Rosemary-Lavender Syrup

Easy to make and delicious served on berries, drizzled on lemony pound cake, or added to the roasting pan when cooking chicken or potatoes.

Makes approximately 1 cup.  Stores for at least a month in the refrigerator.

Ingredients

1 cup water

¼ cup white sugar

¼ cup honey (I use lavender honey)

6-8 stems fresh rosemary (how much you use depends on the assertiveness of your rosemary.  I grow mine in pots in half-shade and so they are never sharp in flavor, and thus I tend to use a good 8 stems.)

8-10 stems dried lavender (If you are purchasing it, make sure it is food-grade.)

Directions

Mix the water, sugar and honey in a saucepan and bring to a boil, stirring until the sugar dissolves.  Turn the heat down and simmer the syrup until you have a consistency you like—for drizzling, you might like it to be quite thick, so reduce it to about half.  I like to use the syrup as a hint, a background texture, so I do not reduce it.

Take the pan off the heat and stir in the rosemary and lavender.  Let it steep until cool (or longer to intensify the flavors).  Strain into a sterilized bottle or jar and keep in the refrigerator.