Chives bring a smile to our face

The chives in the garden have started blooming -- they are loaded with their lavender flowers. So much so that now you can hardly see the green. Chives are a great garden plant -- they grow and grow and demand very little. Cutting now and again is good for the plants and they seem to grow back even more lushly after a good trim. The lavender flowers can be used too -- put into a jar of vinegar, it turns it into a lovely pink color with a light taste of onion -- great for salads. They also can be used whole as a garnish (and are edible) or you can pull them apart and put them into a salad of mixed baby greens to add a mild onion flavor to your salad.

Chives were the very first herb I ever grew -- in early married days, I gleefully carried a pot of chives home from the grocery store and it sat on my kitchen window sill. I used the clippings from the plant to sprinkle on baked potatoes, add to scrambled eggs and to make a wonderful herb butter.

I still make herb butter and chive is my favorite. It's easy, keeps in the fridge and chive butter is great melted over steaks, a pat on a baked potato, a tablespoon folded into scrambled eggs, and is great spread on a toasted baguette to go with cocktails.

Chive Butter

Bring one stick of butter to room temperature (I leave out overnight) Add 2 to 3 teaspoons of chopped fresh chives. Add a dash of lemon juice. Put into a custard cup and refrigerate. If desired, you can add a half of a garlic clove minced to the above.