Lilacs...Beautiful, Fragrant, and Delicious!

          The lilacs around our house were particularly pretty this spring.  We had bushes of both white and deep purple that were just full with bunches of blossoms.  I loved being able to smell them as soon as I stepped out the door.  We also snipped bunches for bouquets to enjoy indoors as well while they lasted.  I just could not get enough of them...that is until I stumbled across a recipe for lilac jelly.  I didn't even know lilacs were edible!  After some additional research to make sure that they indeed were I was intrigued with the possibilities and the fact that now I could get my lilac fix all year long.  

          I set out right away to get the ingredients I needed for the recipe that I had found here: Lost Past Remembered-Summer begins with lilac jelly and croissants in a little corner of heaven..  Before I could even begin I had to remove the blossoms from their stems which was somewhat tedious work, but kind of fun as well if that makes any sense.  Then I set out to actually making the jelly.  I used just plain water with mine since I was very curious as to how the lilac would taste itself and didn't want its flavor to be hidden by the juice or wine as the recipe suggests.  I failed to read the part about using additional pectin to get a thicker jelly-like consistency so I ended up with a syrup instead.  It came out in a beautiful pinkish color and the taste was incredible so I wasn't in the least bit disappointed!  Instead I started dreaming up ways to use the syrup. We tried it on pancakes, over ice cream, as a dressing for fruit salad, and my absolute favorite: lilac iced tea.

          To make this wonderful beverage I brewed a pitcher of iced tea using 3 early grey tea bags and let it cool.  Then I filled a glass with ice, put in about 2-3 squirts of the lilac syrup, added a lemon slice, and poured the early grey tea over top.  Not only was it incredibly refreshing and yummy, but pretty too!

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