Yes, Eat Them Up! YUM!
It’s high summer and the flowers are blooming! It is a perfect time to pretty up you salad or decorate cupcakes with these beauties. There are many varieties to choose from. Find descriptions of several common varieties at my blog. Some of you may recall that we had flower chef Liz Barbour do a presentation on cooking with flowers. Check out the Members Only Recipe Box for her Lavender Barley Salad and Cranberry Rose Punch recipies. If nothing else, they make a beautiful garnish for the plate.
To gather your blooms, pick them early in the day and at their peak for the best the flavor. Avoid unopened blossoms and wilted or faded flowers because they will likely have a bitter or unappealing flavor. Do not use flowers that have been sprayed with pesticides, which often occurs along roadsides, or collect flowers from plants that have been fertilized with untreated manure. Generally avoid purchasing flowers from florists, garden centers or nurseries as these flowers are not grown for consumption.
Crystallized flowers make a beautiful decoration on cakes and cupcakes. They can be pretty expensive if you buy them already made. You can make your own cheaply and easily. I have added a recipe to our Members Only Recipe Box – Crystallized Flowers.
from Max
Thanks for the recipe, Max. What a great way to impress my friends & neighbors!
Anyone need some nastursums? Ok I spelled that wrong, didn’t I? Anyway, I have lots of blooms on mine and they are good in a salad, I hear. I tried one flower and it wasn’t bad at all!
yum is right! great in ice cubes too, so pretty and impressive…nasturtium leaves are good in the salad too betsy, kind of peppery…
They serve nasturtiums in the salads at Maine Coastal Botanical Gardens. They are yummy and pretty. Day lily blossoms are great for pretty appetizers or lunch, filled with chicken salad ,etc.