Category Archives: Recipes

Vegetarian Momos! …and Remembering Darjeeling

While on our trip to India, Piyush and I met tons of incredible people, visited many spectacular places and tried many different foods (well…different to me!). I didn’t really think too much about it while I was there, but now that I’m back home in the states…I can’t get Darjeeling out of my head!

Darjeeling is a beautiful town located in the foothills of the Himalayas, very close to both Nepal and Tibet. It’s a major tourist destination, and like most everywhere in India…it’s crowded!

A street in Darjeeling

Tibetian Monks in Darjeeling

One of many Darjeeling Tea Estates

Darjeeling is also quite famous for the fabulous tea grown all along the hills…and for the momos!

I only ate momos twice while we were on our little holiday, but gosh, they were so good that I wish I would have had them every day! Oh, the things I take for granted…

Have you ever heard of momos? No? Probably not. I know I hadn’t before our trip. I don’t know if there are many places in the states where you can find sub-par momos— let alone the authentic, delicious momos. The closest you might get is a potsticker or dim sum, which although very similar, are not momos.

So what exactly is a momo?

It’s quite simple, really. A momo is basically a dumpling made with a flour/water based dough. They are native to Nepal and Tibet, and are very popular in the North-Eastern part of India. Inside the dough is a mixture of veggies, meats (optional) and aromatics. They can be steamed, fried and even boiled in soups. It’s amazing how something so basic can be so versatile, so tasty…and so addicting! After doing a little searching online, I found a couple recipes that looked promising. I took a few things from each recipe and came up with something that tasted almost exactly like I remembered.

In fact…they turned out so good, Piyush ate 8 of them in less than 10 minutes—and then he licked the plate!

The only piece of criticism he gave me was that I made my momos larger than I should have. Mind you, there is nothing wrong with making them large, the taste is the same; but they’re meant to be more “bite-sized” than “hockey-puck-sized.”

formed momo, before steaming

My recipe will make approximately 30 large momos—you could probably get 45 or 50 if you make them a little smaller. Out of curiousity I plugged my final recipe into a calorie calculator, and guess what?! Each large sized momo is around 85 calories!!! Awesome!!!

The dough is easy to make.

3 c. all purpose flour
1/2 tsp. salt
1/2 tbsp. baking powder
water —enough to make an even, stiff dough.

Pour the flour, salt and baking powder in a bowl. Add 1 cup of water to begin. Don’t use a spoon to mix, use your hands! Knead the dough, adding flour and water as necessary. I probably ended up using 3 1/5 c. flour and around 1 1/2 cups water—-but this will vary!

Cover the dough and let it rest for around 30 min. (I managed to wait 20. Patience is not something I possess…)

While the dough rests, make the filling.

1 medium red onion, diced
3 cups cabbage– finely shredded (I bought it in a bag, pre-shredded. I hate shredding cabbage! Hate it!)
1 large carrot, grated
1 1/2 tbsp fresh ginger, smashed and minced
1 giant potato (or 2 medium)—made into around a cup of mashed potato
1 1/2 tbsp chopped cilantro
1 1/2 tsp salt
1 tsp Kalaunji seeds (substitute cumin seeds, mustard seeds, or leave out all together)
4 tbsp. extra virgin olive oil

Mix the onion, cabbage, carrot, ginger, cilantro, salt and mashed potato in a bowl. Stir it until everything is combined. Heat the olive oil on the stove-top and pour the kalaunji seeds in and once they start to pop, dump all the oil/seeds in the veggie mixture. Stir everything until mixed together, and set aside.

Next, take the dough and pinch off little balls—about 1 tbsp. Roll the balls out into a some-what circular shape.

Roll the dough out (make them smaller if you're making bite-sized momos)

Pick the dough up in your left hand and plop a good heaping tablespoon of filling in the center.

Next, start crimping the edges and form the momo into a circular shape.

crimp and pinch the dough around the filling

Ready to be steamed!

***Make sure you keep a damp towel over the momos and the dough as you’re forming them. You don’t want the dough to dry out. ***

Once you get the momos all formed, you can either steam them right away or you can freeze them. I froze all of mine because I wasn’t sure when Piyush would be home to eat them. I placed them on a parchment paper lined baking sheet, popped them in the freezer and let them stay there a couple hours. Once they were fully frozen I put them into a giant ziplock bag, and back in the freezer.

