Dandelions And Other Blooms For YourTable

Spring is the time when garden become riotous with color. The blooms are so pretty that we instantly pick them , either pressing them in books or making lovely bouquets. Yet flowers can also be used for dinner or dessert as well. They make a fascinating and colorful addition to any main meal, along with cakes and cupcakes. Best of all some have the same properties as fruits and veggies, giving you a much  needed dose of antioxidants and vitamins.

Dandelions are every forager's go to . Nothing quite says Spring like a dandelion salad. You can serve the greens by themselves(make sure they're well washed if you picked them from your yard) or with a medley of Spring greens. The spiky yellow tops , or dent de lions from whence the flower's name comes from can be dipped into a batter and fried. These can b made sweet or savory. Another flower , perfect for salads - and  brightening up omelets is the nasturtium,Their flavor is peppery and slightly sweet. Calendulas can be used to sub in for saffron when making risotto Milanese or paella.

Of course flower, whether the petals or whole look enchanting on cakes and cupcakes. You could even add a cup full of petals to the batter Violets or roses are perfect in a delicate white or yellow cake. Nothing says beautiful like multicolored petals decorating the cake's exterior. The new May issue of In Style Magazine has a cake recipe that is covered with edible flower petals. It's simply beautiful and probably enhances the flavor of the plain cake.  You can also use petals as a surprise filling for teacakes. These would be the show stopper at any bridal shower.

It's Spring and that means the gardens are in bloom. You can always go the traditional route and place your flowers in a vase. However be daring and experimental.Use those blooms to perk up a salad or in fritters. Try them as a new spice or simply to make a cake or cupcake breathtaking. It's the season for tasting flowers and trying new recipes with them.

Garden Parties FLowers in Your Cocktails

There;s a trend now of using flowers to flavor drinks. instead of decorating rims or shooting merrily out of glass herbs and blooms are now being added to cocktail ingredients. They leave a different, more sophisticated taste to liqueurs, They also enhance the drinks' taste as well.



You have to be careful with floral drinks. As with scent , a flower's taste can be overpowering and cloying. Roses may be a romantic idea to put into the drink but rose syrup can b e overly sweet (think of what it does to Middle Eastern pastries). Settle on flowers that work well as teas such as chamomile, nasturtium and wild hibiscus. They only delicately flavor the various ingredients . Another idea is to make a simple syrup and then add the petals. This works well for lavender and some roses. You can also apply this to making dandelion schnapps using regular schnapps, simple syrup nd dandelion heads.

Another idea is simply buying flower distilled spirits. You can try elderflower liqueur, primarily the French St. Germain. It's made with the blossoms of the Swiss elder tree and has a faint lilac smell taste to it. This is the only flower infused drink I know of on the market. For anything else you have to do blend it yourself. Liqueur companies, may hover get onto this trend and we may start seeing nasturtium and wild hibiscus spirits within the next year or two by 2012.

If you want to add a breath of a summer garden to your cocktails then add flowers. They're a new twist and a new taste. Pick a bouquet today for your next party