Cooking With Herbs - Fire Lake Camp Style

Today I traveled north

to

Paola, Kansas

and

a wonderful place where friend Julie

hosts all kinds of great events.

And in her terrific kitchen . . .

We cooked with herbs this morning.

Fresh herbs, dried herbs, my Herbes de Provence and French lavender

and two favorite herb books,

The Herbfarm Cookbook

and

Betty Crocker's Kitchen Gardens

a well used book that I've had "forever"

and really is my herbal bible.

Another favorite, Cooking with Herbs,  by Emilie Tolley

and my lavender sugar and my jar of herbal flour

Julie set lovely tables for her guests.

The dining table set for ten.

And the smaller table set for six.

With a wonderful centerpiece of moss and eggs

And at each place . . . 

A viola.   Decorative and to take home.

A remembrance of an event at Fire Lake Camp

It was an herbal lunch

Chicken salad three ways (plain, with tarragon, and with dill)

pasta salad with oregano

fruit salad with basil cinnamon dressing

chive madeleine 

And at a Cooking With Herbs class

There is always dessert

Ina Garten's Chocolate Ganache Cupcakes

with the addition of lavender

And each guest got to take home . . .

Two lavender sugar cookies

for afternoon tea

It was a fun day, a great group, and Julie is a wonderful hostess.

She told me that next week, the asparagus should be ready to pick.

I may head north again

for I adore fresh picked asparagus.

And after class, I headed north
to two of my favorite garden centers.
My car was full when I came home!

It was a beautiful April day on the prairie.

It is Sunday and I'm joining the Tablescaper for Seasonal Sunday for it's Spring and the herb garden is awakening and although the clippings are not as lush in summer, it's good to have a nice supply of fresh herbs in the kitchen again!