Chamomile and Lavender Honey for Evening Wind-Down

This is the slowest recipe in the best way. Stir dried flowers into honey, seal the jar, and mostly wait, turning it once a day for 2 weeks while the honey draws out the color and scent of the blossoms.

Chamomile and lavender carry a long, gentle history as evening herbs, often kept for their calming, sleep supporting reputation. That is traditional use rather than a clinical promise, so hold it lightly and let it be what it is: a soft, fragrant honey for the end of the day, used in modest spoonfuls.

Make extra. Strained into a clean jar with a ribbon, it is one of the loveliest homemade gifts, and the spent flowers can steep into a simple tea afterward so nothing goes to waste. Let the slowness of making it be part of what settles you.

Ingredients

• 1/4 cup dried chamomile flowers
• 1/4 cup dried lavender flowers
• 1 cup mild raw honey

Method

• Place the dried chamomile and lavender in a clean lidded glass jar. Pour the honey over to cover the flowers, then seal.
• Infuse for 2 weeks, inverting the jar once a day so the floating herbs stay coated.
• To strain, set the open jar in about an inch of hot water for 5 minutes to loosen the honey.
• Strain into a clean jar. A few stray flower bits will rise to the top within a couple of days and can be skimmed off. The strained herbs can be steeped into a tisane.
• Store somewhere cool and dry, out of direct sunlight.

*Adapted from a-squirrel-in-the-kitchen*