When you’re ready to steam them:

Put water in a steamer pot and bring to a boil. Place the steaming basket(s) in the pot. If the water touches the basket, pour a little out.

Once the basket is in the pot, spray it with a little cooking oil (I used my misto)—you don’t want the momos to stick! Work in batches, and place momos in the basket in a single layer so they don’t quite touch.

Set the timer for 15 minutes and don’t take the lid off the pot until it buzzes. Resist the temptation. Once the timer goes off, take them out of the steamer and serve with some soy dipping sauce, chile sauce, or tomato chutney!

Enjoy a little bit of Darjeeling, half a world away!

Have you ever visited some place that was so amazing, it left you wishing you could go back? I have heard quite a few people who have been to Darjeeling say that they would love to retire there. I can totally understand!

Enjoy a couple more photos!

Baba enjoying some Darjeeling tea

Wild Mushroom and Marjoram Chicken

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I started my morning off with a trip to the dentist. It’s not the most pleasant way to begin the day and truthfully I had no idea that I even had an appointment. There was some sort of a mix up at the office—they thought Piyush had an appointment at 7am, so they called to remind him about it. He said he didn’t make the appointment, so they thought maybe it was me. They called me and I had no idea that I made an appointment either (especially at 7! on my day off!). Since I was free for the day, they convinced me to go in and get my pearly whites cleaned and checked out. Unfortunately, Dr. Watkins gave me some bad news…

This princess is getting a new crown! I’ve never had a crown before—actually I’ve never really had any dental work, aside from some cavities filled. Sadly it’s because of one of those cavities (mostly the really bad job my prior dentist did filling it) that I now need this crown. Ok, and it might also be that I drank too much soda as a kid…and too much hard liquor as a college student, but there’s nothing I can do to change that now. The damage has been done, my friends.

I was out of the dentist’s office in about an hour, and since I was already awake—and functioning—I decided I might as well check out the thrift store and see if I could find anything neat. Today was a bust. I didn’t find anything super exciting, but I did get a new book to read, a shirt for Piyush, some canning jars, a terra cotta garlic roaster and a cake platter. Total spent? Around 10 bucks.

There was a big dresser that matched the one I bought for my entry way, it was obviously from the same set. I thought it’d make an awesome buffet for our dining room (with a little elbow grease and repurposing), but the price tag said $50. That’s about 30 dollars too much, in my opinion. So I passed.

When I got bored of thifting, I grabbed a few groceries and headed home to a sink full of dirty dishes. At home, I was quickly reminded that it was winter and I needed to put on boots and stop wearing my totally awesome crocs:

click photo to go to the crocs website

Seriously, I never thought I’d be a croc kind of girl…but I love these shoes! They’re slide ons—so they’re quick. They’re durable, comfy and rubber (or something like that…I don’t really know what they’re made from, actually). I hate wet feet, so these do a good job of keeping them dry. I wore them everyday in India—even when we were climbing the steep hills of Darjeeling (I have really high arches and walk more on the sides of my feet. Even without my custom insoles these shoes give me no pain.) Basically, I love this shoe. But sadly, they have no traction…and are terrible on ice! Lucky for me, I am a very graceful faller. Like, really graceful. You should have seen it. I slipped on the ice, went into a perfect lunge—didn’t even crack my knee on the ground—and slid back up, all in one motion. It was like some sort of weird ice ballet. I bet it looked awesome.

After shimmying my way down to the mailbox, trying to avoid the ice…and back up to the house, I decided to make Piyush a nice dinner. I had some chicken breasts, so I knew that was going to be the base.

I eventually settled on seasoning the chicken breasts with marjoram, making a simple pan sauce and serving it all with mushrooms and roasted purple potatoes. I was worried he wouldn’t like it. But it turned out really delicious and he scarfed it down…no complaints. He even told me the recipe was a “keeper.” Yay.

Marjoram Chicken Breast with Mushrooms and Roasted Purple Potatoes

The purple potatoes were amazing! I’ve never had them before so I had to try them out. They taste really similar to red potatoes…but they’re such a beautiful color!

I cut them in half (or quarters, if they were big), drizzed them with some olive oil, seasoned with salt/pepper, added some chopped rosemary and smashed garlic and then roasted in the oven at 400 degrees F for 20 minutes. Simple. Easy. Fast.

While they roasted away, I got to work on the chicken.

