Edible flower + styling workshop Recap

“We can only be said to be alive in those moments when our hearts are conscious of our treasures.” ― this quote by Thornton Wilder perfectly sums up how I felt about this weekend. Meg of Bread + Barrow and I co-hosted our first little event / workshop at Olives & Grace in the South End, which is one of my favorite neighborhoods in Boston. I hesitate to call it a workshop because it was really a gathering to talk about edible flowers and how to use them in food photography and styling. I knew from our very first in-person chat that we were of the same mold and therefore would work in perfect harmony. We sat in a coffee shop, talking about wild idealistic dreams of leading foraging adventures in Cape Cod, teaching photography by the shores of Big Sur, or even just hosting a beautiful gathering at her house in the fields. I am a dreamer, an in dreaming I can find what’s important to me or makes me happy, and translate that into a real-life action plan. 

What a great group of people. We couldn’t have asked for a better group. My favorite part of this event was just meeting people in the area. They weren’t all food bloggers either – we had beauty bloggers, other photographers, and just anyone who wanted to learn more about how to use flowers in food. We kept it casual, fun, and a way to throw our arms up into the sky and fully embrace spring, which has finally hit Boston. And, since it was such a lovely day screaming of bright sunlight and summer, we shot outside!!! You’ll notice that the light is very different from what I normally shoot with, and it was SUCH a blast. And a big thanks to Chloe of Scoopsies for providing three mouthwatering flavors of ice cream: white chocolate lavender, strawberry hibiscus, and cardamom rose.

We had so much fun and such overwhelming positive responses and requests, that -YES – Meg and I are going to be hosting another event in a month! I’ll provide full details in the next post 🙂

Anyway, read on for more photos, the recipe for a rhubarb rose mint jam. The beautiful scones are up on Meg’s blog!

We had fresh apple blossoms, roses, and violets and dried hibiscus, rose, and lavender.

… and lavender mimosas. Can’t say no to those.

I have to admit, shooting ice cream in direct sunlight was a struggle. Shooting ice cream at home is a struggle too – it’s one of those universal food blogger problems, no? Melting icecream and sticky fingers 🙂

I would apologize for the excessive amount of photos, but I’m too excited to share these with you to care :). Thank you to everyone who attended. It couldn’t have been done without you, and I’m so happy to meet each and every one of you. A big shout out to Sofi at Olives and Grace for the beautiful table, patio space, and delicious mimosas. Huge hugs to Chloe for the delicious ice cream (PS – she delivers, so go check it out! New flavors all the time!). And of course, my partner in crime, Meg – you are wonderful, and I feel quite privileged to be able to work with you!

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Alright, let’s talk JAM. It’s quite simple. I based this recipe off of Leite’s Culinaria’s simple rhubarb jam recipe and this one from allrecipes. Leite’s Culinaria has some GREAT tips on how to make it, process it, and store it. I would read up on that process before you start jamming!

Recipe: Rhubarb Rose Mint Jam

Ingredients
2.5 lbs fresh rhubarb, chopped
2 cups brown sugar
1 lemon, halved and juiced. Seeds in a tea strainer.
3/4 cup water
3 fresh mint sprigs
2 tsp rosewater

1| To prepare: place a plate in the freezer.
2| In a saucepan, combine rhubarb, sugar, lemon juice, seeds, water and let sit for 1 hour.
3| Bring to a boil. Add in rosewater. Cook over medium-high heat for about 15 minutes, and skim the foam off the surface.
4| Lower heat to medium. Simmer, stirring to prevent burning, for 15 minutes.
5| Remove plate from freezer and place a spoonful of jam in the plate from freezer. If it holds shape, then it is ready. Otherwise, continue cooking for another 5 minutes, checking again.
6| Remove seeds and lemon halves. Skim off remaining foam. Stir in mint sprigs and let infuse for another 5 minutes, until you feel mint flavor has infused completely. When the jam cools, the flavor is less intense, so keep that in mind. Remove sprigs.
7| Ladle into mason jars and tap on counter to remove air bubbles. Secure lids and rings. Proceed with processing/sealing via link above.