Lavender lemonade seems to be all the rage lately. I’m finding it at my favorite pastry shop, all over the web, and even down at the local cafe run by favorite local hippies. And why shouldn’t it be the rage? A summertime drink kissed with floral scent? Heaven.

I made this particular batch of lavender lemonade when I was coming up with labels for Avery. I confess, though, that what’s in the picture was rather light on the lavender, since I made it at two in the morning and had run out of lavender buds. So when you make yours, you may discover it looks more, well . . . lavender.

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Those cherry blossoms give it all away. I didn’t take that picture in the summer, but rather late spring. But it was hot. And now it’s feeling like summer all the time. The day I shot these, I wanted something cool and light, and regular lemonade just wouldn’t do. I wanted something a little more sophisticated than that.

I kept remembering back to when I was living in Montreal (when I was a missionary for my church). At this little convenience store, I found these amazing juices. They were combinations like cranberry orange blossom, or strawberry rose—and all sorts of dreamy flavors like that. After leaving that part of the city, though, I never found them again, and have always wanted to recreate them.

So I got to work in the kitchen. I found a little bottle of rose water I had purchased from our local Indian market ages ago, and added that to a simple syrup. Then I threw in a strawberry or two to give it a pinkish color. I think both just make the drink pretty, don’t you?

Apparently, my daughter and her friend thought so too. When they caught me photographing the pictures, they each took a glass and guzzled them down.

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Awhile ago, I was at a Christmas party at church, and I gave a jar of homemade hot chocolate mix to one of my friends. After that night, she asked for the recipe. Then she asked for it again. And then again. Then she suggested I blog about it.

Well, it’s two years later, and she patiently suggested on facebook that I post the recipe for the 12 Days of Christmas. So, here it is.

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Sorry for not putting this up yesterday, or the day before.  I got sidetracked with my major award!
The orange zest in this cider hints at the orange glaze on the brioche doughnuts, making it the perfect complement.  Enjoy!
Oh, and if you don’t have all the things like cardamom pods or whole anise florets, just toss in whatever you have.  It will still taste good.

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These are by far the easiest dessert and are perfect for a casual get-together.

We get these all natural Italian sodas at Super Target for about $2 a bottle.  The flavors in the picture are Wildberry, Mango Peach (I think), and Blood Orange.

Some fizzy French lemonade would be good as well.

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