Lavender Wands & Lusciousness

The harvesting has been continuing at a nice gentle pace. Yesterday I cut some fresh lavender stems from my top terrace, they are longer and more slender than the other lavender stems I'm air drying. I used the fresh stems to make some lavender wands. The stems have to be dry and freshly cut so they are malleable and can be bent into the required shape to create the little cage that surrounds the buds. It's the first time I've made them. I used 17 stems per wand and I used up 4 metres of fine ribbon for three wands. It took about an hour to make all three. I'm super pleased with them and will make some more in the next few days. They were a bit fiddly but easy to make.

This lush roasted nectarine salad with home made pesto is a first for me too. I saw it being prepared on Nicolas Fairford's YouTube channel, he's a real sweetie and loves everything "elegant & cool" and has created a high end lifestyle for himself. Here is his recipe if you would like to make it yourself.

Ingredients:

2 x peaches or nectarines, bunch fresh basil, 2 scant handfuls pistachio nuts, 30gms parmesan cheese, fresh rocket, burrata or mozzarella, lemon juice, large garlic clove, olive oil, salt & pepper.

Preparation:

Wash nectarines, slice into 6 to 8 pieces, place in roasting tin skin side down, with some olive oil, roast for approx 15 mins at 180c. Make Pesto 3 tbsps olive oil, 2 pinches of salt, half a bunch of fresh basil, juice of half a lemon, 2 scant handfuls pistachio nuts, 30gms of parmesan, large garlic clove and splash of water to create the right consistency. Blitz all the pesto ingredients together in a small blender, until it resembles a creamy yoghurt.

Plate Up

Fresh rocket, warm nectarines, Burrata, basil leaves, few pistachios, lots of lovely dressing and S&P.

My next 'first' will be lavender biscuits, I'll let you know how that turns out