You don’t just eat it, you bathe in it! If you have dried lavender on hand, you can easily make your own lavender ‘bath tea’. Just mix a cup of dried lavender into a tub full of warm water and enjoy a luxurious, relaxing, spa like bath.  If you don’t want the lavender buds floating around in your bath, simply tie them into a bundle with cheese cloth and add the bundle to the  water.

Here’s what you do..(exclusive step-by-step instructions from my bathroom just for you ;))

Fill your tub with warm water. Warmer the better, because the lavender will steep well. Lightly crush the dried lavender in your palms and put it in your bath water..

Add a whole cup of dried lavender to your tub. I added the bunch you see at the edge of the tub - I tied it up and dried it after my lavender picking trip. I added the stems as well because they have a nice eucalyptus-like aroma. You can use only the lavender flowers and buds if you wish. If you want a stronger scented bath, make your water hotter and let the lavender steep in it for about 10 minutes..

Then splash around…because its fun..

…add more hot or cold water if you need to..

..then invite a partner, disrobe, step in and enjoy your lavender scented bath!

Here’s my post on cooking with lavender and a recipe for lavender roasted onions.

If you havent had a chance to go lavender picking like I did, you can buy your lavender online.

After a little blogging hiatus, I’m back with a new blog design, lots of new posts, recipes, and pictures!

We went lavender picking at the Seven Oaks Lavender farm in Catlett, VA. I spent two hours snipping grosso (French) lavender and taking lots and lots of pictures. Before I give you suggestions and culinary uses for lavender, here are some photos from our lavender picking trip.. 

The farm had baskets lined up for lavender picking 

Summer workers from Pennsylvania were staying at the farm and helping to harvest lavender 

 Lavender attracts bees, butterflies and bugs

How to Dry Fresh Lavender
If you’ve picked fresh lavender stems like I did, you may want to dry them first. To dry fresh lavender, tie the stems in bunches using a rubber band and hang them in a dark place to dry. (If lavender is exposed to too much light while drying, it will lose color). You will have perfectly dried lavender in about 7 days. Once the lavender is dry, gently strip the buds from the stems and store in an air tight container. You are now ready to use lavender in cooking.

Some Culinary Uses for Lavender
- Lavender sugar – simply place some dried lavender with white sugar and let it sit for two weeks before using. Recipe on the herb gardner.
- Lavender syrup – cook sugar, water and dried lavender together to form a fragrant syrup that will be great on cakes and other dessert. Recipe on 5 star foodie.
- Lavender roasted potatoes – combine potatoes, olive oil, dried lavender, salt and pepper and roast in the oven. Recipe on school of the seasons.
- Lavender crème brulee – recipe on whats cooking America.
- Lavender focaccia – add a unique twist to focaccia by adding lavender to it. Recipe on whats cooking America.
- Goat cheese with lavender – marinate goat cheese with garlic, lavender, fresh herbs and olive oil. Recipe on lavender lovers.
- Lavender butter – simply mix softened butter, dried lavender and any other herbs/seasonings. Recipe on joys of lavender.
- Lavender cornbread – recipe on joys of lavender.

The possibilities for cooking with lavender are endless. You can make lavender cheese cakes, salad dressing, vinaigrette, herbs de province, lavender lemonade, scones, lavender ice cream or even lavender sparkling wine. And here is something else you can do with lavender..

Lavender Roasted Onions

You only need a few ingredients to make this delicious lavender scented side dish  - onions, olive oil, thyme, lavender

Chop the onions into wedges, keeping the root end intact.

Then sprinkle thyme, lavender, salt, pepper and drizzle the onions with olive oil. Toss everything and bake in the oven till browned. Its that easy!

Lavender and thyme go so well together with these roasted onions.

Is there such a thing as a black thumb? Like, opposite if green thumb? Thats what I am. I just cant keep any plant or green thing alive. I’ve even killed grass. Twice. (Over fertilized and under watered, in case you are wondering).

So this year, Ive challenged myself to planting something and nurturing it. So I planted some herbs on the deck. I figured herbs would be a great place to start. The prospect of cooking with freshly harvested herbs from my planter, hopefully, is motivation enough to take care of them.

I’m already dreaming of what I will cook when the herbs are ready to pluck! Iced tea with that incredibly lemony smelling lemon balm….green pea and mint soup….lavender infused frosting on cupcakes…sandwiches with fresh homemade basil pesto…

…please herbs, stay alive for me…puhllleeeeezzzzeeee..

This is the end result of the afternoons labor…

But lets start at the beginning. We went to the garden center and selected some herbs. We laid them all out on our newly painted deck. Herbs, pots and potting soil.

These are the herbs we bought.

Please herbs…stay alive..

I started with the mint..

Mint went in the “ethical pot”….

Gardening is better with some coldstone icecream and tea. Come to think of it, everything is better with coldstone icecream! This one is chocolate icecreamwith brownies and raspberries mixed in.

S hangs the hanging pot on the deck rail…

In goes the potting soil…

Then I plant the herbs while S grudgingly takes pictures…

They look sooo pretty and my deck smells heavenly. Please herbs…just stay alive for me..

S, the good husband he is, cleans up my mess on the deck…

… and throws out old soil..

All done!

Do you have any tips for herb growing? I’m all ears! I could use all the help I can get to keep these guys alive!