VeggieHeadOnline -- Celebrating the Veg Lifestyle

When chefs add a unique hint of flavor to any kind of food, they have created their own masterpiece. Pam Vipond grows organic edible flowers and used them in jellies and vinegars at the Sage Kitchen in Black Diamond, Alberta, in Canada. Her company is a wholesale and manufacturing company with a website at www.sagekitchen.com. Pam has made her own artisan vinegars with real flowers and natural ingredients. The Rose Petal Vinegar, Cranberry and Sage Vinegar, Raspberry and Rose Vinegar, and the Purple Basil Vinegar are all quite popular at the local restaurant in Black Diamond.

"By using edible flowers, each vinegar I create has a beautiful color and unique taste," says Pam. "It is an eye catching product people will enjoy on their salads."

Her fascination with the language of flowers began when she started using them for her arts and crafts. She began researching edible flowers and then experimented with different ones by creating edible flower jellies. Rose Petal Jelly, Lavender Jelly, Nasturtium and Jalapeno Jelly, and Peach and Pansy Jelly are a few of her products.

The popularity of edible flower jellies continues to grow and Pam is always adding new flavors. "I made the jellies with all natural ingredients and real flowers which heightens the flavors," she says. "All the flowers I choose have a unique taste and color. In the Nasturtium and Jalapeno Jelly, the spicy flavor of the nasturtiums is strong."

Pansies, nasturtiums, rugosa roses all can be used in salads as well. Pansies have a minty flavor, whereas nasturtiums have a spicy flavor, and rugosa roses have a sweet flavor. Pansies tolerate cold weather and flourish despite the harsh winters like the ones in Alberta, and are high in vitamins A and C. Pam grows a variety of nasturtiums in a greenhouse year round. They are good for the heart and valves, especially those with a dark maroon color.

Donna Stone is known as the "edible flower gourment of Cape Cod." She grows edible flowers organically at the Wildflower Inn Bed and Breakfast in Lyndonville, Vermont where she is an innkeeper. She has appeared on an affliated PBS cooking program where she demonstrated her Sunflower Crepes recipe. Guests at the Wildflower Inn have the opportunity to eat a variety of edible flower breakfast dishes, such as McWildflower McMuffins, Sunflower Crepes, Orange Blossom Pudding Bread, Rose Geranium Muffins, Country Rose Pancakes.

Donna says she has always liked flowers and started cooking the edible flower breakfast creations for herself. Her reputation for edible flower breakfasts is becoming well known through word of mouth.

She is currently writing an edible flower cookbook. "People interested in edible flowers should read all they can and educate themselves," says Donna. "I recommend 'Flowers In The Kitchen' by Susan Belsinger. Edible flowers can't be bought from florists. Remember it is a food product."

Donna suggests buying edible flowers online. One of her favorite websites is www.Papagenos.com. Many edible flowers can be purchased at the produce section at grocery stores and online at organic edible flower websites.

Learning is the language of flowers is a unique culinary adventure and people who pursue the study of edible flowers discover their favorites. "One of my favorites is scented geraniums," says Donna. "Now I am experimenting with edible flowers and crepes. It's fun."