I have a great recipe for bran muffins, but to be honest I hardly ever make them for the actual muffins. I make them for what I put on top of the muffins when I eat them, honey. The combination of a warm muffin, butter and honey is like heaven to me. Winnie the Pooh, in the book House at Pooh Corner by A.A. Milne, once said, “The only reason for being a bee that I know of is making honey … and the only reason for making honey is so I can eat it.” I couldn’t agree more.
Wildflower (mixed)Honey is the only human food produced by insects. It is pure and unprocessed and it is the only food that will never spoil. Honey also has a very long history. In ancient Egypt honey was so valued it was used as a form of currency, tribute and offering as well as to feed sacred animals. It has been written about since the 21st century B.C. in Babylonian and Sumerian cuneiform writings. Beekeeping was depicted in wall paintings found in Spanish caves, dating back to 7,000 B.C. In Greece an alcohol drink made with honey called Mead, was considered the drink of Gods. German beer was sweetened with honey in the 11th century A.D. and peasants were required to give their feudal lords a payment of honey and beeswax. By 1600 A.D. native Mexicans and Central Americans had already developed beekeeping methods to produce honey. In the American colonies honey was used to prepare foods and beverages, to make cement, to preserve fruits, to make furniture polish and varnish and for medicinal properties.
Bees have been producing honey for at least 150 million years, but why? Bees produce honey as food stores for the hive during the long winter months when flowers are not blooming and no nectar is available to them. Honeybees are also called worker bees and they fly from flower to flower gathering nectar and also performing a vital function called pollination. Pollination is the fertilization of a flowering plant, which occurs when pollen is transferred from one plant to another. About one-third of the human diet is derived from insect-pollinated plants and the honeybee is responsible for 80 percent of this pollination. The honeybee must tap over two million flowers to make one pound of honey. A bee will visit between 50 and 100 flowers in one trip alone. In order to get from flower to flower, the bee flies roughly 15 miles per hour. Here’s the kicker; the average bee only produces one-twelfth of a teaspoon of honey in its entire lifetime. Seems like a lot of hard work for such a little amount of honey, but it isn’t all work and no play. The bees get to dance too. When the bees get back to their wax honeycomb, they communicate to their fellow worker bees, through dance moves. Each dance move communicates a different signal such as when the nectar is out, how far it is to the nectar, and where the pollen is located.
Every bee colony also has a social order and division of labor between bees. Each colony has one queen bee, 500 to 1,000 drone bees, and 30,000 to 60,000 worker bees. The queen bee is the only sexually active female in the hive, and lives for about two years. Her job is to have babies and eat royal jelly. The drone bees are male bees without stingers. Their job is to mate with the queen bee. The queen mates once receiving millions of sperm cells from the drones. The queen can lay 3,000 eggs in one day, enough to last throughout her lifetime. The worker bees are sexually underdeveloped female bees. Their job is to collect nectar, pollinate flowers, cool the hive by fanning their wings, make the wax comb, clean the hive, feed the larvae and guard the hive. So, have you ever heard anyone described as being a “Queen Bee”? I think the origin of this expression is clear.
Beekeepers are another source of honey through the actual bees. Beekeepers control the bees honey production and gather honey by managing bee colonies as opposed to foraging for honey from wild bee colonies. The United States Department of Agriculture estimates that there are 130,000 to 220,000 beekeepers in the United States. These beekeepers monitor the hives to ensure a healthy queen and to keep the colony clean and free from disease. Beekeepers harvest their honey in late spring to early fall. On the average, a colony will produce about 80 pounds of surplus honey each year. To harvest the honey, the beekeepers remove the honeycomb frames from each hive and scrape off the wax to expose the honey. A centrifuge-like extractor is used to spin the honey out of the comb and the honey is passed through a filter and drains into a storage tank. The honey is then placed into a 55-gallon drum and sent to a honey packer or the beekeeper may bottle the honey for local sale.
The color and flavor of honey depend on the bees’ nectar source. There are more than 300 unique kinds of honey in the United States. Flavors can range from mild to aromatic, spicy, fragrant or medicinal. Colors can range from near-white through yellow, yellow-green, gold, amber, dark brown or red, to nearly black. Texture can be from thin to heavy. Lighter honey is usually milder in flavor than darker honey. Honey also comes in a variety of forms. Liquid honey is free from any crystals or wax and is extracted from the comb using a centrifugal force. Whipped honey, or creamed honey, is finely crystallized so it remains creamy and spreadable. Comb honey is honey that comes as it was produced-in the honeybees’ wax comb. Sometimes part of the comb is sold with the honey.
Honey can be a great source of vitamins and minerals. It is mainly fructose and glucose and other carbohydrates, and contains several compounds that function as antioxidants. It has been known as a dressing for wounds and burns because it inhibits the growth of certain bacteria, yeast and molds. Its high sugar content limits the amount of water available for microorganisms to grow. Therefore, honey may promote healing and prevent scarring in minor skin abrasions. Honey is also used for energy. It aids in an athlete’s endurance and helps athlete’s muscles recuperate following a workout. Honey can also sooth a cough or sore throat. However, it must be noted that infants up to one year old should not be fed raw honey, as their immune system may not be able to fight off a harmful strain of bacteria known as C botulinum.
