Cooking with Lavender: Heavenly White Chocolate Lavender Drops

A lovely customer sent me this recipe and I couldn't wait to try it out. I love lavender and chocolate together! And lavender is especially delicious with white chocolate!! (Okay, and it looks pretty, too!) Not to mention it's super easy and ready in no time.

Heavenly White Chocolate Lavender Drops
1 12-ounce bag of White Chocolate Chips
1/2 cup coarsely chopped macadamia nuts
1/2 tsp. finely ground culinary lavender
1/2 tsp. whole culinary lavender buds

Microwave the white chocolate in a glass bowl for 2 minutes. Stir the semi-melted chocolate until it's completely smooth. Add the macadamia nuts, ground lavender, and lavender buds.

Stir thoroughly until combined.

Line a cookie sheet with parchment paper, or waxed paper. Drop by teaspoons onto the paper and refrigerate 15 minutes, or until set and hard.

Makes approximately 36 White Chocolate Lavender Drops. Yummy!
NOTE: You can add a few extra buds to the top for more color and a more intense lavender flavor.

                                Obviously we loved them! And they'll probably make an appearance at the Lawton Farmer's Market this year, which, by the way, opens Saturday, May 4, 2013.

                                  Heavenly White Chocolate Lavender Drops make a cute little gift, too. Enjoy!

Super Bowl Food TCL Farm Style!

Hi guys! I'm back after my little January hiatus. If you've been following the blog for the last few years you already know I take a little break to refresh and renew. I finally decided to commit to doing the 12 weeks of "The Artist's Way" by Julia Cameron. Really, wow! If you are feeling creatively blocked, stymied, or stuck the daily committment to 3 pages of free writing alone will get things churning.

For me, creativity is not the problem. I'm crazy creative. For me, focus is the problem. But we'll leave that for another day. Just be prepared. February posts will have alot to do with inspiration, creativity, and self nurturing.

I'm assuming most of you are getting ready to enjoy the Super Bowl. (Or putting in a movie to avoid the Super Bowl.) Here at the farm we usually grill some wild game something. Usually doves. Sometimes ducks. Often deer or elk sliders. Today we're not grilling. At all. But we're still having wild game.

And we're having...da doves. So if you're not a wild game eater this is probably not a post you'll be interested in. But it is crazy-knock-you-sideways delicious!!! Cooked slow in the oven they turn out falling off the bone tender!

The hubster saw this recipe on Jeff Foxworthy's outdoor show Jeff Foxworthy Outdoors. Believe me, any time the hubster shows an interest in any recipe I'm definitely going to try it. The only change I would make is to add some chopped jalapenos or hot sauce to the barbecue sauce, and cayenne pepper to the flour mixture cause we like things a little spicy around here. We like KC Masterpiece barbecue sauce the best. (Any time I try to deviate I meet with rebellion and grumbling!) These are great as a nibble or main course.

Barbecued Dove
8-10 dove breasts
1/2 cup vinegar
1 1/2 cups white wine
1/2 cup flour
1 teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon paprika
4 Tablespoons butter
3 Tablespoons peanut oil (I used vegetable oil)
1 cup barbecue sauce
1 Tablespoon lemon juice

Marinate the doves in vinegar, water and 1/2 cup white wine for at least 4 hours or overnight. (I did overnight.)

Remove the doves from the marinade and pat dry. Mix flour, salt and paprika in a gallon-size freezer bag and add breasts two at time. Shake to coat thoroughly.

Preheat oven to 275 degrees. Mix butter and oil in a hot skillet and brown dove breasts on all sides. Remove to a casserole dish, breast side up. (I use a cast iron skillet, so I just leave them in that.) Combine barbecue sauce, 1 cup white wine and lemon juice. Pour over dove breasts. Bake for 2 hours, or until tender. Add more wine if more liquid is needed.

Note: The dove breasts were done right at the 2 hour mark and super tender.

Hey, and thanks for stopping by the blog today! Hugs! Cathy

The Busy Season

Blog posts have been a little sporadic of late. As you might expect, this is the "busy season" here at TCL. So much to do, so little time.

Today calls for a little yoga breathing. We practiced  Dirga Pranayama in yoga class. I'm finding the 3 part deep breathing exercises particularly helpful right now.

As always, I find if I take just a little time to align myself with the natural world I enjoy a renewal of mind, body, and spirit.

Jon Muir understood, and put it so eloquently.

"Everybody needs beauty, as well as bread, places to pray in and play in, where nature may heal and give strength to body and soul."

"How glorious a greeting the sun gives the mountains."

"In every walk with nature one receives far more than he seeks."

"Climb the mountains and get their good tidings. Nature's peace will flow into you as sunshine flows into trees. The winds will blow their own freshness into you, and the storms their energy, while cares will drop off like autumn leaves."

Namaste, dear friends. Wishing you well.