Sweet smell of Lavender

Lavender makes me happy. Really! Aside from the incredibly soothing scent of lavender, did you know that it has many natural healing properties? The oil which comes from the flowery spikes, has been known to treat many ailments from: skin conditions, to sleep problems, muscle aches and tension, to depression, even stress and anxiety. It is one of my favorite scents and it really does takes away my anxiety, calms me down and makes me happy! Perhaps that's why everything from my skin cream, hand cream, shampoo and conditioner, bath oil, even cleaning and laundry products have lavender in it. When I can’t sleep at night, I put a bit of my lavender scented Shea butter creme around my nose. Every time I take a breath, the calming aroma relaxes me and helps put me to sleep. I even have lavender oil which I burn in my candle diffuser to bring the calming scent to the whole house! You can even cook and bake with lavender, although at this point, I just like to smell it :) I think this scent is pretty magical, it calms me from the inside, out. Not that I'm a bundle of nerves or anything, but who doesn't like to feel a little more at peace if they could, only by the natural scent in the air they breath?


I have quite a lot of lavender in my garden, both front yard and back. The little perennial plants that I purchased years ago and planted in both gardens, have grown and expanded beautifully. When I walk by a lavender bush, I can't help but run my fingers through the stems up to the flowered spikes. I close my eyes, take a deep breath and smile as the scented oils that had rubbed off onto my hands bring a state of calm and peace over me, even for just a brief moment. I have not yet been adventurous enough to use the mass of lavender in the garden to create my own concoction of home-made soothing scented products. Perhaps I’ll leave that to the professionals. All I can do is admire these beautiful plants, and from time to time, cut a few back and display them in a vase in my home from my indoor enjoyment as well.
I walked home after a rain shower a few weeks back and admired the changing colours of the lavender in my front yard. They had gone from a pale grey lilac colour to a vibrant purple in just a matter of weeks, and the colours seemed even more vibrant after the rain. I couldn't resist grabbing my camera to take a few snapshots of the garden.
After I took some photo’s, I wanted to do more. I photographed a few strands in a tiny vase to sit on my powder room's sink. The bathroom is tiny enough to appreciate the small bouquet. I still wanted more. I looked at my ever growing collection of plates and dishes that I have for my studio props. Over the years, I had photographed hundreds of meals on lovely dishes, for various recipe magazines, but every so often, the shot was about the place setting itself and not the meal. So I though, why not use the lavender to decorate a place setting? Ok, so I'm not so formal as to use name tags for my dinner guests place settings, BUT, it might be a nice idea for a wedding, bridal or baby shower, or perhaps an anniversary party? Sky's the limit when you have fun and use your imagination!

Peanut Butter Chocolate Chip Oatmeal Cookies

I picked up the Martha Stewart Holiday cookie magazine a few years back. I love making cookies at Christmas and although I have a handful of standard favorite recipes, I'm always looking for new ones (this one now belongs to the "standard favorites").

They’re super easy and I almost always have all the ingredients kicking around. These loaded crispy Peanut butter chocolate chip oatmeal cookies are always a hit! Chocolate chips, whole peanuts and peanut butter, who doesn’t like peanut butter with chocolate?

The original recipe makes 6 dozen cookies, so I usually cut the recipe in half, and whatever doesn't get eaten, I put into ziplock bags and into the freezer. And no need to thaw, they taste great cold!


Original Recipe: From Martha Stewart Holiday Cookies 2005
(makes about 6 dozen)

3 cups old-fashioned rolled oats
1/3 cup whole wheat flour
1 teaspoon baking soda
1 teaspoon baking powder
1/2 teaspoon coarse salt
1 cup packed light-brown sugar
1 cup granulated sugar
1 cup (2 sticks) unsalted butter, softened
1/2 cup natural peanut butter
2 large eggs
1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
2 cups salted whole peanuts
2 cups semisweet chocolate chips

1. Preheat oven to 350º. Stir together oats, flour, baking soda, baking powder, and salt in a medium bowl; set aside.
2. Put sugars, butter and peanut butter in the bowl of an electric mixer fitted with the paddle attachment. Mix in eggs and vanilla.
3. Reduce speed to low. Add oat mixture, and mix until just combined. Mix in peanuts and chocolate chips.
4. Using a 1 1/2" ice cream scoop, drop balls of dough 2" apart on baking sheet lined with parchment paper.
5. Bake cookies, rotating sheets halfway through, until golden brown and just set, 13 to 15 minutes. Let cool on sheets on wire racks 5 minutes. Transfer cookies to wire racks to cool completely. Cookies can be stored in airtight containers at room temperature up to 2 days.


This time around:

I tried something a little different with them this time. In the past, I have used applesauce as a substitution for oil or butter in different recipes and they’ve worked out just fine. Not sure how it’s possible for one to compensate for the other (I’ll have to Google that later!), but it works…it cuts out the fat and tastes great. This recipe called for 1 cup of butter, so this time, I’ve used unsweetened applesauce instead of the butter. The cookies came out looking the same, but curiosity got to me and I had to taste one hot right out of the oven. It tasted as good as always. I let them cool on the baking rack for a little while, and tried another one. As the cookies had cooled, the difference between the applesauce substitution became evident to me. Although the cookie tasted exactly the same, it was soft, not crispy like they had been in the past. I had my taste tester check them out and he agreed, texture was off but they still tasted as good as ever. Still the same yummy cookie without the added fat but with the consistency of a granola bar (hmmm, gives me an idea for a new recipe! Stay tuned…). Perhaps next time I make these cookies, I’ll only use 1/2 cup of apple sauce and 1/2 cup of the butter, still cuts out the fat and hopefully bring the crispiness back to the cookie.

If you love peanut butter and chocolate, you'll LOVE these cookies!! Try the original recipe and experiment from there
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