Marjoram Chicken with Mushrooms and Marsala Pan Sauce

(recipe inspired by Bon Appetit)

4 skinless boneless chicken breast halves
6 teaspoons dried marjoram (use fresh if you have it!), divided
1 tsp. fresh rosemary, chopped
2 tablespoons butter, divided
1 tablespoon olive oil, divided
10 ounces assorted wild mushrooms (I bought a frozen bag at the co-op…and they were awesome!)
4 shallots, diced
3/4 cup low-salt chicken broth (make your own!)
1/4 cup half and half
1 tsp. flour
3 tablespoons dry Marsala
Salt/Pepper

Directions:

Season chicken breasts with salt and pepper, then 2 teaspoons marjoram (I didn’t really measure—just sprinkled liberally).

Melt 1 tablespoon butter with 1/2 tablespoon oil in large nonstick skillet over medium-high heat. Add chicken to skillet and sauté until just cooked through. Transfer chicken to plate; tent with foil to keep warm.

Melt remaining 1 tablespoon butter with1/2 tablespoon oil in same skillet. Add mushrooms, shallots, and 2 teaspoons marjoram. Sauté until mushrooms are brown and tender, about 6 minutes. Season to taste with salt and pepper. Transfer to bowl.

Combine broth, cream, Marsala, rosemary and remaining 2 teaspoons marjoram in same skillet; boil until thickened and reduced to 1/2 cup, about 5 minutes. Season sauce with salt and pepper.

Divide mushrooms among 4 plates. Top mushrooms with chicken. Spoon sauce over and serve.

This meal came in at around 650 calories for my portion (pictured above). It’s not something I’d eat all that often, because it’s so rich. But it’s definitely something I’ll make again! It had a lot of flavors and they all worked extremely well with one another. The original recipe didn’t call for rosemary but I thought it’d be a good addition…and I was right!

If you’re looking to impress someone (Valentine’s Day is around the corner….I’m just sayin’), this will do it. This meal is seriously restaurant quality…and I’m not talking “Olive Garden” or “Applebees” kind of restaurants. This tasted like something I’d expect from a really fancy place. It was that good!

Now that I have a full belly, Teen Mom is over, and my face has been cleansed…it’s off to bed! I have a long day tomorrow!

The Perfect Health(ier) Pizza!

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I haven’t blogged lately, and it’s not because we haven’t been cooking and eating at home. In fact, I’ve cooked quite a bit. We’ve had blackberry-ginger glazed salmon, chicken biryani (these will all appear on the blog, eventually!), and homemade pizzas.

I love Pizza. There is just something so mouth-watering about dough smothered in tomato sauce and topped with gobs of cheese. So mouth-watering…but so unhealthy!!!! Therefore, I don’t eat pizza, or “zah”—as I affectionately call it, very often anymore. Piyush really dislikes pizza (blasphemous!), and much prefers his “pizza” on a crispy tortilla instead of a soft, chewy dough.

I decided to try and change his mind, to convert him into a pizza lovin’ maniac. But, it would not be easy! With the goal of creating a crispy—yet somewhat doughy (and possibly a little healthy)—crust, and a flavorful homemade sauce…I got to work. I scoured the internet and found a couple dough recipes that had possibility. I tried a few, but couldn’t find perfection. So, I mashed them together—taking what I liked from some, and discarding what I hated from others. Some would show promise, only in the end to puff up into a more bread-like crust. That wasn’t going to work!

Eventually I combined recipes to come up with the perfect recipe, and the perfect technique. I think both are really equally important…and you can get a totally different crust using the same recipe depending on how you prepare it. I found that rolling the dough out with a rolling pin yielded the exact texture I was trying to achieve for the crust. After it was rolled out I pricked it all over with a fork to keep the dough from bubbling up. I sprayed it really quickly with olive oil, using my Misto (I love the Misto!). Then, I pre-cooked the crust for a few minutes in a 450 F degree oven using a pizza stone—just to make sure it got ultra crispy.

Next step…the sauce. I wanted something that had a fresh, rustic taste. Something that was everything canned/jarred pizza sauce you find at the grocery store was not. I don’t know how I did it, but I got the sauce right the very first time! Piyush proclaimed it the best he’s ever tasted, and he said Italy would be proud. (Haha—thanks, honey!…but I don’t know if I’d go that far!)

