There's a place just up the road from me that I make a point to visit at this time of year.
It's the kind of spot that embodies the bucolic scenery of rural New England.
There are pastoral rolling hills…
…moss-patinaed stone walls…
…ancient gnarled trees…
…steep stone steps…
…and a lake with tiny islands.
It's a magical place at any time of year, but for a few weeks in April it becomes an enchanted land of earth, water, stone, and daffodils.
Daffodils have an alluring aroma with sweet notes of honey, citrus, warm spice, and exotic fruit. However, they contain the alkaloids galanthamine and lycorine that render them highly toxic if consumed. Even deer won't touch them.
mango
whipped honey
passionfruit souffle cake
orange blossom ice cream
pandan glass
ginger honey crystals
calendula buds
Download recipe: Daffodil
Playing with Fire and Water 
I just found your blog on a tip from Peter over at Cookblog. This is amazing, brilliant work – I’ve never seen anything like it. Don’t come to Zoomie Station – I’d be embarrassed after seeing yours!
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This run of springtime-in-nature inspired dishes you’ve done has been absolutely incredible. They’re beautiful, the flavor combos sound great and the creativity behind them blows me away. I’m going to try very hard not to blatantly steal your ideas but I do intend to let myself be fully inspired by them. Thanks for sharing!
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You’ve made me miss New England for the first real time since I moved away (RI, 1996 for 2 years). I remember driving up the Cape and taking a spontaneous hike over the hills and into the woods, stumbling across a very old partial stone wall and wondering why in the hell it was there in the middle of nowhere. What a unique place in the US… can a cobblestone really remind one of any place else but New England?
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I sometimes dream about the long and temperate growing seasons of California and other places but there is something about the reemergence of green every spring that is such an important part of being home.
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