Several years ago now, my friend, Cindy and I took a drive on a summer’s day to visit Seafoam Lavender Gardens. 

It was a lovely drive, and the Gardens are situated in one of those spots where you just want to set down some roots for the summer. I don’t know if you can tell in the above picture or not, but just on the other side of the road from the lavender farm is the Northumberland Strait. That’s the body of water that separates Nova Scotia from Prince Edward Island.

It was a warm day. A breeze was blowing. It was a perfect summer day. 

At Seafoam Gardens, we took a stroll between the lavender plants and then visited the store where I purchased a couple of lavender items. One of those was a jar of honey. (And yes, it does have a faint flavour of lavender to it that is lovely.) 

Just the other week, I went looking for a muffin recipe so that I could make a few muffins to give to a friend. I knew that my friend’s husband can’t have wheat or dairy, so I wanted something that would be safe for him. That way they could enjoy a little treat together. 

The recipe I found was Perfect Almond Flour Muffins, which you can find at this link.  To sweeten them, the recipe suggested either maple syrup or honey. I happened to have a jar of Seafoam Lavender honey in my cupboard, so I used that. The result was similar to what you see in the picture above. (I didn’t actually get a pic of that batch, but my husband liked them so much that I had to make a second batch and then teach him how to make them for a third batch, which is the one pictured.) 

Do you remember this exchanged from the first chapter of Don’t Tell Mom I Have a Girlfriend: 

“Do not feed that cookie to Mr. Thorpe,” she added.

“His name is Thor, Mother, not Mr. Thorpe.”

“You may call him what you want, but he is Mr. Thorpe to me and is not to have any cookies.”

“Then, why did you give me one?” Will asked bluntly. The dull throbbing in his head was not getting any better. Laughter might be deemed a good medicine for the soul, but levity did not work as well as peace and quiet, augmented by a proper dose of analgesic, when it came to headaches.

“Here,” Emma handed him a bottle of pain medicine. “I’ll trade you two of these for one cookie.”

“I thought you weren’t eating carbs?”

“Do you want the medicine or not?” Emma hissed as she darted a look at their mother. “It’s Sunday, and I’m allowing myself as many carbs as I want today.”

Will pulled his head back a bit and quickly handed her his cookie with one hand, while snatching the medicine bottle from her with the other. “You may want to eat more carbs all the other days of the week, too,” he suggested.

She scowled at him.

“Sorry,” he muttered. He disliked it when Emma was angry with him, and normally, she was quite receptive to his grumbling and unsolicited advice. “Are you okay?”

“Don’t ask,” she replied. “At least, not right now.”

His brow furrowed.

“Mother,” she mouthed.

Ah, yes. There were things you did not say in front of the Bennett matriarch.

Do you remember what it was about the cookie Will had been given that he didn’t like? 

Answer: raisins

He might not like these muffins as my husband made them. My husband loves raisins! 

But while Will might not like the muffins, Emma might if she is still watching her intake of carbs as the carb count is not as high in these muffins as it would be in a standard muffin.

And that has me thinking that perhaps she and Cari might decide to add a few “healthier” but still wonderfully delicious options to the menu at their café, The Baked Apple. These almond muffins made using Nova Scotia honey with a hint of Seafoam Lavender would be perfect for that!

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