Florally Ambiguous

My husband is fancy. And also, perhaps he is weird. He loves foods and drinks that have floral flavors! I, however, do not like eating foods that taste like Grandma. The closest I get to eating flowers is eating onions and garlic, both members of the lily family! Which is a far cry from eating something that is reminiscent of your prom night corsage! I know you people think vegans just sit around eating twigs and grass clippings all day, but even we can tell the difference between Plants That Belong on a Plate and Plants That Belong in a Vase.

Here I am on prom night. I managed to make it through the whole evening without gnawing at the flowers on my arm!

Anyway, I've had my eye out for opportunities to graze on floral foods. A couple of weeks back, I did buy a bottle of that Cranberry Hibiscus Juice, thinking that was a good place to start. I guess I get points for even being willing to try something with the name of a flower in it, but I really couldn't detect the flavor of any tropical blooms in that juice, so it didn't really count. I drank that pot of chamomile tea, which certainly counted, and I learned that I could politely accept a cup of that from any octogenarian who may offer me a cup of that flower tea. But I wanted to push the flower envelope further, and I had a chance to do that at Native Foods yesterday.

For starters, I spied their Lavender Lemonade. This is not something I ever would have dared to try, before I became The Gal Who Ate Everything Vegan. But I tried it, and I liked it! Granted, it just tasted like normal lemonade to me, so this didn't count as pushing the flower envelope, but I was still proud of my willingness to try.

After I had eaten My Very First Reuben, I had a cupcake-sized gap in my stomach. Now, any of you who know me even a little bit know that I am no stranger to cupcakes! I've baked hundreds upon hundreds of them, and not to brag, but I have lost count of the times that someone has told me, "This is the best cupcake I have ever eaten." I generally stick with good flavors for cupcakes (eg. chocolate, vanilla, lemon, peanut butter) and don't do anything dangerous. But yesterday, I took a chance and got the kind of cupcake I NEVER would have chosen on my own accord.... a Cardamom Rose cupcake.

It even came sprinkled with potpourri.

Well, this was the flower challenge I had been searching for! Now, I ate it without too much effort... I mean, come on, even a bad vegan cupcake is going to be at least a little bit good! Yes, if anyone ever offered me a Cardamom Rose Cupcake again, I could eat it politely and not make a scene. But I really couldn't shake the feeling of You Are Eating Something That is Not Flavored With Food. And even more so, I couldn't shake the feeling of regret that, on this rare occasion that I actually ate dessert, I was stuck with this Weirdo Flower Cupcake, while a counter full of chocolate cupcakes were staring at me, rejected.

I need to build up some more flower power, and I will I'll keep at this until I come up smelling like a rose.