Review of the Lavender Cookbook: Culinary Recipes for Entertaining and Every Day

About a year ago a friend asked me if I'd be interested in helping test recipes for a cookbook: a lavender-themed cookbook. It sounded a bit odd, but I was intrigued.

I love the scent and the beauty of lavender, but I'd never thought of it for cooking. I once experimented with rose water in a sugar cookie recipe (in place of vanilla) and the flavor made me think of eating soap. But lavender seemed to have more flexibility, a bit more minty, a dash more thyme-y in essence. So I agreed to test a recipe or two, hoping the result wouldn't taste like I'd be getting my mouth washed out for using a bad word.

I was surprised, in a good way, to find my eyes (and taste buds) opened to the culinary potential of lavender. All thanks to author Jennifer Vasich, and her now-available Lavender Cookbook: Culinary Recipes for Entertaining and Every Day, lavender is a kitchen essential for me.

I agreed first off, to try a scone recipe with lavender-lemon curd. I love to bake, and thought, why not try making curd for the first time as part of the experiment? The scones and the curd turned out surprisingly well, the mildness of the scones harmonizing beautifully with the lemon-lavender curd.

I e-mailed my contact and shared my happiness with the results and my eagerness to try more recipes. A few months later my husband and I had made at least a dozen recipes with lavender as a star ingredient: refreshing minty-citrus tea punches, decadent Key lime parfaits, sublime ginger limeade, fruity smoothies, a marvelous lentil soup with lemon and lavender, ginger-snaps to die for, succulent crepes, fruit salad and more. I was amazed at how versatile lavender is, and especially how well it marries with citrus.

It was delicious to discover these new, and to me unexpected, combinations. Every recipe I enjoyed making and we enjoyed sampling. And some I just fell in love with and have made again (and again).

I still see lavender as a fantastic herb with a soothing scent, that looks stunning in the garden, but now also as an amazing flavor for a limitless variety of dishes and beverages.

Now the book has a place of honor among our many cookbooks. And besides the fantastic variety of recipes, the book includes information about growing and harvesting lavender, as well as advice on where to find lavender for cooking.

For more on Vasich's book and her other projects (she started the Michigan Lavender Festival) or to buy the book or any other lavender products, go online at http://stores.allthingslavender.com/StoreFront.bok

The Lavender Gourmet is also available on amazon.com