Violet Sugar Scrub

The yard performed one of her many yearly feats of magic the other day, and turned blue and purple, with many dots of bright yellow.  For over 20 years that has been the signal for Molly and me to spend a couple of hours picking the violet blossoms and make syrup.  The recipe and instructions are HERE and you'll find a link to violet jelly there too.

 

We didn't feel like making syrup this year, and decided to make some sugar like we'd seen on a site called Gather Victoria.  There, they used the sugar to coat shortbread cookies, and it was stunning.  We went another direction.  We decided on a sugar scrub.

One of our favorite things is sitting a few feet apart and having long, meandering conversations while picking violets.  It's a spring ritual.  The time goes too quickly, but since we both love the way this came out, we'll just have to go back out there and pick a lot more.
We used our mini food processor, pretty much filling a cup with sugar and a cup with unpacked violets.  Once they were thoroughly blended, we smoothed the mixture out onto wax paper covered cookie sheets.  Parchment would be good too, but we were out of that.

 

 By the next morning, it was already dry.

 

 We mixed about equal parts olive oil with the violet sugar.  Because my sister was (probably rightly) concerned about the sugar losing its color, we added a squeeze of lemon juice. 

 

 Several days later, it is still gorgeous and if possible, even more vibrant.  We used olive because it was handy and we were just messing around.  I'd probably use something with less color and scent next time - maybe fractionated coconut oil.

 

 It feels wonderfully nourishing to the skin.  While the flowers are beautiful, I may want to try using the leaves next time, or some flowers and leaves that are noted for their skin-loving properties.

 

 Definitely a keeper in the recipe file!