notes from march
Devoting myself to fussy little flower projects this month. I’ve always meant to make jasmine enfleurage from my little vines, and March found me dusting off an old technique of adding the open blossoms one by one to loosely covered jars of milk and white chocolate to capture a little of their magic for later. This can be done with any other edible fragrant flower, too. Just be sure to stay on top of removing the spent blossoms and adding new ones to keep everything fresh and bright. A sweet little project to help ease us through these last days of winter.
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listening: to our spring playlist & lots of Sarah Vaughan for her birthday on March 27th
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reading: about urban meadows & wild clocks. Starting this book, too. And more Louise Glück: Primavera
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dreaming of making: Thalia Ho's Rhubarb, Rose and Almond Cake with White Chocolate Swiss Meringue Buttercream and this toasted coconut milk to use in my Rose & Cardamom Assam.
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above from top left:
our spring skincare sampler, a beautiful way to prepare for the season ahead
a bit of late winter light peeking through the studio windows
a treasure trove of vintage tea strainers has just landed in the shop!
our rose geraniums are relishing the lengthening days and putting on lots of fresh new growth, it will be time to distill another batch of hydrosol soon for our rose geranium sur fleurs facial tonic mist…
I’ve just restocked our beautiful olive oil soap from Nablus, Palestine again. So grateful for all your kind support of our ongoing mutual aid efforts!
Pouring a new batch of our luminescences in moonstone and petal, for a little extra bit of shimmer to usher in the new season.
Turning the very last of the paperwhite narcissus flowers into enfleurage. The pommade is starting to take on such a lovely, delicate scent. Fleeting, but magical.
An abundance of blossoms on the jasmine vine this year has inspired me to go beyond the chocolate to a very small batch of enfleurage pommade, as well. Will likely continue this batch next season. A very slow and sweet process, indeed.
In other seasonal flower projects, we made up a small batch of pickled magnolia blossoms for the first time and they are a revelation. You’ll find a little advice about magnolia blossom kitchen projects here and here.
A touch of spring magic has emerged in the garden, handfuls of snowdrops, hellebores and my favorite tiny Tête-à-tête daffodils alongside a few of our native spring ephemerals, like the bloodroot. And so it begins…
Until next time,
more spring things
I can hardly remember a rainier, windier March. It’s been the perfect month to release a fresh batch of the rains, a botanical perfume based on mitti attar, a co-distillation of earthen clay and sandalwood that evokes the scent of rain on earth.