Beautifully Serene Lavender Fields

Strawberry Lavender Sorbet

After weeks of resting well and looking at the four corners of my apartment, a good friend suggested we drive two hours to Lavender by the Bay in East Marion, New York. They have a booth in Union Square’s farmer’s market selling lavender bunches, dried lavender for cooking, lavender sachets and more. After reassuring the boyfriend the trip is mostly sitting in a car, walking around the fields for less than an hour and driving another two hours back to the city, my friend and I  left Brooklyn one foggy, mild Thursday morning. We picked a weekday, because the crowds would’ve been too stressful for me (I’m not in the condition to stand in line). We also took a chance, because the weather stations predicted t-storms starting around 1 pm. We started our trip at 7:30 am, so we can return to the city before the heavy rains. 

Lavender by the Bay

During our two hour drive, we talked about life and health before pulling into a pebble driveway entrance leading into a parking lot placed between a house and fields of lavender. The skies were hauntingly grey to forecast an impending storm. The smell of lavender refreshingly took our breath away. We walked between rows of lavender bushes with blooming tiny purple florets. Touching and smelling blossoms. Carefully avoiding giant and hairy bumble bees. We stood our distance as watched bees swarm around their beehives in the middle of the lavender fields.

The entrance fee to the lavender fields is eight dollars per person or it’s free with a purchase. Each of us brought one large lavender bouquet, in which the sales lady advised us to split them into three smaller bunches and hang them in a cool, dry area of our home to dry. My smaller three bunches now hang in our utility closet, and the soiled smell has been replaced with peaceful lavender (cleaning and organizing our utility closet is one of the many ‘to do’ apartment projects once I’m able to freely move around and lift heavy objects).

Lavender by the BayLavender bunches sold in a bucket
Lavender bunches hanging to dry
Lavender field
Lavender field
Blooming Lavender Flowers

As we drove back to New York City, the sun suddenly appeared from behind the grey clouds to delay the storm. Intuitively knowing we didn’t have to race back home before the day started to rain, we stopped by a roadside stand for apple cider donuts, brought organic strawberries and zucchini flowers from Sang Lee Farms and found a seafood restaurant to lunch on a clam po-boy sandwich and a lobster special. It was a beautifully serene day, and it didn’t start to rain until early evening, a couple of hours before my friend drop me off at home.

After a couple days, I decided to make Strawberry Lavender Sorbet. The strawberries were pureed and strained. A lavender simple syrup was made. Then the liquids were combined and chilled in the refrigerator until cold. Afterwards, the mixture was placed into an ice cream maker to get slushy. At this stage, there were brief thoughts of adding tequila or vodka, until I remembered the heavy medication by body required. So, the soft sorbet was placed in a freezer to chill solid. The Boyfriend tasted it the following day, and he gave it a peaceful approval by eating most of it within two days.

Strawberries by the quart

Since the beginning of June, each week is a healing milestone. The hardest part of recovering is staying still, but I loved how reading in the mornings yielded to midday naps. Visiting the lavender fields was a welcome wake up sign to start moving more outside of my apartment. Besides my body’s temporary limitations, the beautifully serene smell of lavender encourage me to continue to take life slow.

Lavender Simple Sugar

Strawberry Lavender Sorbet

Ingredients

  • 2 quarts or 3 lbs. of fresh strawberries; cleaned, hulled and quartered if larger than 1 inch
  • 2 cups filtered water
  • ½ to 1 cup of sugar (amount depends on sweetness of strawberries)
  • The juice of one lemon
  • ¼ tsp. vanilla
  • 12 fresh lavender stems; add more or less to adjust flavor to your preference

Directions

  1. To make the Lavender Simple Syrup: Mix water, sugar and lavender stems in a medium saucepan over medium-high heat until sugar dissolves for about five minutes. Let lavender steep in the simple syrup that’s covered and place aside in the refrigerator.
  2. Place strawberries in the bowl of a food processor. Puree strawberries and pour over a fine-mesh strainer that has been placed over a bowl. Strain strawberry puree. (Note: Depending on the size of the food processor, repeat this step per quart of strawberries) set aside. Puree should make about 2 cups. This recipe only needs about 1-1/3 cup puree.
  3. Remove and discard the lavender stems in the simple syrup. Mix in the strawberry puree, lemon juice and vanilla. Cover and chill for a few hours or overnight.
  4. Pour Strawberry Lavender syrup into the bowl of an ice cream maker. Follow the manufacturer’s directions for making sorbet. Afterwards, place sorbet into a container and tightly cover. Freeze for a few hours or overnight.
  5. Enjoy.

Notes

To learn how to measure strawberries, visit here.

http://myliferunsonfood.com/2013/07/strawberry-lavender-sorbet/

Strawberry Lavender Sorbet

3 thoughts on “Beautifully Serene Lavender Fields

  • July 10, 2013 at 5:02 pm
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    That sorbet sounds delicious! And the lavender fields are absolutely gorgeous!

  • July 9, 2013 at 12:18 am
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    Wow! That sorbet looks amazing. lovely pics from that lavender farm as well.

  • July 8, 2013 at 10:40 pm
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    Sanura, what a lovely post. I enjoyed reading it. I pictured everything you described, in fact, it was a running movie in my head. No, better. It was like I was there with you and your friend. I love your writing voice. And the pictures? Oh, my goodness. So beautiful. I hope you recover well and fully, soon.

    Alaiyo

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