Annie, I'm sure the wedding was a huge hit, especially the hab gold cheescakes! Meanshile, I FINALLY canned this year! Woo hoo! Better yet, I spread the canning virus---made 8 half-pints of strawberry jam with a friend who'd never canned before. Bought the strawberries from the farmer same day, and boy did it turn out well. The set is a little soft (we used a recipe from the Bernardin book that calls for cooking up whole apples w/ the pith of a lemon rather than using commercial pectin or going for the long boil), but it's still quite spreadable and VERY yummy. I definitely made a new canning convert. And I'm excited that I'll have a canning buddy nearby for those marathon sessions of tomato or peach peeling! I've had a CRAZY spring work-wise, on the road a lot, didn't even start any tomato seedlings (for each of the past 10 years I've started at least a hundred). But I bought some and was kindly given some and FINALLY got the last of them into the ground, so hopefully there will be some tomato canning, even though some of the harvest will be late. It felt so good to spend all of yesterday in the garden and the canning kitchen! Z

I've tinkered with the violet jelly recipe that is posted all over the Net, so I can share my experiences. Sorry I don't have anything for syrup or candy, though. The recipe I started with is: Violet Jelly (Source: www.prairielandherbs.com) 2 heaping cups of fresh violet petals 2 cups boiling wter 1/4 cup well-strained, clear lemon juice 4 cups sugar 3 oz liquid pectin (Certo) NOTE: Look for fully opened flowers, not partially opened buds, for better color and more intense flavor. The violets you want are the wild violets. Please choose violets that have NOT been sprayed. ) Wash petals well, drain and place in heat-proof glass or nonreactive bowl. Pour boiling water over petals and let steep from 30 minutes to 24 hours. It usually takes about two hours for violets. Strain through a fine sieve, reserving the clear, purplish liquid or infusion. If not using immediately, refrigerate up to 24 hours. Place jars and lids on rack in pan or stockpot deep enough to cover them with about two inches of water, bring to a boil, then reduce heat to a simmer, keeping the jars hot until ready to fill. To make the jelly, stir lemon juice and sugar into reserved infusion in a two-quart nonreactive or stainless steel pan. Bring to a full rolling boil that cannot be stirred down. Add the liquid pectin and continue to boil two minutes, skimming any foam that may rise to the surface. Ladle quickly into jars to within about 1/8 inch from the top; clean each rim and threads of the jar as it's filled, and place flat lid and ring on each before filling the next. Place the jars in a hot-water canning bath and boil for 10 minutes (or the appropriate time for your area). After canning, carefully check to make sure the lids have all sealed. Sealed jars will last up to one year in a cool, dark place. Put any unsealed jelly in the refrigerator. it should keep about three weeks. Makes four or five half-pint jars. Things I tried: Steeping overnight (worked best). Blenderizing the violets to get more flavor (didn't work - too hard to strain out all the little bits of flower petals). Decreasing the sugar - 4 cups was too sweet. I did get a good set from 3 cups and it was still plenty sweet enough for me. Using Pomona pectin (it was cloudy and for the first time, I noticed a chalky texture. I did use honey in that batch instead of sugar, which probably accounted for the cloudiness and perhaps the weird texture. Plus the honey overpowered the flavor of the violets). BWB for 5 minutes instead of 10. That worked great - using sterilized jars. Fresh lemon juice tasted better than bottled. I also threw in a bag of seeds that I had saved, so the set was a bit firmer but still soft, which I didn't mind. Hope that helps.

Most of our violets are white - wouldn't make a very pretty jelly. I was thinking of mixing them with the purple ones we do have, won't be as deep a color, but does the jelly actually taste like anything except sugar? Too windy today to pick - I told DD they'd all blow out of her bucket. Dandelions are just flowering, lilacs have leaf buds but will be a while for flowers, I'm interested in the lilac jelly and ice cream since I love the smell of lilacs, figured that might taste more floral than the violets?

Here's the recipe I use for my jelly made with flowers. I've made violet (my favorite), lilac and dandelion (a bit earthy). It's the same recipe for any flower. Wild Violet Jelly Two cups fresh violet flowers (no stems), well rinsed and drained. 2 cups boiling water 1/4 cup bottled, strained lemon juice 4 cups sugar 1/2 teaspoon rosewater (very optional) 1 package liquid pectin Place rinsed flowers in glass bowl, pour boiling water over the flowers, cover and steep for at least two hours, overnight, or up to 24 hours. Strain the liquid through a fine mesh sieve and use a wooden spoon to press all the liquid from the flowers, then squeeze the rest of the liquid out. It will be dark purple/blue. If necessary, you can store this infusión in the fridge for a few days. (I have frozen it for a year, still good). Put infusion into a large stainless pot, add lemon juice - it will turn light purple. Add sugar and bring to a rolling boil, stirring frequently to ensure that the sugar dissolves. Let it continue to boil for a few minutes, and when you have a good rolling boil, add the liquid pectin - return to a boil, stirring constantly (it will foam up ALOT) and cook for exactly 1 minute. Remove from heat, and follow the instructions for filling jars - I got about 9 little jelly jars (1/2 cup). Wipe the rims, put on the lids, and screw on the rings, and process for 10 minutes in hot water bath. The amount of flower doesn't really matter except for color and fragrance. The most important ingredient is the liquid - water in this case, though I have seen recipes that use apple juice or wine or white grape juice. I image they are very good too. I missed the honeysuckle this year. I would like to try red clover. I did discover that buttercup is not edible. I don't know anything about your other plant, but I did Google it, and apparently the only part documented as edible is the root. But there are plenty of other wonderful edible flowers - rose petals, lavender, elderflower, honeysuckle, rose hips, etc.