conscious eating


Plants have so much medicine to share, and it’s fun to play with that.


~Myra Sinnott


picking fl owers early in the morning or late aſt ernoon, when their scent peaks.


BFLOWER POWER F


lowers and other budding botani- cal elements this spring aren’t just eye candy to dress the table; they


can bless an everyday beverage with intoxicating new scents, fl avors and colors. “It’s such a joy to see a beautiful fl ower or plant, smell it and then add it to a delightful beverage or meal. Plants have so much medicine to share, and it’s fun to play with that,” says Myra Sinnott, an aromatherapist and owner of Essential Botany, in Washington, D.C. Many beverage favorites can be given


a fl oral twist with little eff ort, says Cassie Winslow, author of Floral Libations: 41 Drinks + Ingredients and founder of the blog DecoTartelette.com, in Santa Cruz, California. Winslow’s go-to drinks include lavender-infused lemonade and rose petal almond milk, which can be served hot or cold. “I also love an iced lavender café au lait. If I’m feeling extra fancy, I’ll use fresh fl ower ice cubes, too.” Dried hibiscus is another favorite of Winslow’s, as even a few petals of the concentrated dark magenta fl ower will brighten and beautify any bev- erage—even a yogurt-based drink. While many botanical drink recipes


call for simple sugar syrup, Winslow sug- gests honey with a splash of water as a substitute. Other drinks are naturally sweet,


14 Austin Area Edition


like jasmine tea steeped in apple cider. Sinnott likes to fuse the power of


fl owers with other botanical elements such as rose petals in a light raspberry drink. “I also use rosewater in a warm elixir with a base of reishi mushroom tea, goji berries, turmeric, cinnamon and ginger, cacao, pearl powder and honey. Rose is a heart-opener and vitalizes the body with the immune-boosting reishi and the other tonifying ingredients,” says Sinnott. Winslow stresses the importance of


buying organic ingredients, as many fl owers are sprayed with toxic pesticides—or better yet, home-grown. She suggests the tea aisle of natural food stores is a good place for procuring organic fl oral ingredients such as chamomile and jasmine, which oſt en come unblended in whole form. Dried fl owers are easier to source and


are oſt en more potent than fresh, she says. “Fresh is pretty, but can be more subtle in fl avor.” Her rose salt recipe, which can be used to rim drinks or seasonal dishes, calls for dried roses, which have a longer shelf life and won’t clump up like fresh petals. Marie Viljoen, Brooklyn-based author


of Forage, Harvest, Feast: A Wild-Inspired Cuisine, suggests using cold infusions rather than heat or boiling fl owers to retain their fl avors and aromas. She also recommends


AustinAwakenings.com


A Cup of Wildfl owers While botanical ingredients can be obtained commercially, it can be more fun—and frugal—to forage for them, suggests Viljoen, founder of the blog 66SquareFeet.blogspot.com. “It’s a lot of fun to go out to collect ingredi- ents you cannot fi nd in the store. You can experience unique textures, fl avors and per- fumes, and play with wild ingredients that have been all but forgotten,” she says. Some of Viljoen’s seasonal foraged


otanical Libations Pack Healthy Punch by April Thompson


favorites include the fragrant elderfl ower, honeysuckle and common milkweed fl ower. “I like to capture milkweed’s fra- grance and deep pink color in a wild soda or a sweet cordial.” For newbie foragers, drink ingredi-


ents can be sourced as easily as herbs from a window box, like the antiviral thyme, which makes for a delicious wild soda made from a handful of herbs, sweetener and water leſt on the countertop a few days to lightly ferment and fi zz. Another spring favorite, tender young spruce tips, has a sour fl avor that ferments well with straw- berries and rhubarb, says Viljoen. T e same recipe can also be used to


make vinegar, a longer process resulting in a more enduring product with great botanical properties. “You can create a sipping vinegar, which is good to mix with seltzer or slow-cook with,” says Viljoen. Whether botanical ingredients are


foraged, bought or brought in from the backyard garden to be put in a hot tea, a cocktail or a cold brew, the magic is in the making. “Flowers are endless fun to experiment with, especially when added to everyday drinks and dishes. It brings life to the kitchen,” says Winslow.


April T ompson, a freelance writer in Washington, D.C., can be reached at AprilWrites.com.


Go online for recipes and tips at AustinAwakenings.com.


Chamille Whiter/Shutterstock.com


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