This morning Emma and I went out in the early haze. The grass was wet under our bare feet and clung to my long skirt for the rest of the day. We were setting out to the edge of the woods, searching for these tiny purple flowers. If you’ve been here before, you might remember my post from last year called foraging for wild violets. It was when I discovered that these wild mountain flowers were edible! This year we were trying to decide what new flowery magic we were going to make. Thankfully, a good friend sent us the idea to make lemonade! It was so simple and delicious, I had to share.
What You’ll Need:
3 cups washed violets
1 cup of water
3-4 tablespoons of sugar
4 Lemons
or organic lemonade
Emma and I gathered as many open blooms as we could find. The morning time is the best to collect, any time later the flowers are stressed and hot. It was so peaceful, the two of us searching and talking. I think it set the most beautiful mood for the rest of the day. When we filled our cups and skirts, we headed back up the hill to the house.
I washed the flowers in cool water (there will be little bug friends) and even let them sit for a minute or two. Emma spent a good while picking off the stems (try removing them best you can. If you have too many stems it can get a bit bitter). After that I boiled a cup of water on the stove. I turned the stove off and removed the pan once bubbles started forming. Toss the flowers in and you’ll notice right away that the water turns a wonderful blue color.
We added a few tablespoons of sugar to taste, this turned the mixture a slight green. After admiring all the colors we left the pot alone to cool down. Once it hit room temperature we strained the flowers from our mix. If you look closely the blooms are almost transparent! The purple getting sucked out of them.
There weren’t any lemons in the house so we decided to cheat a little and use our bottle of organic lemonade from Kirklands. Once that was poured in, the blue-green changes to a popping pink! I added quite a bit of it, just tasting it as I went until it seemed balanced. Add some ice cubes and a little flower as a garnish and you’ll have yourself a very springy drink.
I hope you enjoy it and that it makes your ordinary day just a little more magical.
