Sunday, May 5, 2013

Book Review: Cooking with Flowers

A few weeks ago, I did a book review called Flower Recipes, about arranging flowers in new and creative ways.  If you missed it, by all means, head back here.

So imagine my delight when I stopped into our local Chapters bookstore and found this delightful newly released cookbook:

Cooking With Flowers: Sweet And Savory Recipes With Rose Petals, Lilacs, Lavender, And Other Edible Flowers
you can buy yours at Amazon or Chapters

This delightful cookbook is chock-a-block with over 100 recipes for cooking with flowers.  They all look very yummy:


How about little tea sandwiches with little violets, pansies and nasturtiums?

or:



Stuffed zuchinni flowers?  These are reason I actually grow zuchinni....

or:

candied violets on cupcakes:


There are recipes using roses, lilacs, elderflower, calendulas, nasturtiums, herb flowers, etc.  Of course the key is to grow these flowers from scratch or buy from an organic grower so that you can be assured that they have no pesticides.  I am fortunate; most of the flowers in this book I already grow and I am most definitely an organic gardener.  It has inspired me to plant a few more from seed that I don't have.  And while I have eaten dandelion greens for years, I have never used the flowers, but will now!

We have used flowers in our cooking before - my kids have always gotten a kick out of finding a nasturtium or chive flower in their salad or topping a dish.  But this book takes it to a whole new level and the pictures - as they should be - are drool-worthy in this cookbook.

What's on for today?  Well I have some summer bulbs to plant, some dusting to do, a bit of writing to get done and there will be a good walk in there at some point.   What are you up to today?  Oh and grilled pizza - yum!

How about you?  do you cook with flowers?  Does this cookbook interest you?

Have a great day and stay safe out there!


17 comments:

  1. This comment has been removed by the author.

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  2. I am never tempted to cook or garden, let alone with flowers! You are putting me to shame!

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    1. Cate - no shame! Cooking and gardening are NOT for everyone! I had to paint rooms - can't do it, just detest it!

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  3. Oh my- I am so impressed!They do look wonderful. Do they taste good? I have had zucchini flowers, dandelion greens and candied violets, but never any of the others.

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    1. Hey KNityarns - I have no idea what some of these will taste like - am looking at it like an adventure!

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  4. I don't usually indulge; I have some violets out now, but probably won't candy them and decorate something for a neighborhood cocktail party tonight. Sometimes I use them for color in salads-- orange calendula petals, red nasturtiums, lavender chive blossoms. Today, besides reading the paper, is leek and onion planting day before cinco de mayo.

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    1. I am off to garden center to get mine to plant - it is beautiful here today!

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    2. Lane, how fun, a Cinco de Mayo cocktail.

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  5. WMM, new territory for me, although a favourite farm booth at St. Lawrence always sets aside zuchini blossoms for me (pricey here as chefs usually snap them up.) And I have done lots of decorating with candied violets and rose petals. Working for a wedding caterer summer in my youth, 1,000s of petit fours, or at least it felt like it, wish my part-time jobs were from era where everyone moved on to cupcakes.

    Please do share some of the cookbook creations when you try them! While niche, this appeals to me more than GP's latest. Really enjoy her first cookbook and the memories behind it, but I thought the latest a bit faddy, preachy, trying to hard, on a quick store flip. Sure, just me entirely, OD'd on Goop-y things.

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    1. Forgot, used to help my namesake great-auntie forage dandelions for a wine/ cordial she used to make. While my gran kept an area for them to cook, the nephew who kept Annie Elizabeth's lawn for her would not a allow a single weed. So we would go traipsing through Moncton neighbours' back gardens. She lived to a sprightly 99, maybe something in that cordial??

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    2. Hey! This does have a recipe for dandelion wine which I will be trying! the thing I am going to give a go at very soon is tulip ice cream bowls - looks awesome. Perfect for when they are close to being spent! I think a lot of those healthy home recipes were often best!

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  6. Oh, lovely! This reminds me of the days when I lived by the coast and would visit the farmer's market and an organic farm for edible flowers. I also took an organic gardening class and made geranium muffins.

    I'm packing for a short business trip starting tomorrow. Can't wait to catch up with you later and see what you cook up!

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  7. Wow am I out of touch! I just arrange flowers in vases and spread throughout my house each week. I don't grow them, cook with them or wear them (floral prints). Pretty looking book. Be sure to share what you make.
    I'm knitting today, finishing two sweaters up.
    Happy Sunday!

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    1. Oh good for you - that is so industrious of you! Am off to yoga - we just had an early summer supper!

      As for the cooking - we will see - I will keep you posted!

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  8. Hi WMM, what will you do with the dandelions? As children we never wanted to touch them, as they were called 'pee-the-beds'! I recently found out that in French they are called 'pissenlit' - so maybe there's something to that 'auld alliance'.
    We went to Ikea today - it wasn't too busy and we got everything we needed for a couple of home projects.

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  9. That sounds like a really interesting book - I will check it out the next time I am in Indigo. I grow nasturtiums every year but I have never been tempted to eat them (although I know they are edible). For my wedding, my husband's parents picked hundreds of violets from our backyard, and candied them. They used them to decorate a krokan, a traditional Swedish wedding cake (not actually a cake but a series of sweet biscuits held together with icing sugar to form a tower).

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  10. Looks like the perfect book for a friend of mine! I love courgette flowers very much indeed... Particularly delicious fried with goats cheese!

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