Lavender Margarita (Tequila Sour)

I recently had a Lavender Margarita at Sovereign Kitchen and Bar. They make it with lavender infused tequila, agave honey, lime, salted rim served on the rocks. Was very good. I wanted to recreate this at home, but did not want to invest time or money into lavender infused tequila...enter lavender infused simple syrup. I'm very happy with the results and encourage anyone interested to try this.

Lavender Simple Syrup

• 1 cup water
• 1 cup granulated sugar
• 1 tbsp lavender buds (usually in baking section or with spices)

1. Heat water to boiling in a small saucepan.
2. Add sugar and lavender. Stir till sugar dissolves and bubbles form on bottom of pan,
3. Off heat, cover and let steep for about 10 minutes.
4. Strain into container and store in refrigerator. I like squeeze bottles with caps. 

Lavender Margarita

• 2 oz blanco tequila
• 1/2 oz fresh lime juice
• 1/2 oz lavender simple syrup
• Kosher salt

1. Add all ingredients to a shaker filled with ice. 
2. Rim your glass with the spent lime and dip in Kosher salt.
3. Shake till your hands are almost frozen.
4. Strain into a cocktail or rocks glass.  If using rocks glass, pour ice from shaker into glass till "full".

Enjoy responsibly.

Waffle Batter #2

This is my third attempt at making great waffles after receiving a new Belgian waffle maker. This one employs yeast to provide lift to the waffles AND you make it the day before which is a plus in my book. The batter was VERY thick. Almost like a dough. I am going to try upping the milk or something to thin it out so it can spread over the waffle iron more easily. As is, have a spatula handy to spread it over the whole surface of the waffle iron. Also, be sure you have INSTANT yeast.
This batter contains one full stick of butter and made about four Belgian waffles. Do the math.

Ingredients

• 1 ¾ cups whole milk, or low-fat milk, or skim milk
• 8 tbsp unsalted butter, cut into 8 pieces
• 2 cups unbleached all-purpose flour
• 1 tbsp sugar
• 1 tsp salt
• 1 ½ tsp instant yeast
• 2 large eggs
• 1 tsp vanilla 

Directions

1. Heat milk and butter in saucepan over medium-low heat until butter is melted, 3 to 5 minutes. Cool milk/butter mixture until warm to touch. 
2. While melting butter, whisk flour, sugar, salt, and instant yeast in large bowl. Gradually whisk warm milk/butter mixture into flour mixture; continue to whisk until batter is smooth. 
3. In small bowl, whisk eggs and vanilla until combined.  Add egg mixture to batter and whisk until incorporated. 
4. Scrape down sides of bowl with rubber spatula, cover bowl with plastic wrap, and refrigerate 12 to 24 hours.
5. Pre-heat waffle iron and oven to 250 F. Set cooling rack in a baking pan in the oven. 
6. Remove waffle batter from refrigerator when waffle iron is hot.
7. Whisk batter to recombine (batter will deflate). Cook waffles as you normally do adding your usual amount of batter. Smooth across surface using a spatula. My Belgian iron takes between 3/4 and 1 cup. 
8. Once cooked, transfer waffles onto rack in the oven. Let "crisp" for about 5-10 minutes. Cook more waffles during this time and you can serve everyone at the same time.

Hope you enjoy these as much as we did. 

Waffle Batter #1

After receiving a Belgian-waffle maker as a gift, I am on a quest for a great batter to make great waffles. This is the first one that showed promise. Still looking for more lift in my waffles. For non-Belgian waffles this batter would probably knock it outta the park. Up next: Waffle Batter with Yeast

Ingredients

• 2 cups (10 ounces) unbleached all-purpose flour
• 1 tablespoon sugar
• ¾ teaspoon table salt
• ½ cup dried buttermilk powder
• ½ teaspoon baking soda
• ½ (120 g) cup sour cream
• 2 large eggs
• ¼ teaspoon vanilla extract
• ¼ cup vegetable oil
• 1 ¼ cups unflavored seltzer water (or club soda with just carbonated water as ingredient)

Directions

1. Pre-heat the waffle iron at a point that will have it ready once the batter is ready.
2. Pre-heat an oven to 250 degrees F with a wire rack  Whisk flour, sugar, salt, buttermilk powder, and baking soda in large, upright bowl to combine. Sifting the ingredients together is another option.
3. Whisk sour cream, eggs, vanilla, and oil in medium bowl to combine. 
4. Gently stir the seltzer into wet ingredients. 
5. Make a well in the center of dry ingredients and pour in wet ingredients. Gently stir until just combined. Batter should be slightly lumpy.
6. Heat waffle iron and cook waffles according to manufacturer’s instructions. Transfer waffles to rack in warm oven and hold for up to 10 minutes before serving with butter and maple syrup. They do crisp up a bit if you do this.