Seems like Spring in Oregon today.  The sun has been shining, it's nice enough to be outside with just long sleeves on - and the violets are blooming.  Reyn and I worked in the front yard this afternoon.  He cut back last year's fern fronds and I pulled some early weeds.  It's always rewarding to get to those ever persistent weeds while they're still small.  I like the early Spring/Winter yard work, when it's totally okay to muddle around for awhile in the garden and truly enjoy being outside without  the pressure of so much work that needs to be done.

After getting my sunshine fix I decided to make a few candied violets to, perhaps, adorn my Valentines' Day cake.  Really, all that's needed are violets, a little eggwhite thinned with water, some super fine sugar, and a soft paint brush.

Pick the violets, paint them with eggwhites on both sides of the petals, and dust them with sugar.  Then all you have to do is let them dry for a day or two..  It's a slow process, but I think they'll be fun on my next dessert - especially if we go back to our usual dreary February weather.  I managed to speed the process up a bit by simply dipping the flowers into the eggwhite mixture, gently blotting them on a paper towel, then dusting with sugar. 

Now I'll have to decided what

kind of cake to make.  I love these problems.