Tag: <span>honey</span>

Types of honey from L to R: Gem Apiaries (Lutz, FL)-wildflower; Yankee Joe’s (Warner Robbins, GA)-wildflower; Winterthur (Winterthur, DE)-golden; Italian-cherry; Home Grown in the City (San Diego, CA)-citrus

Honey, we have a problem. Some—and when I say some, I mean my husband—might say I have issues. My real issue is that I don’t have enough pantry space to house my ‘collection’. What’s really wrong with having 24+ bottles and jars of honey, anyway? Each is unique in color and in flavor; would he be as critical if he amassed 24+ bottles of fine bourbon? I should think not… 

I wasn’t always such as avid collector. In fact, this sugar girl was never a big fan of honey; it had an odd taste I couldn’t get past. A decade ago, a free sample of local nectar from a farmer’s market changed my opinion of this alternative sweetener—forever. Not only did I taste one sample, but I tasted four: one for each season here in Florida. Amazingly, they each looked and tasted shockingly different; I was dumbfounded. The variations resulted from what was pollinated during each season: Fall and Winter were dark amber to brown with a more complex flavor; Spring, practically clear yellow and mild tasting; and summer, still light in color, but cloudier and a bit more flavorful than spring. If this is what a year in Florida tastes like through the ‘eyes’ of local bees, my curiosity was piqued about the varietals of honey around the country, let alone the world. What might those taste like?

Inspiration Travel

Three simple ingredients make for a powerful concoction that can take on cold and flu symptoms.

There is something about the power of three. Many cultures have their own trinity: a combination of three ingredients that serve as the backbone for building flavor in their dishes.  In Creole/Cajun cooking, the Holy Trinity is a combination of onion, celery and bell peppers. The version in French cooking is called mirepoix and is made up of onion, carrot and celery. In Spain, their sofrito is typically comprised of garlic, onions and tomato.

I have discovered my own trinity of sorts which blends my cooking world and my medical world: ginger, lemon and honey. Instead of building flavors for a dish, I’m using them to build my immune system. As we are in the throes of cold and flu season, these three ingredients are the basis for a more natural way of managing the miserable-feeling symptoms that a virus can cause.

Inspiration