I’ve been curious about the squash blossoms I’ve seen at the farmers market, and Monday night I got my answer on what they’re all about. Very lightly battered, stuffed with Oaxacan mozzarella, and served on a stack of sweet heirloom tomatoes (with chili oil and basil vinaigrette for swirling each bite)–pure heaven. Graze’s seasonal appetizer was probably one of the freshest, prettiest and most delicious things I’ve ever ordered.
I’m not entirely convinced I can execute their perfect plating, but I loved the flavors so much I will definitely be attempting to recreate this late-summer dish. I found this recipe for stuffed squash blossoms and think I’ll just make some substitutions and go from there. Anyone else ever eat something so good at a favorite restaurant that you’ve tried to make it at home?
This recipe was inspired in part by the freshly mixed wildberry lemonade that my local Whole Foods has had on ice at the front of the store all summer. I’m kind of obsessed with it, and I had decided that it was time to figure out how to make it at home. But I also had a hankering to try lavender lemonade, too. Well, a lightbulb moment went off and wildberry lavender lemonade was born. Why not combine the two, right?
Wildberry Lavender Lemonade
1 cup of lemon juice (about 5-6 lemons)
1 12-ounce bag of frozen unsweetened mixed berries, thawed
1 cup of Lavender Simple Syrup 2 cups cold water*
Ice for serving
Juice the lemons, then combine lemon juice, frozen fruit and simple syrup in a blender. Blend until all the fruit is broken down and the mixture is smooth. Pour the mixture into a pitcher, add the water, and stir. You can add extra water if you prefer your lemonade more diluted; I like it more concentrated. Refrigerate for at least an hour before serving into ice-filled glasses.
After picking up a small bundle of fresh lavender at the market over the weekend, I was excited to use one of my favorite aromas to cook with this week. I’ve seen a lot of herb-infused cocktail recipes (rosemary is one of my faves), but lemonade was really on my mind. I decided a simple syrup would be a good place to start—it’s simple to make and versatile to use. I have to say the unintended aromatherapy that I got in my kitchen while cooking was my favorite part!
Lavender Simple Syrup
2 cups sugar
1 cup water
4 tablespoons lavender buds (I used fresh, but you can also use dried)
Bring sugar, water and lavender to a boil in a small saucepan. Simmer just a few minutes, until sugar dissolves. Remove from heat and let steep 30 minutes. Strain lavender buds out and transfer syrup to a glass bottle with a lid. Refrigerate for up to a month.
*Some simple syrup recipes call for a 1:1 ratio of sugar and water. I’d recommend 2:1 to make a thicker, sweeter syrup. Also, the lavender flavor is very mild—you can always add more if you want stronger floral notes.
And here are some ideas for using your lavender syrup:
Substitute for sugar when making lemonade
Use for lavender cocktails
Drizzle over Greek yogurt and berries
Drizzle over vanilla ice cream
Use instead of maple syrup on pancakes
Mix into hot tea instead of honey
I’ve been obsessed with scouring antique malls, vintage stores and flea markets since high school. I definitely went through an initial “shabby chic” phase, where anything floral, girly and white went into my room. Fortunately that quickly transitioned into a keen eye for one-of-a-kind finds and little treasures that add interest but not clutter. Today my current home has a lot of high-quality vintage pieces seamlessly mixed in with new, as does my wardrobe.
This past Sunday morning I grabbed coffee around 6:45 a.m. and headed to the Elkhorn Flea Market, about an hour and a half from Madison, on the recommendation of a friend who has been going for years. It was one of the largest markets I’ve been to, and so fun to wander in hunt of nothing but anything. I thought it would be fun to share a few of my flea market tips with you, so read on for those and to see what I came home with!
Our home is already full of furniture (equal parts old and new), so I only look for small and interesting home accessories now. The wood blocks with the cylindrical holes above are actually still used as sugar molds in Mexico, but they’re really stunning with votives dropped in and the entire thing placed on a dining or coffee table. I also love vintage ornaments–they’re inexpensive, charming and a great way to add character to your holiday tree. They remind me of my mom’s own collection.
I have a soft spot for vintage jewelry and accessories, which are some of the easiest things to incorporate into your wardrobe. Think brooches, necklaces, rings, bracelets, bags, and scarves. Be sure to inspect each piece for flaws, consider what’s fixable or changeable, think about what you could wear it with, and decide how much you feel it’s worth. Then make your offer.
Just remember to have patience–you’ll likely have to weed through and skip over plenty of junk in search of good finds. But if you don’t look closely, you may miss something tucked in between. Other home items I always keep an eye out for include pretty trays, glassware, tiny bowls (for holding jewelry or keys), mirrors, lamps and artwork.
My treasures from this trip: A beaded Taj Mahal and black velvet evening clutch from the ’50s, a 1970s tooled leather bag, and an authentic turquoise and silver cuff. If you’re a treasure hunter, I’d love to hear your flea market tips, too!
Sadly, root beer wasn’t a part of my childhood. But a new-found love for the creamy, sweet flavor started at July 4th and has had me trying just about any “local” version I can find ever since. Even though a root beer float isn’t nostalgic for me, it seemed fitting for summer to make a batch of vanilla bean infused vodka and craft a grown-up drink treat. Enjoy!
Spiked Root Beer Float
Good-quality vodka (I like Death’s Door, locally made in Wisconsin)
1 whole, fresh vanilla bean
High-quality root beer*, chilled (look for cane sugar versions instead of high-fructose corn syrup)
Vanilla bean ice cream
1 small mason jar with lid
1 glass, frosted in the freezer
To make the vanilla-infused vodka, slice a vanilla bean in half. Split each half the long way, leaving the seeds inside. Place the quarters in a small jar, fill with 2 cups of vodka and seal with a lid. Let sit in a cool, dark place for about 2 weeks, shaking occasionally. It will turn brown, and that it should. In a frosted glass, start with about 2 ounces of the infused vodka. Place two scoops of ice cream into the glass. Top with root beer and drink with a straw. Have a spoon handy too!
I threw this on last night for an impromptu dinner date. John’s been traveling a ton for work, so we took the rare opportunity of a Monday night in town to get away from our computers, phones, TV and responsibilities and go try a new restaurant downtown. This top has been a summer favorite—I’ll show you more ways to wear it later—and since I had it and the shoes on for work, I just swapped my pencil skirt for colored denim and was ready to go. But this could easily work for work, too. Just throw on a black or white blazer on top.
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