Thirsty Thursday

DSC_0082Today’s thirst quencher is…

Lavender Milk

Yeah, I know, it looks like a glass of bog standard milk, but believe me, it isn’t.  It is light, frothy and fragrant, like drinking a cloud suffused with flowers.

It’s been my number one non-alcoholic summer drink since I found the recipe in a magazine last year, and I drink gallons of it, choosing to forget the sugar content, and convincing myself it must be healthy.

I pick the lavender heads from my garden (sorry bees) and making the syrup fills the kitchen with their scent. The syrup lasts for ages if kept in the fridge, so I make a biggish batch and it lasts for half the summer 🙂

To make the syrup just melt 100g of sugar in 100ml of water. Once the liquid is clarified add the flowers of 10 lavender heads (stalks removed) and leave for a minute or two on a very low simmer.  Remove the liquid from the heat and leave to infuse for about 40 minutes or so.  Then you can strain off the liquid into a sterilised container, seal it up, and store it in the fridge.

To make the Lavender Milk you need:

A handful of ice-cubes

As much milk as you fancy (i use semi-skimmed, but it’s your choice!)

Lavender syrup to taste

You can, of course, mix it all up in a glass, but I just bung it all in the blender and give it a good ol’ whizz.  Bob’s your uncle… A glassful of Summer!  Enjoy x

Beelove

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Posted in response to the Daily Post weekly photo challenge.  This weeks theme ‘Close Up

I’m glad to say we have gazillions of bees in our garden at the mo’ and they particularly like my lavender.  There are several different types, and lets face it, at first glance they all look the same, but with the help of a Friends of the Earth identification guide, I’m slowly beginning to recognise the differences. This one is a Common Carder Bumblebee (I think) which you can tell by his bouffant yellow ‘do’ and the yellow stripes that go right down to his bottom.

I’ve always rather fancied keeping a few hives, but really, having plenty of flowers in the garden has bought enough buzzy visitors in to satisfy my bee love.

You can find out about the FOE BEE CAUSE and get your own Bee Saver Kit by clicking here.