Spring has sprung! The days are getting longer, the weather is getting warmer, and Anna is outside playing and definitely not inside writing. So it goes.
I recently began following an awesome account on Instagram called @blackforager (look her up, she's hilarious and educational). She had a post about violets and how you can soak them over night to create a violet syrup. So, with violets aplenty in the yard, I got to picking:
That's about a quart of violets. Then I plucked the petals and soaked them in hot water (not boiling) overnight and got this gloriously deep blue water the next day:
Fun side chemistry experiment: when you mix in an acid, like lemon juice, the water turns pink:
But when you stir in sugar (a 1:1 measurement is sweet enough for my tastes), you can use it to make lemonade or a fancy springtime cocktail, like this take on a G&T. Cheers!
Other than foraging for stuff on the farm, I'm still chipping away at Jonathan Strange & Mr Norrell by Susanna Clarke. I love it, just as the weather turns better, well. You got the notion from the opening of this post. That's it from the curio cabinet this month!