Welcome to the weekly Perfume Chat Room, perfumistas! I envision this chat room as a weekly drop-in spot online, where readers may ask questions, suggest fragrances, tell others their SOTD, comment on new releases or old favorites, and respond to each other. The perennial theme is fragrance, but we can interpret that broadly. This is meant to be a kind space, so please try not to give or take offense, and let’s all agree to disagree when opinions differ. In fragrance as in life, your mileage may vary! YMMV.
Today is April 17, and I am tired! Working remotely is intense in a different way than working onsite. I like certain aspects of it, but my colleagues and I have been commenting to each other that at the end of the work day and work week, we are just pooped! And to make it worse, unless I remind myself to go for a real walk, I don’t get in the same number of steps that I do when I’m at the office! I guess I walk around there more than I knew, lol.
It got cold here for a couple of nights, and we’re supposed to get some storms this weekend, so I’ve been protecting my new vegetable garden. Here’s something funny — I’m sure you’ve all seen “tomato leaf” listed as a note in fragrance, especially the green ones I love. Well, now that I have quite a few tomato plants, and have even carried some of the potted ones in and out of my house to get out of the cold, I can attest that tomato leaves do indeed have a distinctive green smell. I like it, no surprise there. I’m also growing edible flowers — right now, I have the violas I planted this winter, but I recently planted nasturtium seeds and hope to see them thrive in our hot sun. I have visions of creating this salad, which I saw in The New York Times:
A Perfumer’s Fragrant Flower Salad; image by Julia Stott for The New York Times.
I can wear a new love from 4160 Tuesdays to go with it: Eat More Flowers. Although Sarah McCartney and Nick aren’t able to process many orders, they are still creating perfume and keeping up with their many fans on the 4160 Tuesdays Facebook page, which is a lively group indeed! Do you follow any particular fragrance Facebook pages? I like Facebook Fragrance Friends and Eau My Soul. I don’t post much, or read all the comments, but I enjoy skimming once in a while. This blog even has its own Facebook page: Serenity Now Scents and Sensibilities. It’s mostly the same content I have here, though once in a while if I read an article somewhere and just want to share it quickly, I’ll do it there.
Another question: have you ever grown or eaten edible flowers? What did you think? Happy Friday!
Serenity Now Scents and Sensibilities 
Love edible flowers! Some have quite the kick! I had a tiny scallion flower once in a fancy restaurant—I think it was purple, and packed a punch. I’ve also eaten roses, tulips, and orchids (the kind they use as garnish), and wouldn’t recommend them to anyone, but am listing them in “edibility” in that order, loosely. Have a great weekend!
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Yes, I’ve had a scallion flower — very spicy! I think chive flowers may be similar.
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You can use chives flowers for making flavored vinegar or put them in salads. Nasturtium can be eaten in a salad and the seeds can be put in vinegar for false capers. Marigold flowers are also edible, but I haven’t tried them. And roses too, for exotic sweets. I make a rice pudding with cinnamon, cardamom and cumin seeds and sometimes dried rose leaves. Very good, you must try it.
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Yum — care to share your recipe here?
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Just cook round corn rice with milk and a bit sugar, put I a teespoon of cumin seeds and some green cardamom pods and cinnamon sticks. Add some dried rose flowers at the last minutes. Really easy
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Sounds delicious!
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I’ve had crytallised rose petals and violets, does this count ?
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Yes! Yum!
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Of course, technically an artichoke, which I love to eat, is also a flower.
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Hey there OH,
Mum used to put nasturtium petals in salads. I remember having rose petals half dipped in chocolate at some point too. One of my all time favourites is stuffed zucchini flowers, so delicious.
I thought I’d get a million things done around the house but it has been weeks now and I’ve hardly scratched the surface.
Still haven’t got to Kath’s Dad’s place to make his veggie patch yet. It will happen, hopefully tomorrow.
Portia xxx
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Rose petals in chocolate! That sounds so yummy and also pretty! I’ll have to try to do that. How are you holding up with all this social distancing?
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It was yum.
Totally fine here. The only thing I’m missing is having a steady income. That’s hurting and I will be eating into savings from next week.
Otherwise I really feel like I was born to be a Trophy Bride and it just took 52 years of visualising for it to happen. Lesson is Never Give Up On Your Dreams. HA! The other lesson being It Never Turns Out Exactly How You Wish For It.
Portia x
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Trophy Bride! Yes! A new costume for when you go back to work? I’m sorry you’re taking a financial hit. My husband and I are both still working, for now, but he took a big pay cut. We’re so grateful for what we have, though. This pandemic is certainly opening everyone’s eyes to so many flaws in our global economy, though, isn’t it?
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HA! Yes, if I can just get my sewing ass into gear and make some new frocks I’d be pretty happy.
Glad to read you’re both still working.
Yeah, but the problem is that the greedy and ruthless will always rise to the top because they are the most driven by the burning hunger to be there. Even though we will learn things I can’t imagine the course of our trajectory changing by more than a blip.
Sorry to be doom and gloom.
In lighter news I just had a boiling hot bubble bath and am drenched in Brigitte amounts of Figment Woman by Amouage.
Portia xx
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PSA: If you’re in the USA and familiar with gilt.com, they have a special today (Sunday) for a $25 credit and free shipping! And there doesn’t seem to be a minimum purchase, either.
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P.S. I should add, Gilt has many niche and designer fragrances already discounted, so the $25 credit makes the prices very attractive.
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Since I love eating salads, edible flowers are a welcome addition to my summer salads (though, I’ve never grown my own – they wouldn’t have survived 🙂 ).
Tomato leaves and black currant leaves are one of my two most favorite natural scents that are not blossoms or flowers.
This week I plan to re-test all of my SSS samples and wear some of perfumes that I have as a bottle.
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I love the smell of tomato leaves too. Got a good dose of the real thing this weekend as I pruned suckers from my tomato plants!
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