cooking with flowers

this is not about brandon or gennifer flowers
it's about making food/comestibles out of the flowering part of flowering plants
!!!!!!

where to start?

i realized that i have a rose bush FULL of roses in full bloom and i need to do something with them

going to start with rose shortbread (per a cookbook i have about cooking with flowers) and then harvest the rest for infusions (rose liqueur?! can i do that?), sugars, and throwing in the air for no reason

i've also made lots of drinks with candied violet petals, and lavender sugar topped scones

at the top right corner of this plate you'll see a rice noodle salad i made with some flowers i forget the name of that i got at my asian market + thai basil (+ some other stuff)

http://farm8.staticflickr.com/7456/8801633287_bb9827a8f5.jpg

oh how could i forget -- my annual thanksgiving treat: pear berry crisp with lavender oatmeal crumble on top
OH GOD it is so good

has anyone else made sweet or savory dishes with flowers? failures? surprises? successes?
i realize that not everyone wants to eat flowers btw

plain old green salads with flowers are good and so pretty
i've never made one, but i have eaten them

nasturtiums are tasty to eat raw; a bit like radishes

i'd like to try dandelion greens but i hear it's difficult to remove the bitterness

i have this book and it has tons of recipes/ideas but so far i've just sort of thrown things together (haven't used the book until today, we'll see how the shortbread turns out?!)

http://cdn.canningsupply.com/images/uploads/17180_927_large.jpg

really really want to learn to make rose water/other good smelling flower waters

http://recette1.supertoinette.com/82019/thumb/800/-/82019.jpg

Beignets de fleurs de courgettes. A specialty of Nice.

My sister makes these zucchini tempura every summer.

In Lyon they make these with acacia flowers.

this is my rose shortbread with raspberries and whipped cream
http://farm8.staticflickr.com/7362/9030465420_fe4f51f030.jpg

it's pretty good

Lovely!

I really love nasturtiums, but I'm pretty sure I can't grow them here :(