what to do with basil flowers

One of the benefits of neglecting the garden all July is that I have 6 more basil plants than I planted. They were seeded from the year before with no effort on my part.  [I have self seeded aster plants all over the garden and I am delighted about this as well]

Most years I have basil in my garden and most years I can't 'keep up' with it. I eat huge amounts of caprese salad and so does my wife but still the basil starts to flower and I snip the flowers off [and off and off] so that it keeps producing until I either make pesto or we have a hard freeze.

I end up with tons of basil flowers snips. I tried them in salads and did not enjoy them. So they kept getting tossed into the compost with some regret. Until I had a brain flash thanks to one of the vendors [Gai Gai Thai] at the Kingfield Farmers Market. Lemon Basil Water!

I take my handful of basil tops/flowers put them into a pitcher with water and let them steep in the sun all day or overnight on my counter. Then I remove the plant matter, pour the water over a glass of ice, add a small spoonful of lemon juice and a few drops of stevia and stir. 

If you are me you drink this while sitting by the waterfall trying to decide what of a million possible things you could do next and it makes the decision making a tiny bit easier.