February 6, 2012

When I saw this recipe on the Seasonal Wisdom blog, I decided to edge my lettuce bed with calendulas. I remembered their cheery presence in my Dad’s winter flower garden. Historic Sturbridge Villiage in Massachusetts, a favorite family destination when my children were young, included calendulas in their herb garden. (More bi-coastal recollections).

This weekend I gathered what was needed to make Calendula-Orange Biscuits. Each of these utensils has a story. Most of them came from the kitchens of my Mom or Grandmother.

The Calendula-Orange Biscuits accompanied Pasta with Lentils and Kale on Saturday night. Split and toasted, they were a Sunday morning treat.

Calendula-Orange Biscuits

2 cups unbleached flour
1 tablespoon baking powder
2 tablespoons sugar
¼ teaspoon salt
Petals from 8 calendula flowers (2 tablespoons)
¼ cup unsalted butter
½ cup milk
¼ cup fresh-squeezed orange juice
1 teaspoon freshly grated orange rind 

• Preheat oven to 450 degrees
• Combine dry ingredients, making sure calendula petals are mixed throughout.
• Cut in butter until flour mixture looks like coarse crumbs.
• Stir in milk, orange juice and orange rind until well blended.
• Drop by spoonfuls onto baking sheet.
• Bake about 10 minutes or until golden. Makes about 10 biscuits.

The recipes calls for “drop” biscuits. For a nicer shape, I used my Grandmother’s ice cream scoop for a few large biscuits and the cookie scoop for the smaller ones.
 

Safety advice: Not all flowers are edible, so consult reputable resources before adding flowers to food. The  Seasonal Wisdom blog has links to edible flower lists and the history and folklore of calendulas.