Because honey tastes so good, it can be used as a sweetener, as a substitute for sugar. When substituting honey for sugar in recipes, substitute honey for up to one-half of the sugar called for in the recipe. When baking with honey, reduce any liquid called for by one-fourth cup for each cup of honey used. Add one-half teaspoon baking soda for each cup of honey used and reduce the oven temperature by 25 degrees F. to prevent over-browning. A good rule to remember is that one 12-ounce jar of honey equals one standard measuring cup. When measuring honey, coat the measuring cup and utensils with non-stick cooking spray or vegetable oil before adding honey. This will allow the honey to slide out of the cup and off of the utensils easily. Honey should be stored in a cool dark place. If crystallization occurs, gently warm the honey in warm water or the microwave to melt the crystals. Honey has an indefinite shelf life.
There are so many culinary uses for honey. It is a great spread for biscuits or bread. It can be added to beverages, barbecue sauces or meat glazes. There is honey mustard salad dressing and honey butter. Honey is also commonly used in making beer and ice cream. In fact, I once had some Wildflower Honey Ice Cream and it was incredible. So, break out the honey and make something wonderful. I plan to make a recipe, with my daughter, including honey all the while explaining exactly who is the real “Queen Bee” of this household-me!
Varietals Found Throughout The United States:
Acacia
Alfalfa
Avocado
Basswood
Blueberry
Buckwheat
Clover
Eucalyptus
Fireweed
Heather
Lehua
Orange Blossom
Safflower
Sage
Sourwood
Tulip Poplar
Tupelo
Grilled Vegetable Flatbread with Honey
Ingredients:
Grilled Vegetables:
One-fourth cup honey
3 tablespoons white wine vinegar
1 tablespoon finely chopped fresh thyme or basil
Three-fourths pound small zucchini or yellow summer squash, cut lengthwise in half
2 large red, yellow, orange or green bell peppers, halved, seeded
Crust:
No-stick cooking spray
2 tablespoons plus one-half cup toasted wheat germ
One and one-half cups reduced-fat baking mix
Two-thirds cup fat-free or low-fat milk
1 cup seeded chopped tomatoes
One 4-ounce package crumbled feta cheese
Method:
1. In a small bowl, combine honey, vinegar and thyme; mix well. Place zucchini slices and bell peppers on oiled grid. Grill over medium-hot coals 20-25 minutes, turning and brushing with honey mixture every 7 to 8 minutes. Remove from grill’ cool to room temperature. Coarsely chop.
2. Heat oven to 425 degrees F. Lightly spray a cookie sheet or jelly-roll pan with cooking spray; sprinkle with 2 tablespoons wheat germ.
3. In a large bowl, combine baking mix, one-half cup wheat germ and milk; stir with fork until thoroughly combined (mixture will be moist). Turn dough out onto a floured surface. Knead, adding additional flour as needed, until dough is no longer sticky. Pat into a 12x8-inch rectangle on a cookie sheet. Top with chopped grilled vegetables, tomatoes and cheese. Bake 18 to 20 minutes or until crust is golden brown. Cut into squares. Serve immediately.
Recipe from www.honey.com
Peanut Butter ‘n Honey Cookies
Ingredients:
Three-fourths cup honey
One-fourth cup butter or margarine, softened
1 egg
Three-fourths cup peanut butter
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
One and one-half cups all-purpose flour
One-half teaspoon salt
One-half teaspoon baking soda
Method:
In a medium bowl, cream honey and butter until light and fluffy. Beat in egg, peanut butter and vanilla. Add flour, salt and baking soda; mix until combined. Drop dough, one tablespoon at a time, onto well-greased baking sheet. Dip fork into flour and press flat on each cookie to form and “x”. Bake at 350 degrees F. for 10 to 12 minutes. Remove cookies from sheet and cool on wire rack.
Recipe from www.honey.com
Lavender Honey Ice Cream
Ingredients:
2 cups half-and-half
One-half cup lavender or other wildflower honey
2 tablespoons untreated fresh or dried lavender blossoms
6 large egg yolks
One-half cup sugar
One and one-half cups heavy (or whipping) cream
Method:
1. Combine the half-and-half and honey in a medium size saucepan and bring to a boil over medium heat, stirring to incorporate the honey. Add the lavender blossoms and cook 1-minute more. Remove from the heat and let the blossoms steep in the mixture for 1 hour.
2. Strain the blossoms from the mixture and discard. Return the strained mixture to the stove and heat until hot to the touch, but not boiling. Using an electric mixer, beat the egg yolks and sugar together in a medium size bowl until thick and pale. With the mixer on low, slowly add 1 cup of the hot mixture to the yolks to temper them.
3. Combine the yolk mixture with the rest of the hot cream in the saucepan. Stir this mixture gently and constantly over medium heat until it forms a custard thick enough to coat the back of a spoon, 7 to 10 minutes. Take care not to let the mixture boil.
4. Stir the heavy cream into the custard and then refrigerate until cold. Transfer the chilled custard to an ice cream maker and process according to the manufacturer's instructions. The honey in the ice cream may cause the mixture to take a little longer than normal to freeze and will make the ice cream slightly softer. Store the ice cream in the freezer and scoop whenever the craving strikes. Makes about 1 quart.
Recipe from “Pedaling through Provence”