that sometimes surprise you as if they were oh so big.
Because they're tiny, delicate, and yet so powerful and unexpected.
Such as picking the ingredients for your next recipe at the park.
Now, imagine the usual routine that comes before your fragrant cake or crunchy salad. Unless you're lucky enough to have a grandma that will give the above-mentioned cake ready to eat (best case scenario even just taken out of the oven), or the above-mentioned salad just to be washed, you're likely to be one of the hundreds that goes to a huge supermarket. You'll have to overcome the first light and thermic shock due to neon lights and air conditioning and, once you're sure you can make it, you'll have to sail your way dribbling busy people talking at two phones and crazy kids that were recklessly entrusted with a cart. You'll get your ingredients with packages much bigger than their products, and you'll head to the cash desk, praying that no one of the people in front of you will have to empty their overflowing carts for the self-scan check.
You're lucky, only three out of four.
You included, of course.
And then, imagine yourself in a big park, blooming, perfumed trees all around, stopping every two steps to close your eyes and face the sun, soaking in all that warm, gorgeous sunshine. Imagine yourself looking at people lazily sunbathing on the grass, others playing frisbee, some friends looking at them while sipping a beer. There are dogs running happily, and cats suspiciously looking at them from up a rock. There's the pond full of mama-ducks and their newborn baby-ducks. And everything around is colour. For the few steps during which your eyes are actually open, you look around for your ingredient until, all of a sudden, there it is, your flower.
Bunches of teeny tiny white flowers, on a huge, dark green bush. So you start picking them, bunch by bunch, almost dizzy with their sweet yet pungent perfume.
And when your little bag is plump with them, you walk back home, 'cause those little flowers, a lemon and two spoons of honey are everything you need to make your most delicious summer lemonade.
Now, all you have to do is to put the flowers -stems removed- and the lemon -thinly sliced- in a pot. Bring a liter of water to a boil, melt two spoons of honey in it, and pour it over your flowers.Let it rest for 2-3 days, stirring once a day, then filter and drink!
For the first batch you'll really have to trust your feelings, as there are no real measures, but only your taste.
I can tell you that to me the magic combination is 1 full bag of flowers (one of those plastic bags you would use to freeze things, smallest size), 1 and a half lemon, 2 spoons of honey, 1 liter and a half water.
Then we drink it as 2/3 lemonade and 1/3 sparkling water.
And it's summer.
You can find the original recipe on "The Green Kitchen", the awesome cookbook from Green Kitchen Stories.
Oh, and the flower is elderflower.
