{Erin Out and About}: lavender

Thursday, 10 August 2017

Lovely Lavender Lemonade

I LOVE lavender. This one time I frolicked in a British lavender field and had the time of my life.

Since then, I've been on the hunt for lavender fields in Canada and thankfully Krystal of Dine and Fash has created this handy dandy guide to lavender fields of Ontario. The lavender season is currently in bloom and I hope to be able to make it out to one of these fields this summer. (Oh so many things on that summer bucket list!)

With lavender on the brain I decided to attempt some lavender lemonade. I first had some at Mayfield Lavender and have had a yenning for it ever since.

Dude, that was three years ago! That's a heck of a long time for a yen.

Making lemonade is dead easy and honestly you can't get more summer in a cup than with freshly squeezed lemons and sprigs of lavender. Go on, give it a go.

Needed:

Fresh lemon juice from about 10-12 lemons (2 cups)
Fresh lime juice from about 3-4 limes (1/2 cup)
15 1/2 cups water
2 cups sugar
7-10 sprigs of lavender (stems and all)
(garnish optional) lemon slices, additional lavender sprigs

Directions:

In a large pot bring to a boil water and sugar
Once boiled and sugar well dissolved, add lemon and lime juices and lavender
Set to cool to room temperature
Strain, transfer to a large jug and move to the fridge
Serve over ice and garnish with lemon slices and lavender sprig

If you don't have a big enough container for it, you can fill up a couple ice cube trays and freeze. Add to water for a bit of flavour or add back to the lemonade to keep your drink cool and not watered down.

Recipe adapted from exPress-o

What do you like to drink in the summer?

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Frolicking in Mayfield Lavender

Before you think this is yet another post about my EPIC/BLASTED (delete appropriate) trip to Provence with some super lovely ladies, let me stop you right there and tell you that this beautiful lavender filled field is from right here on British soil. West Croyden, UK to be exact. Just a short 2 hour commute out of the city centre.

I do so love lavender and was quite disappointed when I discovered that although Provence has fields and fields of lavender our time there did not coincide with the season. After this, I became slightly obsessed with visiting a lavender field, but thanks to Google, the obsession was quickly formed into a plan when I discovered that England has several lavender farms in the southern region.

On a bright sunny day, I called up my 'doing things' buddy and off we went on the overground to West Croyden and from there is a 20 minute bus ride (on the 166) to Mayfield Lavender. When we arrived we smelled before we saw anything and that was the best experience. Steph was just as happy as me to pose in the plants and to take pictures of each other, suggesting poses and taking multiple shots. (It's sometimes great to do things with fellow bloggers).

We weren't alone in our photo shoot endeavours among the flowers. There were some very creative posers there and we enjoyed just sitting and watching, warming in the sun, and listening to the bees do their busy bee work.