Donuts!!! We are obsessed with donuts, but I have never made them before and felt that it would be a fun, winter, afternoon project. How hard can it be?!
Yes and even better, make them lavender frosted!

This recipe for the donut batter is based from a King Arthur donut recipe. I figured this  would be a great place to start on my new adventure of making donuts.

• 1/4 cup (4 tablespoons) butter
• 1/4 cup vegetable oil
• 1/2 cup granulated sugar
• 1/3 cup brown sugar
• 2 large eggs
• 1 1/2 teaspoons baking powder
• 1/4 teaspoon baking soda
• 1/2 to 1 teaspoon ground nutmeg, to taste (opt out)
• 3/4 teaspoon salt
• 1/4 tsp vanilla extract
• ​1/2 tsp Norwood Farm lavender extract
• ​1 tsp Norwood Farm culinary lavender
• 2 2/3 cups King Arthur Unbleached All-Purpose Flour
• 1 cup milk

INSTRUCTIONS

1. Preheat the oven to 425°F. Lightly grease two standard doughnut pans.
2. In a medium-sized mixing bowl, beat together the butter, vegetable oil, and sugars until smooth.
3. Add the eggs, beating to combine.
4. Stir in the baking powder, baking soda, nutmeg, salt, and vanilla and lavender extract.
5. Stir the flour into the butter mixture alternately with the milk, beginning and ending with the flour and making sure everything is thoroughly combined. The batter will be fairly thick; when you draw your spatula through the batter, it will leave a furrow.
6. Spoon the batter into the lightly greased doughnut pans, filling the wells to about 1/4" shy of the rim.
7. Bake the doughnuts for 10 minutes. Remove them from the oven, and wait 5 to 7 minutes before turning them out of the pans onto a rack.
8. Recipe makes about a dozen donuts.
   

Lavender Frosting

1 1/4 cups confectioners' sugar 
1 tablespoon light corn syrup
1 tablespoon melted butter
1 to 2 tablespoons milk 
1/4 teaspoon Norwood Farm lavender extract

Stir the sugar, corn syrup, butter, Norwood Farm lavender extract and 1 Tbsp of milk together, adding extra reserved milk or confectioners' sugar to adjust the consistency as needed. Dip each doughnut in glaze until tops are coated.

I purchased a bottle of Sparkling Brut that helps to provides 2 meals to a child in need. It has a crisp, fresh with a sweet peach flavor, with delicate sweet berries mixed with light pears, finishing with creamy and refreshing bubbles. This Brut Sparkling Wine is flexible when pairing with foods and is suggested to go with appetizers, seafood, sushi as well as a wide range of desserts and cheeses.

We paired it in our cocktail combined with our Lavender Simple Syrup and coconut milk. Garnish with our Lavender Cocktail Picks and maybe a cranberry for Christmas or a slice of lime.
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A friend recently posted all about these ziplock popsicle bags. Ingenious is what I thought. I had to give it a try so I purchased these on Amazon. I have a list of things that I want to make to put in them like smoothie style pops and fresh berries pureed. But there has been one that I've been thinking about since I first saw these bags.

I love making dirty lemonades on a Friday after a long week using our Lavender Lemonade and vodka. So to toast to a great weekend here how I made up some dirty lemonade pops!

Dirty Lemonade Pops
2 cups Lavender Lemonade prepared (or beverage of your choice)
3/4 cup vodka

Combine the lemonade and vodka and pour them up to the fill line of your popsicle bag.
Freeze for about 24 hours and cheers to your weekend! Of course make the kids some without alcohol and make sure to label which ones are "dirty".

For a slushy style drink. Pour your frozen popsicle into a cocktail glass and pour over seltzer water, stir slightly and serve. 

I was craving chocolate and began my hunt for a delicious looking chocolate cookie recipe. I came across Christi's recipe from, Love From the Oven it looked so yummy with bits of chocolate chunks and marshmallows oozing out of them. So of course I couldn't resist using our Norwood Farm gourmet Lavender Hot Chocolate Mix!

The Lavender Hot Chocolate gives it just a hint of lavender. If you find you want more lavender taste you can add our Lavender Extract in place of vanilla extract.

Lavender Honey Chia Pudding
I have been on a total chia pudding binge lately. I have had to make it in almost every flavor until I said, "I need to make a honey and lavender chia pudding recipe!". So here is what I have come up with.

I used our Norwood Farm Lavender Extract which always seems to add a element of sweet surprise to desserts. Lavender has the ability to blend with fine chocolate, harmonize with the delicate flavors of fresh lemons, peaches, or heighten the taste of honey which is what I was counting on in this recipe. 

