Now, maybe eating flowers is normal to some people, but it was not to me. So, when I was presented with the first meal I had ever eaten at Rest, and there was a flower sitting atop the salad, I had some concerns. Is it normal to consume that much salad? Does everyone in California eat flowers? Is it safe for a Texan to munch on a flower? And, at the very top of my list, Is this a joke and they are all going to laugh when the silly girl from Texas actually eats the flower?

  Because I have absolutely no poker face for things such as flowers where they do not belong, I made some faces. Luckily, I was among very close friends. Unluckily, I still had to eat the flower. I couldn’t not eat the flower at that point, I was much too curious. So I did what any slightly unstable person would do when presented with a plant to eat. I ate it.

One of the many things going through my head immediately after biting into it was, Help! I’ve eaten a flower! Quickly followed by, I was definitely not supposed to eat that. I am most certainly getting my leg pulled. Flowers are not meant to be eaten! I’m still not entirely sure I was given what everyone else was. Most people seemed to like the flowers. I will probably always wonder, was I actually supposed to eat that?

  I have been informed, that I will not die, so that’s good news. In fact, they are actually good for you! Edible flowers, such as marigolds, nasturtiums, purslanes, and roses are high in vitamin C. And some flowers, like dandelions, are also high in vitamin A. Between forty and fifty percent of Americans are deficient in vitamin A. So be good, eat your flowers. Even though your brain is probably telling you, that you are not supposed to eat flowers. Rest serves most dishes with a beautiful, and nutritious flower, grown locally at the Urban Homestead. So go ahead, eat the flower!

Cheers,

Ana

(Ana Morson occasionally writes for Rest from her cozy home town of St. Hedwig, TX)