Lavender Shortbread
1 ½ cups (3/4-pound) butter at room temperature (no substitutes!)
2/3 cup granulated sugar
2 tablespoons very finely chopped lavender florets (fresh or dried)
1 tablespoon chopped fresh mint
2 1/3 cups flour
½ cup cornstarch
¼ teaspoon salt
Preheat oven to 325 degrees.
Cover bottoms of two baking sheets with parchment or brown paper. In a large bowl cream together the butter, sugar, lavender and mint with an electric mixer. Mix until light and fluffy, about three minutes. Add flour, cornstarch and salt and beat until incorporated. Divide dough in half. Flatten into squares and wrap in plastic. Chill until firm.
On a floured board, roll out each square to a thickness of ½ inch. Cut the dough into 1½-inch squares or rounds. Transfer to baking sheet, spacing cookies about 1 inch apart. Prick each cookie several times with a fork. Bake 20 to 25 minutes until pale golden (do not brown). Cool slightly, then transfer to a rack. Sprinkle with lavender powdered sugar.
To make lavender powdered sugar: Put four or five sprigs of lavender flowers in a sealed jar with powdered sugar for a day before using the sugar.
June is almost over. Is it too late to plant for summer enjoyment?
No way, say leading experts. Tomatoes, eggplant and peppers can still go in this month. Seeds of beans, corn, squash and chard will also do well in the warm soil, especially if it is enhanced with a balanced fertilizer.
Renew the soil by adding compost or well-rotted organic material with each new crop and feed regularly and faithfully for best results.
Water the area well before planting. Let the moisture soak in overnight, then plant the seeds early in the morning. Once the seedlings are up and thinned, add a covering of mulch to maintain even moisture and hold down weeds.
One of my favorite gardeners is Renee Shepherd, who owns and operates Renee's Gardens in Felton.
She spaces out her summer vegetable yields by planting every month, so that she never has an overwhelming amount of produce to deal with. Later, when summer heat begins to wane, she's ready to plant cool-weather veggies such as lettuce, spinach, radishes, kale, leeks and Asian delicacies such as pak choy.
You can still plant flowers, too. Plant more sunflowers, cosmos, zinnias and marigolds - all of the annuals that frequently burn out by late summer. That, says Renee, will give you a marvelous second flush of bloom so you can cut armfuls of flowers for Labor Day!
June and July are also good times to start seeds for perennials and biennials to bloom next spring. Renee initially sows seeds in a protected bed, transplants the seedlings in the fall to overwinter, assuring her of a wonderful spring greeting of bloom in the garden the following year.
Heat- and sun-loving herbs can be planted lavishly now as well. Basil, oregano, thyme and sage will do well. Just keep the seedbeds moistened. Try some of the basils in containers to spice up your afternoon gardening pleasure.
And Renee has an unusual suggestion for using the wonderful herb, lavender. While she enjoys the color and heady scent of the lavender border, one of her favorite ways to share the pleasure of this herb is to bake a batch of Lavender Shortbread.
These rich, but not too sweet shortbread cookies have just a hint of sweet lavender fragrance and flavor. They're perfect to serve with tea, milk or lemonade.
Renee suggests making several batches to divide and tuck into pretty decorative boxes or tins, which she lines with pastel tissue paper.
The address for Renee's Garden Seeds is 7389 W. Zayante Road., Felton, CA 95018, phone 1-888-880-7228 or e-mail customerservice@reneesgarden.com.
Helen Bale can be reached at htbale@infostations.com.