In addition I used our Norwood Farm Culinary Lavender but ground the buds up in a coffee grinder so that it could contribute to the lavender flavor yet not be distracting with the whole buds.

I love this it made me feel like I was taking a bite of summer in with every spoonful. I personally don't prefer my treats to be really sweet so I would decrease the honey but that could be that the lavender extract brings that oomph out the honey. Try this recipe and see what you think of it.

1) Bug repellent- lavender has been shown effective for both human and animals in deterring fleas, and bugs especially the one we detest which is mosquitos when we venture in the outdoors. It works especially well when combined with other essential oils like citronella. To use rub lavender on your pulse points behind the ears and insides of the wrists which allows the essential oils to be dissipated by your body heat. It is recommended that you dilute it in a little bit of carrier oil such as coconut oil, grapeseed oil or jojoba oil.

2) Bee stings and insect bites- it has been shown effective in helping once you have a bite. Lavender is analgesic, anti-inflammatory, antiseptic, antiviral, bactericide, calming, cicatrisant, fungicide, nervine, relaxing, sedative. It no only helps calm reduce inflammation and calm the skin, but to the nerves in general. It has a pleasant smell that bugs (and their bites) seem to hate but most people love.

3) Burns have been helped with lavender essential because of the antiseptic, antibacterial, anti-fungal and circulatory stimulating properties that it contains.  It helps with inflammation, wound healing along with reducing scarring and infection as a direct result of its antibacterial properties.  

4) Rash, Dermatitis and Eczema- lavender essential as described above with burns is antiseptic, along with calming in nature to all skin conditions which helps heal the red irritated inflamed skin, and dry skin associated with eczema, rashes and dermatitis. Because of the anti-inflammatory properties it aids in numerous skin conditions to reduce redness, and inflammation of skin flare ups and conditions.

5) Chapped lips associated with winter, cold, and wind. Lavender essential oil has been seen effective as with numerous other skin conditions as it helps moisturize, seal dehydrated lips, and lubricate along with its anti-inflammatory properties help repair and heal painful and bleeding cracks on the lips. to aid in wound healing and skin regeneration. Lavender also has a numbing down effect that helps when especially painful and on aids in reducing inflammation often associated with chapped lips.

6) Acne and skin blemishes have been shown to benefit from lavender essential oil much like any of the other skin conditions already described. It is a power house  with its benefits; analgesic, anti-inflammatory, antiseptic, antiviral, bactericide, calming, cicatrisant, fungicide, nervine, relaxing, sedative. It no only helps calm reduce inflammation and calm the skin, but to the nerves in general. 

7) Digestion often associated with stomach cramps, diarrhea, gas and bloating are all forms of improper digestion. Lavender essential oil has been found helpful for relief. When inhaled or topically massaged onto the skin, the essential oil compounds trigger cells to send information to the brain which responds effectively by sending signals to the body. For digestion, an essential oil such as lavender can cause the brain to release signals that calm and soothe the digestive tract or stimulate digestion.

8) Anxiety, depression and stress are common issues today and are not to be treated lightly. Lavender essential oil has shown to having a calming, relaxing effect. It’s considered a nervous system restorative and helps with inner peace, sleep, restlessness, irritability, panic attacks, nervous stomach and general nervous tension. These conditions can be very serious and one should always seek medical attention.

9) Calming-Lavender essential oil has shown to having a calming, relaxing effect. It’s considered a nervous system restorative and helps with inner peace, sleep, restlessness. 

10) Promote sleep- Lavender essential is calming, because of its relaxing quality. It’s considered a nervous system restorative and helps to balance your nerves to promote a inner peace,  to  promote relaxation that helps promote your ability to sleep.

Lavender Essential Oil is very popular because of its qualities as well as pleasant enjoyable fragrance.  Norwood Farm makes our own therapeutic grade essential oil that is made from 100% Grosso lavender and made in Oregon-United States and matches or exceeds the quality of France. We hand cut our fresh lavender and process in small batches in our own hand hammered Portuguese copper still to ensure high quality and farm freshness! We offer it in 3 sizes and can be found here.
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Lavender tea not only tastes delightful but can promote your body to respond in several ways. Make sure you make your tea with culinary lavender such as our culinary bud. Try it to help aid;
1) Aid in sleep
​2) Reduce inflammation
​3) Balance Mood
​4) Promote healthy digestion
​5) Anti-aging
​6) Relaxing

Historically lavender was strewn over floors in castles and sickrooms as a disinfectant and deodorant. Lavender’s name comes from Latin root word, ‘lavare’ which means to wash or clean. This makes perfect sense as this oil is one of the best-smelling and naturally antibacterial essential oils.