Aside from tasting really good, this sauce is also ultra easy!

fresh mozzarella, basil and mushroom pizza

After I had both the crust and the sauce figured out…I had to decide what to top it with. I wasn’t really in a meat eating mood and I wanted to stick with something simple and flavorful. We had lots of mushrooms in the fridge, and basil too. I knew Piyush loves Mozzarella…and since I was trying to convince him that pizza is a food he should love…that decision was easy. Mozzarella, it was! We bought a 8oz ball, and I used about half of it. I thinly sliced the ball and then flattened those slices even more with my hands. I dried them off with a paper towel (they were a little wet), cut them into halves, and slapped them on the the zah.

This pizza was simply delicious. It was so easy, inexpensive, and flavorful. And the best part….Piyush loved it! In fact, he ate half of it! I had two slices and it left me feeling full and satisfied.

Calorie-wise, each slice is equal to approximately 150 calories. How awesome is that?! I’m not sure how it tastes when it’s reheated yet…but I have a couple slices left for lunch tomorrow! Yum!

Aside from the results…the other thing I love about both the crust and the sauce recipes are that they freeze up awesome! If you keep a little dough and sauce in the freezer, making a pizza will be way faster than waiting for delivery (and just as easy, too)!

Whole Wheat Pizza Crust

(makes two 12″ crusts—8 slices/ea)

1 1/2 c. all purpose flour
1 c. whole wheat flour (plus more for kneading) I use Indian atta flour, for the best texture
1/4 tsp. sea salt
1 tbsp. olive oil
1 c. warm water
2 1/4 tsp. active, dry yeast
1 tbsp. honey

Directions:

Combine the warm water, honey and yeast in a bowl. Let this sit until it becomes foamy— about 10 minutes.
Meanwhile, in a large bowl combine the flours and salt. Once the yeast mixture is foamy add it to the flours. Stir, using a wooden spoon, until the dough begins to come together—then add the olive oil.
Knead everything together, adding additional flour (a little at a time) until the dough is moderately stiff and no longer wet. Cover the bowl and let the dough rise for about a half hour.
Sprinkle a cutting board or parchment paper with some cornmeal. Divide the dough into 2 portions (freeze one, if you’d like) and place one portion on the cornmeal covered surface. Roll the dough out to a thin circle using a rolling pin.
Poke holes all over the crust using a fork. Then, pre-bake the crust for 5 minutes in a 450 F degree oven (that has been preheated with a pizza stone for about 30 min). Remove. Spread the crust with sauce and the toppings of your choice.
Bake at 450 F degrees (again, on the pizza stone) for about 10 minutes—or until the crust gets a little browned and the cheese gets all melty.

Easy Tomato Pizza Sauce

3 or 4 large garlic cloves
3 medium tomatoes
1 tbsp olive oil, plus more for cooking garlic
5 or 6 large basil leaves
salt and pepper—to taste
1/2 tbsp sugar

Directions:

Peel, smash and chop garlic. Add about 1 tsp. of oil into a pan and saute until garlic begins to turn a little brown (watch it closely—garlic burns easily!)
Put garlic, tomatoes (quartered), 1 tbsp olive oil and basil leaves in blender. Blend until everything is combined, you can leave the tomatoes a little chunky if you want.
Pour sauce into the same pan you cooked the garlic in—add some chopped tomatoes if you’d like. Add sugar and stir everything together. Simmer on medium heat for about 30-40 minutes or until it thickens.
Season with salt and pepper.

So easy…and so perfect!!!

Also…How cute is this?! It’s my cat wearing a mini scarf! I’m starting to get the hang of this knitting thing…

Harry modeling his scarf

Vegetarian Bean Taco Salad

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I must be in a Mexican kinda mood, because it seems that’s all I feel like cooking lately! I’ve also felt like eating beans. Lots of beans.

source (you can also click this link to learn about the health benefit of beans)

When I was planning dinner the other day, I decided I’d make a vegetarian taco salad for three reasons:

1. Tacos are delicious.

2. Salads are good for you.

3. I can eat the bowl I serve my salad in. Now, that’s exciting!

I decided to get a little head start on my taco filling. Not that it takes a long time or anything- in fact, it takes hardly any time!- but mostly because I didn’t want to do it later. My theory when it comes to dinner preparation is the sooner the better. The longer I put it off, the lazier I become.

