When April comes around, my landlord's yard turns into a sea of violets. Because the lawn is chemical free, these lovely little plants with their delicate leaves and deep indigo blossoms cover the ground like a magic carpet.
This beautiful sight never fails to awaken my foraging instinct. Last year, I spent days picking the blossoms to make candied violets. This year, I resurrected a recipe for violet jelly from an ancient herbalist handbook and transformed my violet harvest into four jars of shimmering amethyst sweetness. Using a double measure of violet petals made the infusion extra fragrant with a deep violet color. This recipe calls for the petals only which must be plucked by hand from each blossom. The last flower denuded of its petals found my fingers stained purple with the abundant pigment these blossoms hold.
The color was so lovely, I decided to experiment with a cookie recipe, incorporating the infusion into the dough and pressing the petals into the tops of the cookies. The results were gratifying. The violet flavor was subtle, but distinctly floral, and combined nicely with the fine texture of this particular cookie. I brought some to my favorite taste testers, the librarians at Sandwich Library, for their critique .
Today, while picking up some audio books I had requested, Rebbecca returned the plate in which I delivered the Violet cookies last Saturday. I asked if she liked them, but she hadn't tasted them. Saturday was her day off. She said they were a big hit and disappeared fast. Upon returning home, I gathered more violets to make another batch of cookies for the lovely librarians who didn't get to taste them last week... anything for an excuse to gather flowers and bake.
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