Mixing It Up With Culinary Lavender
White chocolate and lavender? I never would have thought to put them together, but when I tried it, I was surprised at how well it worked. Suddenly, I wanted to explore: what else can lavender do?
When I started growing lavender, it was an experiment to see what I was capable of. After it started blooming in the first year, I was actually surprised and thought, "Now what?" I realized I had culinary lavender, and it was a challenge to get people to start eating it. What’s incredible is that the product line you see today is not the same as it was just three years ago.
While I was in the Walmart aisle purchasing gift bags for another project, I noticed chocolate hanging on the wall and wondered if lavender and chocolate would go well together. That’s when the real research and development (R&D) began.
Trust me, there’s an increasing list of combinations that do not work. Sometimes I try something and think, "Well, we won’t be doing that again." Failure was never an option, even when a pairing didn’t work. I treated it like a chemistry set, experimenting with my seasonings and sugars. When I discovered the right flavor combinations, that's when the real magic happened.
That curiosity has led me to lavender cornbread, steak seasoning, and blueberries paired with lavender. Each one has shown me another way this plant can be part of a meal. I try an idea, taste it, make changes, and see where it takes me. It's enjoyable to see people's reactions when they smell it or use it in dishes like steak or chicken.
As I type this, I’m thinking about the person I was five years ago. I don’t believe she would have imagined herself in a kitchen experimenting with culinary lavender, tasting and adjusting and getting excited about the next idea. I’m still amazed that this has become part of my life and how much passion goes into producing the product.
Food can be an art. But what moves me most is what happens when it leaves the kitchen. People gather. They taste something new. They go out of their way to share their cooking experiences or how they used the sugar blend for their drinks or coffee.
It might sound strange to call one little plant, infused into other foods, an expression of love. But that’s what it feels like to me.
I’m curious to see where it takes me next—even if I add a few more things to the “does not work” list along the way.