Before I started turning regular cans of black and pinto beans into delicious, taco-flavored delicacies, I chopped up some veggies and had myself a little snack.

I made a simple Indian inspired salad (I’ve blogged about it here), and added a tablespoon or so of aloo bhujia—fried, spiced potato noodles—for a little crunch. I think the weather outside has me craving Summer. It seems like spring and was even 50 degrees today! This salad screams Summer, but sadly the tomatoes and cucumber screamed “out of season”! …Back to reality. I still have over 5 months before Summer arrives!

After eating my snack, I decided to get started on my tortilla bowls. When I lived with my grandparents, after moving home from college, this was a meal I often made for dinner. It all started when I was at the supermarket and had a mad craving for a taco salad. I picked up some ground turkey, grabbed the lettuce and veggies and I found the pre-made taco shell bowls. I flipped over the package, and realized that one bowl was nearly 500 calories! Whoa! Then I got to thinking (I know, right!?!)…A taco shell bowl is really just a tortilla! So I went home and draped torillas over glass pyrex bowls and baked them at 400 degrees, until they were crisp. Genius! I used whole wheat, low calorie tortillas and was able to knock the calories of my taco shell bowl down to a measly 80 cals. Awesome! Now, I have a couple fancy taco shell bowl molds. They make awesome bowls, but they’re really completely unnecessary.

After my bowls were baked, I started on the bean mixture. I used a combination of pinto and black beans because I really love the creaminess of smashed pinto beans. Weird? Probably. Delicious? Oh.My.God.YES! I heated them through, had a fun time smashing them, and then set them aside.

Then all I had to do was chop the romaine and assemble. Easy!

It's a taco! It's a salad! It's a taco salad!

Bean Taco Filling

2 tsp. olive oil (you don’t need much)
2 cans of beans (any kind), rinsed (alternatively you could use dried beans. 3 cups total.
1 small red onion
3 fat garlic cloves
1/2 c. green bell pepper
1 serrano chile
1 package low-sodium taco seasoning (or make your own!)
1 1/2 c. water
lime juice, to your taste
salt, to your taste (you probably don’t need any with the canned beans and taco seasoning, though)

Directions:

Heat your pan over medium heat and add the olive oil. Once the pan is hot, saute the onion, chile and green pepper until they’re all soft and cooked through.
Add garlic and saute about a minute, then add the taco seasoning (or spices, if you make your own) Cook for about a minute until the spices are no longer raw.
Add the beans and the water. Once it starts to boil, smash as many of the beans as you’d like.
Cook until water disappears and the mixture thickens. Squeeze in a little lime juice, and give it a good stir.

I topped my salad with about 1/2 c. bean mixture, some of my Indian salad, a tiny bit of cheese, and a dollop of greek yogurt.

All healthy meals should be this good!

Black Beans and Rice…Fancy Style!

“Dorthy’s Cookies”… a.k.a Chocolate Crinkles

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Although winter in Minnesota is usually quite harsh—piles of snow deeper than I am tall, and temperatures that would make even an Eskimo cringe— this particular winter has been anything but normal. Its the end of December and it is nearly 40 degrees outside…at 10 pm! I’m not complaining…no sir-ree…in fact, I wish every winter was as mild!
Not everyone agrees with me, though. Most people that live in Minnesota look forward to the snow and the cold, and all the “joys” that winter brings. Snowmobiles, snowshoes, skis and snowboards… all useless. But, with the absence of snow, it seems there is also an absence of Christmas Spirit.

Christmas is only a few days past, and already businesses have taken down their lights, trees are no longer shining, and parents are wishing the holidays would fly by so they could send their kids back to school.
I suppose I also associate snow with Christmas. A part of me wished for a white Christmas (although, a very small part). And that same part of me was (maybe) disappointed when it didn’t turn out that way. Christmas just isn’t Christmas unless it’s white outside. It’s also not Christmas without Dorthy’s Cookies.

Dorthy's Cookies

You see, Dorthy was a little, old lady—one of my grandma’s friends. She had one of the kindest hearts, an amazing love for her family, and an incredible talent for baking. Dorthy was always baking something for someone, and she was famous for her chocolate cookies. My mom told me she called them macaroons (which they weren’t), but I don’t remember that. For as long as I can remember, my family always just called them “Dorthy’s cookies”, and they were a hot commodity. She would pass them around at church and often give pails of them out as gifts. I remember one of the last times I saw Dorthy, she was attending my cousin’s wedding. She wasn’t in good health but she had a smile on her face and lots to say (Dorthy also had the gift of gab). Earlier in the morning the little kids at church had celebrated their First Communion and she told me she had baked 12 pails of cookies so each kid could have one. That’s just how Dorthy was. She loved everyone and showed that love with cookies—fudgy, chocolate cookies, rolled in powdered sugar…to be specific!

