My husband loves chocolate covered sunflower seeds, but we rarely buy them because of the expense. Maybe they’re so pricy because ever little seed is precisely covered in chocolate, and I’d never have the patience for that! But, with extra chocolate from my chocolate spoons project I made sunflower seed clusters. I just added the seeds to the melted chocolate, mixed, and used two spoons to drop the mixture to the parchment (or waxed) paper.
I love melting extra chocolate into my hot coco, so occasionally I’ll splurge on the sugar and make chocolate spoons. Not only can you add them to hot coco but coffee as well. Plus you can get innovative with flavored chocolates, drizzled designs, and pretty packaging. They’re great for gifts & parties, and they’re inexpensive to make compared to store-bought ones.
So, here’s how you make them…
Today I harvested some German Chamomile flowers, and I’ll be drying them to make loose-leaf Chamomile tea. This is my first year growing Chamomile, and I only got one plant to survive from seed. I drink a lot of tea, so I’ll surely plant more next year.
I did some research before harvesting my flowers. The basic idea is pick the flowers, dry them, then use them in your tea. Here are a few tips I learned:
-Pick flowers early in the morning, but after the dew has dried. Pinch the flowers off just below the flower head to stimulate the plant to continue producing flowers.
-Dry the flowers in a warm, yet dry & dark location on a screen. The quicker the flowers dry out, the more essential oils are held in the dried flower. When the flowers are completely dry, store them in an airtight container in a dark, dry location.
-The flower head & petals are both used in the tea. Don’t break the dried flower apart until you’re ready to make your tea (this keeps it freshest). To make tea add 2 tsp dried flowers to 1 cup boiling water, steep covered for 10 minutes (covering your tea keeps the valuable oils from escaping).
*I didn’t find one particularly great reference website about Chamomile. But here are a few I learned from: here, here, and here.
I’m throwing a bridal shower at my home next month, so I’ve been searching for perfect food & decorating ideas for the bride. Since we’ll be serving hot tea, I thought tea sugars would be pretty and somewhat unique. I used a general sugar cube recipe and will elaborate & share what I learned through the process.
We had a birthday party for my husband this weekend. I was busy hostessing, so I hardly took any photos. But the fun parts were: bringing lots of indoor furniture outdoors, candles & strings of lights, the fire pit, great mood music, healthier snacks (humus & pita, apples & caramel, pistachio chips, shelled peanuts), pasta salad & chili, and one of my favorite cakes…Warm Lavender Almond Cakes.
The cake recipe is originally from the book The Herbal Kitchen. I also found it online. I really enjoy cooking with lavender and drinking homemade lavender tea. Lavender has a great scent and a deep flowery taste (so use sparingly!), plus I use lavender buds from my garden so they’re pretty much free. I served the cake topped with whipped cream, strawberries, sliced almonds, and a small side of vanilla ice cream. Everyone said it was really good in a unique sort of way.
Here’s a “Cookies In A Jar” I put together for a birthday gift. I used pressed leaves for the recipe instructions card & lid decor. I can’t find the recipe I actually used (this is a photo from my archives) but here are a couple good recipes:
M & M’s Cookie Mix, Oatmeal Chip Cookie Mix, Hershey’s Cookies, and Sand Art Brownies.
Plus, here’s an article on how to make your strata layers look their best.
I bought a Ball Zucchini plant last year from a farm. I saved the seeds and replanted them this year. Ball Zucchini isn’t different than regular zucchini except in shape, but I like unusual plants so had to try this one.
Yesterday I made my first zucchini bread of the season. I needed a new recipe because my old one called for shortening which I don’t use anymore. I found one on Allrecipes, made a few experimental changes, and was super-pleased with the results. I appreciate reader comments for each recipe on Allrecipes which helps me make worthy changes to the recipe even as I make it for the first time.
Some changes I made are: used 1/2 cup applesauce & 1/2 cup vegetable oil instead of 1 cup vegetable oil; used 1/4 cup less sugar, and I used oatmeal instead of wheat germ. The bread was nicely dense, not too sweet, and tasty. It’s a keeper.
I first discovered my unexpected passion for lavender tea when I sampled Earl Grey Lavender Tea from Revolution. Since then I planted two lavender plants in my yard, & now I make my own tea. Here’s what I do…
Remove lavender flowers from the plant. Rinse. Allow them to dry out a few days. Remove the buds from the stems. Now you’re ready to store or use the buds. Add the dried buds to your loose-leaf tea. My favorite loose-leafs to use with Lavender are Earl Grey, English Breakfast, or fruity Herbal Teas, but you can try it with just about anything.
I’ve been doing this little trick for years, and I decided yesterday it was something worth sharing. I was given a tiny monkey tea light holder as a birthday gift back in college. It was supposed to come as a set, a bunch of different monkeys all hanging from a little tin tree. But since I was in college and had no money I never completed the set and always had this random little monkey that can’t stand up on its own and therefore couldn’t be used to hold a candle.
After we moved in to our house the idea struck me that I could hang the little guy from the door knobs on my cabinets. 
When I’m baking or cooking a new recipe for the first time I hold the recipe card or sheet of paper to the monkey with a magnet. It keeps my recipe right at eye level and keeps my counter free for cooking.
I doubt everyone can go out and find a monkey tea light holder to keep your recipes in sight, but I bet you could find some creative way to use that quirky something that’s been bugging you for years. If you come up with something good, let us know in the comments.
I first discovered Penzeys Spices during a weekend get-away to Pittsburgh. I bought new spices like Balti & Turkish seasoning, plus Cajun & Lemon Grass. I’ve since learned that Penzeys is a small-chain and has stores in 24 states. I love their little shops because you can smell the spices individually, and the staff is very knowledgeable. Plus I’m on their mailing list and receive catalogs with amazing information on how to use and choose spices, recipes, and the occasional spice coupon. In this month’s catalog, there’s a recipe called Walnut & Celery Salad (pg 42) that looks yummy!
