Book Club- The Language of Flowers

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Welcome back to book club!  Even during my hiatus here on the blog the ladies and I have continued our book club. Last month we read The Language of Flowers (my pick) which is a novel by Vaness Diffenaugh and it was such a wonderful book!  This is the first book in awhile that all five of us in the book club liked, that’s how good it was!

I think this book has been my favorite of all the books we’ve read thus far for so many reasons.  I’ve always loved flowers and I really enjoyed that they played such a prominent role in the book.  The main character, Victoria, learns about the meaning of all kinds of flowers (did you know that Baby’s breath signifies everlasting love?).  The book even includes a glossary at the end of hundreds of flowers and their meanings which is a lovely bonus.  I even used it to make small bouquets for each of the book club ladies.  It was so much fun thinking about each of their individual personalitiess or wishes I had for them and putting that all into an unspoken message.

 

Victoria is also a foster child, which was the main reason I chose the book in the first place.  It was interesting to see all the ways that impacted her and her relationships in her adult life.  The book also touches on motherhood and a lot of that I could relate to in my own ways.

I don’t want to say too much about this book because I don’t want to give away any spoilers.  Let me just say that I feel like this book would appeal to so many people on so many levels.  It’s the story of struggle, love, redemption, and forgiveness.

 

I had a lof of fun with the menu for this book.  Here’s what we had:

• Roasted chicken and carrots with gravy- Roasted chicken was made several times in the book, so it seemed like the perfect main dish to make.  Bonus- it’s so easy to make!
• roasted fingerling potatoes- the perfect side to roast chicken
• fresh grapes- some of the book took place on a vineyard so fresh grapes seemed appropriate and a nice palate cleanser with the roast chicken
• Lemon layer cake with lavender buttercream frosting- Since flowers were such a focus in the book I wanted a dessert flavored with lavender.  I’ll be sharing a recipe for this in the future.
• Habiscus Punch (recipe below)- Another way to tie in a floral element into the menu!

Next month we’ll be reading Wayfinding: The Science and Mystery of How humans Navigate the World by m.r. o’Connor.  Don’t forget to follow my Book Club board on Pinterest to see what books we’ve read, along with my book club posts.

 

Dried Hibiscus flowers make a wonderful tea.  It has a vibrant pink color and is slightly tart with the hint of a floral taste.  We already somehow had dried hisbiscus flowers in our pantry, but I’ve seen them at Trader Joe’s and on Amazon.  I bet they are also available at Whole Foods.

You’ll start by making the tea.  Place 4 cups of boiling water in a bowl or pitcher.  Steep the dried hibiscus in it for five minutes.

Remove the flowers or pour the tea through a strainer.

Now add the sugar.  You want to do this while the tea is still hot, so the sugar dissolves completely.

Pour the sweetened tea into a large pitcher and put in the fridge to chill.  When you’re ready to serve the punch, take the sweetened tea out of the fridge.  Add the soda.  I like this San Pallegrino soda because it has a fresh orange flavor and also isn’t too sweet.  Then add the lime juice and stir.

If you want a non alcoholic punch, just put it in glasses over ice.  For a wonderful cocktail, fill four glasses with ice and fill halfway with punch.  Add one and a half ounces (1 shot) of tequila to each and fill up the glasses with more punch.  Stir and enjoy!

I recommend serving this punch in clear glasses because it’s such a pretty color. Any leftover punch can be stored several days in the fridge.