Today we can use the same basic idea to wash with this easy, quick and simple "Lavender-sol"​ disinfectant spray. We used our lavender essential oil distilled on our farm.

Use it around your house on faucets, counter tops, door knobs and light fixtures, prevent mold and mildew, deodorize your bathroom, running shoes, gym bag and more.

What is the story behind the popular Moscow Mule? It is thought to have begun in 1939 when John Martin, wanted to promote vodka to bars across the US and fuel the mainstream acceptance of his vodka as the preferred white spirit, replacing gin and Whisky. John met and became friends with Jack Morgan, owner of a pub located on Hollywood’s Sunset Strip.  Jack had a house brand of ginger beer bottled in stoneware crocks who also wanted to grow the popularity of his ginger beer.  Together they came up with a cocktail that combined their respective products. So where does the copper mug fit into this? John was known to have a girlfriend who's father had a copper business in Russia who made them their personalized copper mugs that served this new drink.

So why the copper mug? The most scientific benefit of using copper mugs is the temperature. The copper cups offer an extra-cool sensation, due to the metal quickly taking on the icy temperature of the cocktail. The rim of the mug becomes chilled almost instantly, offering a frozen sensation on your lips. There is also some indication that using copper mugs enhances the individual flavors of the ginger beer, vodka, and lime. Some experts say that when vodka touches the walls of the mug, the copper begins to oxidize, slightly boosting the aroma, and enhancing the taste of the vodka. Cold copper also has a tendency to increase the amount of bubbles in the carbonated ginger beer, bringing maximum fizziness to the Moscow Mule.
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Today Moscow Mules have made a resurgent push in the last couples of years but continue to use the base recipe of vodka, ginger beer and lime but adding a new twist of flavors.

This is where our recipe comes in with the simple addition of our lavender simple syrup to add  the unique flavor addition to an old favorite.

Lavender Soda Cake
Can't get much easier than 2 ingredient cake! No oil, no eggs you only need a basic cake mix and soda of your choice. We chose to use a lavender soda and a white cake mix. Although, the sky is the limit with the variety of cakes you can make. For example another idea is to use a box of lemon cake mix and lavender soda to create a lemon lavender cake mix! 

Frosting choices can all vary according to your preference as well. We used a basic cream cheese with our Lavender Extract but you could easily use a lemon frosting or a basic white frosting with our lavender extract. Garnish with fresh lavender or our dried Lavender Culinary Bud to complete your cake.

Our farm fresh dried culinary lavender is grown organically without use of pesticides, hericides or chemicals. We take pride in the way we harvesting, drying and debuding by hand on our small family run farm in Tualatin, Oregon, This helps to insure that you are getting product that is at its peak freshness. 

Try our culinary Lavender in place of rosemary in your cooking, grilling or baking. Tastes fantastic in dressings, cookies, lemonade, desserts, rubs, and on its on as a tea or as a garnish. So versatile in both savory or sweet dishes.

Our Lavender Extract can be used like you would vanilla extract. Although our extract is highly concentrated we suggest you use half the amount until you find just the amount you like. The extract can add the unexpected surprise to desserts, frostings, whip cream or venture into new realms of culinary surprises. Lavender has the unique ability to blend with fine chocolate, harmonize with the delicate flavors of fresh fruit such lemons, peaches, and berries or heighten the taste of honey or virtually any decadent dessert. 

Our farm fresh Herbes de Provence is made with fresh herbs and our culinary lavender to bring you something really great! 
 
Herbes de Provence originated from the Mediterranean region and is traditionally used with olive oil to coat chicken, fish, tomatoes or chunks of potato, in addition to pizza sauce, sprinkled over game or kabobs before roasting. It’s also used for seasoning salads, sauces and cheeses, as well as soups and stews. Try rubbing our blend on whole turkey or chicken breast before roasting.

Try it also as a dry rub on beef, lamb or veal coated with olive oil, then rub with seasoning blend, salt and pepper, pressing the herb blend into the meat. Sear the meat in a very hot skillet on both sides, then remove and finish roasting in a 300 degree oven until cooked to your preference. 

For something extra special when your grilling is to add a pinch or two of Herbes de Provence to the coals when they are hot. The aroma will be sure to impress all those around.

We combine our ingredients in small batches to ensure quality, and freshness. You can find our Herbes de Provence here​