules" for our group. we decided we did not want anything too formal...did not want to feel like we were back in school...and we selected the biography alice waters and chez panisse, by thomas mcnamee...as our first book.

regular readers know that i am a broken record regarding using the freshest, best quality available ingredients in cooking...i consider alice waters an icon in this area...i have learned so much from her...so selecting this book for our club was a natural. we agreed to read the book and then hold our first meeting at one of the member's homes and have each of us bring a "chez panisse inspired" dish.

first of all, i loved the book. i remember the first time i ever heard of alice waters...many years ago i was reading a restaurant review in the newspaper about chez panisse...the description of the food was unlike anything i had ever heard...the focus on the ingredients..not only what they were, but where they were from...was so unusual...i was inspired to visit farmer's markets, cheese shops, olive oil producers, bakeries for fresh bread...etc..but this was the early eighties and specialty food shops were not common...even in southern california where i am from...but, if you searched hard enough you could find them....i first ate at chez panisse in the late eighties for a company function...and knew immediately that i would be back as often as i could...every dish was the best i had ever tasted...i have followed the alice credo ever since..."fresh, local, seasonal, and where possible organic ingredients"...are words i live by.

i will refer to alice and the book frequently in upcoming posts...but for today...back to the book club...we had our first "official" meeting last night...there are seven of us...and what a group!...artists, chefs, sales executives, entrepreneurs and a writer...how cool is that? to top it off, one of the members had a friend visiting from out of town...who just happens to be a chef...and just happened to intern at chez panisse 5 years ago....we got all the scoops..and even though she had not read the book...she confirmed many of the stories...what a fun night...

so i read the book...even highlighted passages that were especially meaningful to me...and the next task was deciding what dishes to make for the book club meeting. we had agreed to keep it light...salady (i so love to make up words)...organic..."chez panissey"(i know, there i go again)... the easiest decision was the wine...they mention bandol rose frequently throughout the book...supposedly alice's favorite...so i went to my favorite wine shop and purchased a bottle...now, onto the food...i have been experimenting a lot with dishes made with organic lavender lately. i purchased a large quantity of organic lavender flowers while crafting recipes for our bath and body care line...organic bath tea is a natural...and... because it is too early in the season for my own lavender to flower...bought some from a favorite resource. i only use food grade ingredients in my bath & body care products...so having so much lavender around has inspired me to cook with it!! i love the concept of lavender in food...use herbs de provence frequently...but lately, every lavender dish i taste at a restaurant...or bakery...is just too "lavendery"...a little goes a long way with this herb. the concept of lavender, lemons, cheese and balsamic vinegar was interesting to me...so i landed on an experiment of parmigiano-reggiano cheese with balsamic reduction, served with lavender cookies...i played around with many versions of the cookies...and created a recipe that was light..not too sweet..not too much lavender..balanced with meyer lemon zest..that i fell in love with...the dish was a hit....i now have my lavender cookie recipe...one that i love cause the lemon and lavender pair beautifully together...and i thought i would share with all of you..please let me know what you think...

step #1..find the best parmigiano-reggiano available

step #2..serve with the balsamic reduction and lavender cookies.

that's it...easy...delicious...organic where possible...best quality available ingredients...very alice...we also had salads, really good bread...and a delicious vegetarian version of eggplant caponata (thank you ashley)....terrific food...even better company...i am going to really like this book club...and will enjoy telling you about it each month.

balsamic reduction

2 cups balsamic vinegar

1 tsp organic honey

1 tsp organic agave nectar

add ingredients to saucepan and cook over medium heat until liquid has reduced by half. allow to cool. i always keep this on hand, stored in a mason jar in my refrigerator..drizzle on cheese, fruit (esp strawberries), steak, roasted or poached chicken, steamed vegetables, pound cake....i use this on almost everything...

organic lavender cookies

2 cups unbleached flour

1/2 tsp baking soda

1/2 tsp salt

1/2 cup unsalted butter, room temp

1/2 cup sugar

1/2 cup honey

1 large egg, room temp

1 tsp lemon zest (preferably meyer lemon)

1 tsp organic lavender flowers

preheat oven to 350 degrees. grease 2 baking sheets or use silpat. set aside. sift together flour, baking soda and salt...set aside. using an electric mixer, beat butter until light and fluffy. add sugar and cream together until well mixed. add honey and egg and incorporate well. add dry ingredients to mixing bowl and beat until well blended. add lemon zest and lavender and mix until incorporated into batter. drop by teaspoonfuls onto prepared sheets leaving approx. 2 inches of space between each cookie (dough will spread when baking). bake until cookies just begin to turn brown...12-15 minutes. remove from oven and cool on wire racks for 10 minutes. remove cookies from sheets, place on racks and allow to thoroughly cool.

do you have a favorite lavender recipe? please share in the comments section of this post..do you belong to a book club? if so, please tell me about it....oh, btw..our next book is about salt...one of my favorite ingredients...i cannot wait to read the book and tell you about it...look for that story sometime in early april...

best,

diane

diane padoven

napa farmhouse 1885™

"live a green life of style"™

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