Spring Flowers | There is something magical about spring. When the temperatures start to warm up ever so slightly or just flip flop because we are in New England after all, and we must complain about the weather as though it is our favorite pastime. But the promise of things brightening is welcome particularly after a long winter. Though I don’t commonly suffer from allergies, I’ve had a stuffed nose or two from sticking my nose in all the flowers I can get myself to smell. And oh what sweet, sweet, smells. My favorite at the moment is the sweet mock orange whose perfume fills my writing space. But if I had to pick my all time favorite flowers? That would be a tie between ranunculus and peonies. The latter as well as roses are currently in vases, decorating different parts of our living spaces.

Syrups | In the post The Underutilized Pantry I mentioned making a strawberry Szechuan syrup. While I understand that Szechuan peppercorns have no relation to juniper berries, something about them reminded me of African juniper specifically. And I wish I could pinpoint what it was exactly that triggered that in my palate. I decided to try this strawberry syrup but instead use two junipers I had, African juniper and Rocky Mountain juniper, with two very distinct flavor profiles. Then that spiraled and next thing you know, I was making more syrups using the African Juniper and also some common juniper, and then there was a Mexican vanilla syrup and lastly a lilac syrup made from blossoms in the backyard.

Syrups Pictured | Strawberry Szechuan Syrup, Strawberry Rocky Mountain Juniper Syrup, Strawberry African Juniper Syrup, African Juniper and Yuzu Syrup, Common Juniper Syrup, Mexican Vanilla Syrup, and Lilac Syrup

Sweets | My friend Ozoz sent me these sweets (candy) from her recent trip to London. I joked that I needed a detox from sugar because of how many I ate in one sitting. Cadbury eclairs are a taste of home — a reminder of a childhood spent adventuring on my mountain bike in the town of Naivasha. A place so pivotal that I have to include it in my culinary memoir when I finally get to write it.

If I had to sum up my June, I would say that it has been filled with sweetness in the form of spring flowers, syrups, and sweets. And because we are reflecting, I invite you to ask where you are experiencing sweetness or need to experience sweetness in your life — quite literally or metaphorically speaking of course. Here’s to the sweetness of life 🍬