Every year, Dorthy’s cookies made an appearance on my family’s cookie tray. And every year, they were scarfed down as soon as they were set out. That is, until Dorthy passed away. Once she was gone, so were the cookies. My family had the recipe, and apparently my aunts tried to make them…but they never turned out the same. Then, one year I asked mom for the recipe. It was scribbled down on a dirty little note card. The directions were very vague and the ingredients were smudged. No wonder they never turned out! I tried finding them online, but had no luck. Then, one day, around Christmastime 2009, I was using “stumbleupon”…and as I clicked the button, Dorthy must have been smiling down on me. There were her cookies! They were called Chocolate Crinkle cookies and apparently were actually Betty’s cookies (Betty Crocker).

I was so excited. I called mom and told her I’d be making Dorthy’s cookies for Christmas. That night I mixed the batter together and let it sit in the fridge overnight. The next day I baked them…and they were perfect! Christmas was complete!

It’s funny how a cookie can mean so much to a family, but it’s true. They really do. And this year was no different. In fact, a couple weeks ago, as I was mixing up the dough (a double batch) my sister stopped over. When she saw the dough being mixed, her eyes got huge! She begged me to bake a pan early, so she could have a couple. One pan turned to two pans, and then my brother stopped over…and they were gone as soon as I took them out of the oven.

These cookies are definitely something special…

Aside from putting the cookies on the cookie plate this year, I also included a package of them in the gift baskets I made for my family. I even got my niece involved, and she helped roll them in the sugar.

We celebrate together on Christmas Eve, and on Christmas day I recieved a text message from my brother that said: “I ate all of the cookies you made by myself. Please make me more.” …and that makes me smile. I’m sure Dorthy would be happy too!

Find Dorthy’s recipe HERE.

Winter Jammin’… Strawberry Lavander Jam

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Making jam and jellies is something I really enjoy. I’m not really sure why, but when I’m making jam or jellies I feel so relaxed and all the sudden I have all the patience in the world (which says a lot, usually I have the patience of a 3 year old). I do most of my canning and preserving in the late spring through early fall, probably similar to most people. But the other day I was thinking…why not winter? Sure, I guess the logical and most obvious answer would be: no fresh produce, but that wasn’t a good enough reason for me. I mean, I froze tons of berries at their peak of freshness and if they’re good enough for smoothies and pies why wouldn’t they be good enough for jam?

Oh, let me tell you…they were!

Christmas is coming up and I thought a variety of homemade jams, jellies and preserves would make awesome gifts. Give my family the gift of summer…in the middle of the winter, you know? That beats unwrapping an Ipad anyday!!!

I took approximately 4lbs of strawberries out of the freezer (this will yield around 5 cups of fruit/juice when thawed). Then I got this brilliant idea…what if I added lavender to the jam? I’m always looking for an opportunity to add lavender to everything and anything I possibly can. Some would say I’m obsessive (I’m lookin’ at you, husband!).

Love--- in a jar

I googled a few recipes and found that I’m apparently not the only one who decided strawberries and lavender would make a perfect pair, as it’s been done many, many times. Some of the recipes were more confusing—or time consuming— than I wanted, so I simply ground up 2 tablespoons of lavender buds (you can find these at co-ops and most specialty grocery stores. I also grow my own.) and rubbed it into the sugar—making lavender sugar! Then I followed the directions on the box of pectin I bought. So easy! I don’t always use pectin when I make homemade jams, but this time I wanted to be certain it’d set up well in time for Christmas.

Soon enough, I had 12 beautiful jars of homemade jam! The lavender flavor was a little overwhelming, so next time (and there will be a next time!) I think I’ll probably cut back the amount of buds to about 1 tbsp. The aroma of the jam is incredible! Strawberries and lavender were meant for one another!

And just in case you were wondering, no one would ever be able to tell I used frozen berries. It definitely tastes like summer in a jar!

I can’t wait to tackle some of those frozen blueberries next…