Cardamon Sugar

This is a delicious spice to have on hand to spruce up pastries, pies and the like.

When I was growing up, my mom would make me cinnamon toast for breakfast....sliced bread with butter and cinnamon sugar. Its nice to replace the cinnamon with cardamon sugar.

I also like to sprinkle some on top of a piece of pie before I dig in.

There really isn't a recipe for this...just mix white sugar with cardamon powder. You can as as little or as much as your want, depending on how you want to flavor the sugar.

Lavender Butter

This is a delicious butter that I use to make grilled cheese sandwiches. I also use it to spruce up pretty much anything...its delicious! 

Ingredients

1/2 stick butter

Lavender Salt

Cut the butter into small cubes, as to make it easier to smash and whip the butter. Its easier to do this with butter that has been out of the fridge for 30 minutes or so. 

With a fork or spoon, smash and mix the butter until it is soft. 

Add the lavender salt in small batches. Add the salt, mix and taste. Continue adding salt until you reach the flavor profile you are looking for. I find I do not want the butter too salty, and the lavender salt goes a long way. 

You can add as much or as little lavender salt as you want. I also add orange honey to this on occasion to give it a more sweet n savory flavor profile. 

Spicy Ketchup

Having good ketchup around is a great thing! Don't buy Heinz 57 or something like that. Invest in a good ketchup. Currently, I am using a Moroccan ketchup that I found at MarketHall in Rockridge (Oakland, CA). You can also find Marin Sun Farms there for your meat, so it can be your one stop shopping experience. Farmers Markets also have lots of nice ketchups.

If you cannot find a good ketchup, you can always spruce up your Heinz 57 or other variety.

I usually add Harrisa to my ketchup. Or a combination of Harrisa and Sriracha Sauce is also nice.