Lemon Lavender Sweet Rolls

These Lemon Lavender Sweet Rolls combine tart lemon with delicate lavender making them the perfect addition to a spring weekend brunch...

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For years, lavender has been one of my favorite scents as far as aromatherapy goes. I buy candles perfumed with its scent. I have a bottle of lavender-vanilla lotion that always sits on my bedside table. And when I am feeling stressed, I pour myself a nice warm bath, drop in a lavender scented bath bomb of some sort, & soak away my worries for a little bit.

What I haven't done, but what I have been wanting to try for months now is to start using more lavender in my culinary creations. It all started with an amazingly refreshing lavender lemonade I had at a cute little bakery in Corning, New York last fall. 

I had just never really thought about using lavender for anything else other than stress-relieving aromatherapy. It was a light bulb moment.

Fast forward about 6 months later, and I found myself browsing Amazon on the search for culinary grade lavender to start experimenting with in the kitchen. (Note: Make sure that the lavender you purchase is for culinary use & not ornamental!) I decided on a bag of USDA Organic Lavender Flowers & added it to my cart. Then I started brainstorming possible recipe ideas! 

I knew for my first recipe using lavender, I wanted to recreate that lemon & lavender flavor combination that I had loved so much while sipping on that lemonade in the Finger Lakes. The result? These perfect for spring Lemon Lavender Sweet Rolls...

Tapioca Stuffed Chai Spice Baked Apples

Tender baked apples are flavored with chai spices and filled with a creamy tapioca pudding in these Tapioca Stuffed Chai Spice Baked Apples...

This content was created in partnership with Kroger Family Stores using free products provided by Kroger.

This recipe post first appeared on the Kroger Inspired Gathering site.

Want to really impress mom this Mother's Day? Whip up a dessert that she's sure not to forget! What's more impressive than tender baked apples filled to the brim with creamy tapioca pudding? Not much, folks. ;)

I decided to take a classic apple dessert and give it a brand new twist for Mother's Day with these Tapioca Stuffed Chai Spice Baked Apples. Baked apples are typically stuffed with brown sugar, butter, cinnamon and nuts, then they're baked and simply served warm. 

But I changed it up with these baked apples by flavoring them with a blend of chai spices and filling them with the creamiest tapioca pudding. And just so you know, these baked apples are indeed mother-approved. I used my own mom as a taste tester, and she gave this dessert two thumbs up!

What Makes a Mother...

**Warning- Please have a box of tissues at the ready.  I bawled while watching this, but I needed to see this. Especially today. Especially this weekend.

This is dedicated to all of the mothers out there who can only hold their babies in their hearts... 

"I visit her everyday when she goes to sleep..."

The best way to honor those whom we have lost is to celebrate the life that we do have.

As Mother's Day approaches, this ^^^ is the very thought that enters my mind.  Celebrating your life- the people in it, the moments that make each day, the smiles you share with others- is not always as easily done as it is said.  Sometimes the loss, the disappointment, the sadness gets in the way of celebrating the life that we do have.  And I know that is okay every once in a while.  But I will not let it be okay this Sunday.  I have too much to celebrate. We all have so much to celebrate that day...

Some of us will celebrate our mothers- the sacrifices they have made for us, the way that they shaped us into the women that we are today.  Some of us will celebrate the fact that maybe our mothers taught us more of what we didn't want to be than what we wanted to be.  Some of us will spend this Sunday with our mothers, sharing laughs and food, and our time.  Some of us will be remembering and rejoicing in the lives that our mothers once led... and missing them deeply.

Some of us will be celebrating the mothers that we have become- be it for 2 days, 12 years, or just a few brief moments within us.  We will spend Mother's Day with our babies (because let's face it- it doesn't matter how old they get; they will always be our babies) reveling in each moment, each hug, each stepping stone.  And some of us will be thinking of the babies that we couldn't hold anywhere else but in our hearts.  And for many of us, we will be doing both at the same time.

Some of us will spend part of this Sunday dreaming of the mothers that we want to become, should it be for the first time or again.  Some of us will be rubbing our swelling bellies, imagining how much our lives will change in just a a few short months.  And some of us will remember and smile, knowing that there was a fleeting moment at least once when our uterus became a womb and praying that it will be once again.

The best way to honor those whom we have lost is to celebrate the life that we do have.

We will all celebrate Mother's Day in our own ways.  Whether joyously or quietly, in person or in our hearts. 
For some of us who have experienced the loss of a baby, this coming holiday can quickly become a day of bitterness, of regrets, of jealously, of anger, and of hurt.  It is easy to be resentful of a day that celebrates everything that we are struggling to have, to become.
But please keep in mind that one day this will be a day that you will celebrate as a mother.  With your children.  With your mother (who will then be a grandmother).  Celebrate the knowledge that one day Mother's Day will be your day.

Happy Mother's Day to all- to the mothers with babies here; to the mothers with babies in their hearts; to the mothers who are making sacrifices, fighting everyday to have the children that they dream of become a reality at last.