Summer is on it’s way out and I thought before the end of the warmer weather arrived, I’d share a recipe that my family and kids absolutely love! This year we spent some time growing different varieties of lavender in our backyard. While we were working with our new plants I wanted to come up with a few ways to use the buds and stems other than drying them and putting them into a sachet.
For years lavender has been my go-to. I am more naturally inclined to higher levels of anxiety. My son also has been diagnosed with a sensory processing disorder which resulted in a lot of social issues, behavioral problems we had to work through, and trying to figure out what would help him at home. He was young when he first started showing symptoms and I grasped at natural things that would help to lower the anxiety for him, as well as myself. When he was little, I would put lavender spray on his pillows at night to help him sleep. I would purchase lavender hand soaps and bath soaps hoping for a calming effect. In fact, even now that he’s 14 years old, I still find myself doing the same things.
Because lavender has become such a large piece of our family history, I couldn’t help but to wrap it into my branding in some small way. My clients receive lavender scented soaps with their USB drives, packaged with printed images and a bar of artisan sea salt dark chocolate. But this year I wanted to do something a little more for my new couples in 2017. So towards the end of the summer I reached out to Melinda with Memento & Muse to see if she could help me create a perfectly curated gift that told my story well, at the same time gifting my couples something they would love for a long time.
Melinda came up with the most perfect gifting idea with everything I ever wished for my clients, my branding, and my story! And one thing that I absolutely adore is the fact that the main centerpiece of this booking gift is a garden in a bag allowing each of my clients to grow their very own lavender. What’s even sweeter is the jar of delicious salted honey that accompanies the lavender. The perfect compliment to the lavender lemonade recipe I’m sharing today! (Or you can drizzle it over biscuits, or put a drop in your favorite hot tea at the end of a hard day’s work.)
Homemade Lavender Lemonade
1 gallon of water
2 cups of sugar
7-10 sprigs of fresh lavender
juice of 10 lemons (about 2 cups)
juice of 4 limes (about 1/2 cup)
In a large pot boil the full gallon of water with the sugar combined, until sugar is completely dissolved. Remove the pot from heat and place the juice of lemons and limes into the pot, stir well. Let the mixture cool to room temperature. Once completely cooled, strain out the lavender and any seeds that may have fallen in from the juice. Pour over ice. Enjoy!
