Fun with Lavender Syrup! #recipes from @LeslieBudewitz

LESLIE BUDEWITZ:  When I meet a friend for a coffee, I rarely order a drink with added flavors, whipped toppings, or other fancy touches. I like the classics. A double-shot, 2% latte, please, hot.

But when I started playing around with lavender, I discovered that lavender syrup is easy to make and adds both a great taste and a terrific scent to hot and cold drinks. It just tastes special—and that’s something we all need, now and then. 

I’m sharing the syrup recipe and a couple of drink suggestions here—more in Lavender Lies Bleeding, coming July 15 in paperback, ebook, and audio, and available for pre-order now. (More details below.)

Since lavender is commonly grown, and not so commonly used in cooking, heed this reminder Pepper gives: Make sure your lavender buds are food-safe. If you buy them from a reputable commercial source, no worries. No special variety is needed, but if you grow your own or cut a few stalks from a neighbor’s plant, make sure no pesticides or herbicides were used nearby. Lavender is best harvested with the flowers are about 25%-50% open, in the morning before the oils begin to release in the heat of the day. 

Happy sipping!

PS: I finally figured out how to embed a PDF of the recipe for easy printing. 

Scroll down to the 💕 for the link. 

Lavender Syrup 

Add a taste of summer to your hot or cold drinks any time of year!

1 cup water

1 cup sugar

1 tablespoon dried lavender 

Combine ingredients in a small saucepan. Bring to a boil, stirring until sugar dissolves. Simmer 1 minute. Remove from heat and steep 30 minutes, then strain into a glass jar or bottle to cool.

Store in the refrigerator. Keeps 3-4 weeks.

Lavender Latte:  Add 1 to 3 teaspoons lavender syrup to a double shot of espresso, to suit your sweet tooth, and add steamed milk. 

Lavender London Fog: The classic London Fog uses vanilla syrup. Switch it up with lavender for a taste of summer, any time of year. 

Make a strong cup of Earl Grey tea, from a bag or loose-leaf tea. Stir in 1-1/2 teaspoons lavender syrup and top with stiff steamed milk. 

For an iced version of any of these drinks, pour coffee or tea and syrup over a handful of ice cubes and add steamed milk or cream. Stir and enjoy! 

Lavender Italian Soda: Place a cup of ice in a 12 ounce glass. Pour in 1-2 ounces of lavender syrup, to your taste. Add 8 ounces club soda or sparkling water and a dash of cream. Stir; adjust to taste if needed.

💕 Click here for a free printable PDF! 

At Seattle Spice Shop, owner Pepper Reece has whipped up the perfect blend of food, friends, and flavor. But the sweet smell of success can be hazardous . . .  

Spring is in full bloom in Pike Place Market, where Pepper is celebrating lavender’s culinary uses and planning a festival she hopes will become an annual event. When her friend Lavender Liz offers to share tips for promoting the much-loved—and occasionally maligned—herb, Pepper makes a trek to the charming town of Salmon Falls. But someone has badly damaged Liz’s greenhouse, throwing a wrench in the feisty grower’s plans for expansion. Suspicions quickly focus on an employee who’s taken to the hills. 

Then Liz is found dead among her precious plants, stabbed by a pruning knife. In Salmon Falls, there’s one in every pocket. 

Pepper digs in, untangling the tensions between Liz and a local restaurateur with eyes on a picturesque but neglected farm, a jealous ex-boyfriend determined to profit from Liz’s success, and a local growers’ cooperative. She’s also hot on the scent of a trail of her own, sniffing out the history of her sweet dog, Arf. 

As Pepper’s questions threaten to unearth secrets others desperately want to keep buried, danger creeps closer to her and those she loves. Can Pepper root out the killer, before someone nips her in the bud?

Available at Amazon * Barnes & Noble * Books-A-Million * Bookshop.org * and your local booksellers!

ALL GOD'S SPARROWS AND OTHER STORIES: A STAGECOACH MARY FIELDS COLLECTION, now available in in paperback and ebook 

Take a step back in time with All God's Sparrows and Other Stories: A Stagecoach Mary Fields Collection of historical short mysteries, featuring the Agatha-Award winning "All God's Sparrows" and other stories imagining the life of real-life historical figure Mary Fields, born into slavery in 1832, during the last thirty years of her life, in Montana. Out September 17, 2024 from Beyond the Page Publishing.  

“Finely researched and richly detailed, All God’s Sparrows and Other Stories is a wonderful collection. I loved learning about this fascinating woman . . . and what a character she is! Kudos to Leslie Budewitz for bringing her to life so vividly.” —Kathleen Grissom, New York Times bestselling author of Crow Mary

Available at Amazon * Barnes & Noble * Books-A-Million * Bookshop.org * and your local booksellers!

Leslie Budewitz is the author of the Spice Shop Mysteries set in Seattle's Pike Place Market, and the Food Lovers’ Village Mysteries, set in NW Montana. As Alicia Beckman, she writes moody, standalone suspense, most recently Blind Faith. She is the winner of Agatha Awards in three categories: Best Nonfiction (2011), Best First Novel (2013), and Best Short Story (2018). Her latest books are To Err is Cumin, the 8th Spice Shop Mystery and All God's Sparrows and Other Stories: A Stagecoach Mary Fields Collection, in September 2024. Watch for Lavender Lies Bleeding, the 9th Spice Shop Mystery, on July 15, 2025.

A past president of Sisters in Crime and former national board member of Mystery Writers of America, Leslie lives in northwest Montana with her husband, a musician and doctor of natural medicine, and their cat, an avid bird-watcher.

Swing by Leslie's website and join the mailing list for her seasonal newsletter. And join her on Facebook where she shares book news and giveaways from her writer friends, and talks about food, mysteries, and the things that inspire her.