Candied Violets, Robin's Nests, and Prom...

Hi, Everyone!

 

Not a very catchy title for a post, huh?

 

(I almost called it "Raining Violets" because it poured all day yesterday...)

 

But the odd combination pretty much sums up the last two days here ~ ;^)

 

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First, ever since I went to the empty lot (where Mrs. Howell's house once stood)




to take pictures last week, I've thought about candied violets...



It's been a Bucket List Item for quite a while now ~



just a minor one, though...



I haven't exactly had a burning desire to make them, I just thought about it



every spring when I would see drifts of them in bloom...




I must have watched Martha Stewart make them at some point.



So, I decided I would do it.



I looked up the directions, and went back



 to trespass again and pick some violets.



Of course, everyone in the old neighborhood



 had decided to mow since I was there...



and there just weren't any violets; not where there had been, anyway.



(Sad...I personally wouldn't mow until all the violets had finished blooming!)



It was also raining cats and dogs.



I was determined, though ~ (I had already bought ultra-fine sugar at Schnuck's...



you can't even get it in little ol' Sikeston.)



So, I started driving down all the alleys, and I did find a few violets



that the mowers had missed...



I probably looked like I was staking out people's houses, too...



But after a dozen or so stops, I finally got a nice little bunch, and I was pleased.



Drenched, but pleased!



♥

 

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The ingredients are simple;



One egg white, whisked together with 1/3 cup of water...



and the Ultrafine Sugar....(which is REALLY fine!)



If you are concerned about salmonella, you can use meringue powder.



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The directions I found said to use a small paint brush to coat the leaves,



but that was so tedious....



(It also said to do this until you'd done a couple of dozen, or until you wanted



to scream ~ "whichever comes first" ...) ~



So after trying a couple this way, I just dunked the whole violet (holding it by the stem)



in the egg-white mixture, then used the brush to gently separate the petals.



Much better.



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The original directions also said to dredge the egg-white-coated violet



in the sugar, but that just resulted in a mishapen blossom...



What worked better for me was to put some of the sugar in a shaker



and sprinkle it on; much more uniform coverage,



and it didn't weigh the petals down.




The petals still are pretty heavily coated, just not "clumpy" this way.



(Note to self...empty the rest of that sugar before someone mistakes it for salt...:^)



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After dunking and sprinkling one at a time, I placed the violets on a piece of parchment



paper, and snipped off the stems.



The sugar is so fine that that it is immediately soaked through by the egg-white



mixture and will be wet, but about 10-15 minutes drying time in the oven remedies that ~



Just put the parchment paper on a cookie sheet ~



Set your oven on the lowest temperature with the door open slightly.



I'm sure the rain and the year-round humidity



 of Swamp-East Missouri wasn't helping!



After they've dried you can supposedly store them in an air-tight container...



I would think maybe the refrigerator would be a good idea, too ~



But where's the fun in that?



I had to take these in my bedroom and hide them so I would have



some left for cupcake decor today!



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Ta-da!



Pretty, and quaint, and kind of Victorian-looking, don't you think?



They tasted like...well ~



If you rolled up a little tiny ball of lettuce and dipped it in sugar and dried it,



that's pretty much what they taste like.



But it was fun.



(Jonathan couldn't wait to eat this cupcake!)



Another thing I can mark off my list.



;^)



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Robin's nests!



The top photo is right by the back door going out onto the patio,



on the support for my big wind chimes...



it's also where the birds kept bringing straw last year, and the wind kept



blowing it down into my little Fairy Garden in the big iron kettle,



so we put a rubber snake up there ~ problem solved ~ last year...



Evidently this Mama Robin isn't worried about a snake



that hasn't changed positions in a year's time...



I guess we need a new snake, but I don't have the heart to disturb her now...



I'll just have to pick straw off of the flowers in the kettle.



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The second photo is a nest that is just slightly above head-high for me ~ and I am 5' 1" ~



in one of our little willow trees...



The robin couple worked on this nest all last week...



I had been meaning to get a mirror to see if there were eggs



for the past couple of days, and I finally did this afternoon...





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Four!!



Aren't they beautiful?



I'll try to get a photo every day or so, but I'll be careful not to disturb the Mama Robin.



♥





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And last but not least...Prom.



The last one.



Jonathan didn't have a "Pink Carnation and a pick-up truck",



but he did have a "PT Cruiser and a coral rose" ~



You can make that work with the melody.



Try it, if you haven't already ~ :^)



That's all for tonight!



I have to go practice my own "Empty-Nesting"...



Have a delightful Sunday!



Love,

 

 

A last minute addition!

 

Jonathan just came by the house...

 

sans the girl with the coral rose...

 

Prom is over, and he is off to a bonfire with his buddies...

 

He got dressed for the dance at a friend's;

 

 

(evidently the guys didn't want to wear their tuxes to the restaurant,

 

for fear of getting "something on them"...hmmm)

 

He stopped for just a minute to let me get a picture!

 

♥

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Sharing the pretty "Robin's Egg Blue" with The Dedicated House's "Anything Blue Friday" ~ ♥ (Thank you, Kathryn, for featuring me!)