Spring Has Sprung Iced Tea

For the Pretty Floral Ice Cubes

• edible flowers
• water

1. Boil a kettle of water. Let cool.
2. Pick a bunch of clean, unsprayed, unfertilized violets, or other edible flowers, in your backyard or other safe place. Some stores sell edible flowers. Gently rinse flowers.
3. Fill an ice cube tray half-full with cooled water. Place flowers in each compartment. Fill up trays with more cooled water. Freeze several hours or until solid.

For the Iced Tea

• 16 ounces tea of your choice (I like peach green tea, steeped for 3 minutes)
• a few mint leaves
• 2 lemon slices, cut in half
• pretty floral ice cubes
• simple syrup (1 part water, 1 part sugar, heated in a saucepan until sugar dissolves and mixture thickens)

1. Make any tea of your choice. Chill.
2. Place several floral ice cubes in a tall glass. Pour chilled tea over. Garnish with mint leaves, gently crushed to release oils, and lemon slices.
3. Serve simple syrup in a small glass pitcher and use as little or as much as you like. Leftover simple syrup can keep in the refrigerator for a good while. Add a straw and sip away. Happy Spring!