Confession time.... I have gotten really upset with my husband for buying me flowers. I'm terrible, I know. To me flowers seem like such a frivolous gift. They are expensive, they don't last very long, and pretty soon you have nothing left to show of your "gift". I know flowers are romantic, but I would so much more love for my husband to spend our hard earned money on something that I'm not throwing in the trash 3 days later. Enter LAVENDER. 

Then dried lavender entered my life. It is the perfect flower for a gal like me. In it's dried state, it still looks fresh, but it will stay beautiful like this permanently. It smells wonderful, looks wonderful, and doesn't cost near as much as real flowers. So gents, do your wife a favor this valentines day; if you want to be romantic and get her flowers, get her dried lavender. Its unique, elegant, romantic, and something she can cherish all year long. 

Find our store online at www.lavenderapple.com

By now, if you are a long term Lavender Apple blog reader, you know that all of Peggy's recipes are fantastic. By far, my all time ultimate favorite recipe that she has graced my belly with, has to be her Hungarian Goulash. Hungarian goulash is not a stew, but its in a similar vein, only better. It has a nice thick consistency, and a filling savory flavor that you won't soon forget. You will go back for seconds, and thirds, and not be sorry. If you ever feed friends or family this recipe, be prepared to share it, because they will always ask for it. Make this today, like now, seriously. 

Ingredients: 

2 pounds round steak, cubed

2 Tbs oil

2 onions, diced

1/2 cup tomato sauce

2 beef bouillon cubes

1/2 cup water

1 tablespoon paprika 

1 tsp vinegar

Dollop of sour cream 

1 pkg egg noodles

Directions: 

In a LARGE cast iron pot, warm your oil in a hot pan. Season your steak with salt and pepper. Sear your steak cubes on all sides. Two pounds of steak is quite a lot, so if you need to do it in batches, that is best. You don't want to crowd your meat because it will steam instead of sear and make the meat tough. So a good brown sear on all sides is important, even if you have to do it in batches. Once your steak is seared, set it aside. Add some oil into your pan again and reduce the heat to medium, add your onions and salt and pepper. Cook until golden brown, then add back in your meat, tomato sauce, bouillon cubes, water, paprika, & vinegar. Simmer for 2 hours until meat is fall apart tender. Remove from heat and allow to cool for 10 minutes, then temper and add a dollop of sour cream. Boil your noodles as directed and serve the goulash over the top of them. 

It may not look or sound fancy, but this is a dish you will want to eat every night of the week. I am craving this just thinking about it. Enjoy!

If you have been a long term reader of this blog, you know Mike dabbles in photography. I remember a couple of summers ago, I had spent weeks at the Lavender Apple Farm snapping photos of my 1 year old. Well Mike saunters over and snaps one photo and it was the best picture I got of my son all summer! 

I thought it would be fun to share a vintage photo of Mike's every Friday this month. 

Have a great weekend!

Time to resurrect an old favorite from almost 5 years ago when this blog first started. We have so many new readers, I thought it was time for us to share this treasure of a recipe again. 

When the Nelson's lived in France, Peggy bought a small little french cookbook called "The Best of France" at Harrods in London.  It's a family favorite. Every recipe is amazingly great. So for your dining pleasure, here is the best french onion soup recipe you'll ever encounter: 
    
Ingredients:                                          

1 1/2 lbs thinly sliced onions, about 3 large onions.  * see note
3 Tbs. butter
1/8 tsp sugar
1/4 tsp. salt
2 Tbs. flour
6 cups beef stock
1/2 cup white wine
Bouquet Garni *  see note
8 slices french bread ( I use baguette)
melted butter
 garlic halved
1 cup grated Gruyere 
1/3 cup grated parmesan cheese

IN a large pot over medium heat, cook onions in butter with salt and a little pepper.  Stir occasionally until soft.  Add sugar and continue to stir until onions become  golden brown, Careful don't let burn.  Add flour and continue to cook 3 more minutes.  Add stock, wine and bouquet garni.  Cook partially covered for 30 minutes. 

Preheat oven to 350.  Arrange bread on a baking sheet brushing with melted butter on both sides.  Bake for 15 minutes,  turning over half way through until golden brown.  When just out of oven, cut a  garlic clove in half and rub each piece of bread with the garlic.


Remove the Bouquet garni from the soup and pour the soup into ovenproof bowls.   Place the toasted bread on top of each bowl.  Depending on the size of bread you may need to use 2 pieces of bread per bowl.  Sprinkle with cheese.  Bake the soup for 15 minutes.  Then turn on the broiler to high.  Broil the cheese until browned and bubbling.  Watch closely.     Serves 4
                                                 
Don't let a word like "Bouquet Garni" scare you from a recipe.  What your basically doing is putting some herbs in a small package,  like cheese cloth.   In this recipe I just throw in 2 bay leaves, a piece of celery,  about 1/2 tsp dried thyme and a sprig or 2 of parsley.  Then at the end I fish out the bay leaf and maybe the parsley and celery.

 Bon Appetite!