Tuesday, July 16, 2013

Facebook and lavender

An unlikely combination, you say? Not when you work from home. Here's the scoop!

Last week we put up an official Lizzie*Kate Facebook page...FINALLY!  Yes, it required the help of my visiting daughter, Sarah, and some consultation from her professional food blogger sis, Ali, but we did it!

www.facebook.com/lizziekatecrossstitch

After avoiding a business page on Facebook for so long, I'm wondering why. This is really fun, so far. It's a great way to communicate with you all (my customers and friends) and it's not nearly so time-consuming as say...this blog!  No matter how efficient I try to be, it always takes me 1+ hours to get my blog posts together...gather/take the photos, download and edit them, transfer the files, write the text, edit some more...and all that. Admittedly, I'm not a good techie (not even close!), but it's time-consuming.

So...for quick little updates, look at preview sneak peeks, and super current info on everything L*K..please check our Facebook page often.


Here's what we'd like you to do:

* "Like" us on Facebook and invite your friends to "like" us on FB.

* When you see a Lizzie*Kate Facebook post you like, click "share" so your FB friends will see it. What a great way to spread the word to all your friends/customers!

These 2 little things will help us get more Lizzie*Kate goodness out there on FB...and we appreciate your help! If there are things you'd like to see on L*K Facebook page, please let us know that, too.

About that lavender...

Last week we had an extremely rare occurrence at our house, when both daughters were home! Yes, we talk on the phone frequently, text often, email and all that, but they were actually HERE in Wichita...together!


So what should we do? We took a field trip! My good friend, Julie Thompson, told me that the lavender fields near her home were blooming and we should come have a look...and a smell!!! We loaded up the car (pic above is Ali and Sarah grinning from the back seat) and drove to nearby Winfield, Kansas. Julie drove us into the beautiful countryside until we spied LAVENDER!


We met the charming and vivacious lavender lady, Dolly, who proudly showed us around her beautiful lavender patch. Dolly was struck by the lavender bug several years ago when she visited Provence, France during lavender season. Hmmm...she thought...this rocky, sandy soil looks a lot like our farm soil at home. Maybe I should plant lavender? She informed her husband she was ordering 300 lavender plants, and the adventure began!


You may not be able to spot them but the fragrant, large bushes are teeming with tiny honeybees. They didn't bother us (Dolly says she has never been stung), but you could definitely hear a buzzzzzzzzz.


After Dolly picks the lavender, she hangs it to dry in the barn, then sells it at the local farmer's market, or processes it for future lavender projects.

Did you know that lavender is edible? Dolly grows some plants that are specifically engineered for food, appropriate called culinary lavender, but you can eat all the purple goodness. Below is Julie, daughter Sarah and me...soaking in the Kansas sunshine and lavender aroma.


We brought home several bunches (the car smelled great!) and got to work cooking with our lovely lavender buds. We pulled off some buds, washed them well, and chopped some to make an amazing Lavender Cheesecake.  Ali is a pro food blogger, so check out the whole recipe over at Gimme Some Oven.
www.gimmesomeoven.com  Even if you don't use lavender, this "light" cheesecake is a real winner, and super easy. Just top with your favorite fresh fruit, and it's a real palate pleaser!


My favorite thing we did with the lavender was make a delicious lavender lemonade. Sarah got to work steeping some of the lavender in hot water and sugar to make a lavender-infused simple syrup. While the syrup was cooling we squeezed about a zillion fresh lemons. When we put it all together and added a bit of sparkling water, the result was...DELICIOUS!  I took the lemonade (and the cheesecake) to a July 4th gathering of friends, and they were glad I came!


Want to do it yourself? Here the link for the lavender lemonade.

That Julie is a smart girl!  After we finished at the lavender farm, we stopped in nearby Wheat State Wine Company, also close to Winfield. Ali went to college in Winfield, and was pleasantly surprised to learn she knew the young husband/wife wine makers. They were in her youth group when she was a sponsor back in college!


Conveniently, the clock has just struck 12 o'clock noon, so we got to tasting! The Kansas-grown wines were surprising tasty and the perfect appetizer for our next activity...lunch!

As we drove back to Wichita we were pleasantly full (thanks to fabulous Mexi food at Neives in Winfield) and satiated with the intoxicating, relaxing aroma of fresh lavender. What a GREAT day together!









10 comments:

  1. Congratulation for the new facebook page, i like it!!!
    For Lavander i love it and just come back from a holiday in Provence and i fall in love with so much lovely lavander!!!!

    elena in italy

    ReplyDelete
  2. The Lavender is gorgeous - one of my faves! I'm not on FB, but rest assured that I do "like" you - just on the blog! haha

    ReplyDelete
  3. Love lavender. Saw a field like that in Napa Valley and I think about one in my yard. lol Not going to happen in New Jersey.

    ReplyDelete
  4. Don't know how you stayed awake driving home -- full tummies, wine tasting, relaxing scent of lavender, and the motion of the car -- I'd be out like a light! Like Vicki -- defintely "like" you, too, but not on Facebook.

    ReplyDelete
  5. There are still a few of us out here that don't Facebook! Are you still going to have your blog page?

    ReplyDelete
  6. When did you visit the lavender farm??? Sent your blog post out to my Book Club gals, and one tried to find it yesterday. She was told that it was too late because the lavender wasn't in bloom. Can you please post the directions??? Then, I will pass on the directions.

    ReplyDelete
  7. of course we'll still do L*K blog. Just adding Facebook to the mix.

    ReplyDelete
  8. sorry, I don't have directions to lavender lady. It's only a small plot and she was actively harvesting 2 weeks ago, so it's likely cut. She sells her lavender at the weekly farmer's market in Winfield every Saturday morning.

    ReplyDelete
  9. Thanks for the LK freebie; I stitched mine on perf paper and will use it as a binder spine

    ReplyDelete
  10. Of course I'll share on facebook . But don't understand where I can find your beautiful alphabet ! Have a nice day !
    Nathalie

    ReplyDelete