Me? The Red Queen.......

Last summer I had the great pleasure to sit down with James Beard Award–winning food writer Rowan Jacobsen here at Red Bee Apiary for a tasting flight of more than 25 honeys. For those of you who are not familiar with Rowan, he is a food writer and author of five books including Fruitless Fall: The Collapse of the Honey Bee and the Coming Agricultural Crisis which addresses the disappearing honeybee syndrome. In his new book American Terroir: Savoring the Flavors of our Woods, Waters, and Fields, Rowan explains the French concept of Terroir or "Taste of Place" for the best of local foods found here in America.



Fresh off the plane from my recent trip to the Honey Festival in Montalcino, I found the advanced reading copy in my heaping pile of mail. With memories of Tuscan honey still fresh on my tongue, I dived into Rowan's new book to find a hilarious recount of his visit with me and our honey tasting experience together which begins on page 90. Rowan refers to me as "The Red Queen" and takes the reader along the ride for an intimate look into my private vault of honeys, nectar source by nectar source. In detail we discuss each of the honeys by their aromas, colors and flavor profiles, just as it was fine wine. Our two day honey binge practically left him in a honey-induced coma. It is a rare event for me to stumble upon someone who will actually entertain my passion for single-origin honeys and Rowan lived to tell the story. If you are a locavore and foodie, American Terroir will satisfy your hunger!

Red Bee Honey Tasting Events



SEPTEMBER 28, 2010

Le Pain Quotidien Speaker Series

Mineral Springs location, Central Park, NYC at 6:30 pm

OCTOBER 16, 2010

First Annual Connecticut Cheese & Wine Festival

Hopkins Vineyard

25 Hopkins Rd in New Preston, CT

Red Bee Honey signature Tasting Table

Saturday October 16, 2010 from 11 am to 5 pm

NOVEMBER 9

Honey and Cheese school

+ Tuesday, November 9, 2010 at 7-9 pm

Fairfield Cheese Shop

2090 Post Road Fairfield, CT 203.292.8194

info@fairfieldcheese.com

Honeys and artisanal cheeses with complementary wines from Harry's Wine and Liquor.

NOVEMBER 10

Heavenly Honey and Artisanal Cheeses

+ Wednesday, November 10, 2010 at 6:30 pm - 8:00 pm

Artisanal Premium Cheese Center, Manhattan, NY

483 Tenth Avenue, New York, NY 10018

Join beekeeper and author of Honeybee: Lessons from an

Accidental Beekeeper, Marina Marchese, owner of Red Bee

Honey and Fromagere Erin Hedley for an enlightening

evening of discovery with delectable pairings of

artisanal honeys and artisanal cheeses with complementary wines.

NOVEMBER 15

How Sweet it is: Honey & Cheese

+ Monday, November 15, 2010 at 6:30 am - 8:00 pm

Murray's Cheese

254 Bleecker St.(between 6th & 7th Ave.)

New York, NY 10014 RSVP:212.243.3289

We'll be pairing Red Bee single varietal American

honeys with the finest farmhouse cheeses.

HONEYBEE book signing to follow

Blooming and Buzzing!

Our gardens are blooming and the bees are buzzing! It's finally June at Red Bee® and is it just me, or is everyone crazy for honey? Now more than ever, people are paying attention to where their food comes from and now...even their honey. Did you know that honeybees are responsible for pollinating 100 different fruits, vegetables, nuts, seeds, spices? My personal favorites that I could not live without are coffee, chocolate and the cotton for my blue jeans. Beekeepers nurture natures greatest pollinators while providing local honey at their source. They are the rising rock stars of today's green movement. We find ourselves here at Red Bee Apiary are busier than ever, educating the public on honey and beekeeping. People are reading labels too! They understand that what you put on your body is as important as what you put in it. With that said, our Rossape sustainable skin care products are getting attention too. Could bees and honey possibly be getting a little bit of respect?



So if your interested in learning more about the health benefits and the culinary delights of honey, join us at one of our workshops here at Red Bee Apiary. There are a few coveted seats left for our next Seven Flight Honey Tasting Workshop on Sunday, June 20th at 1:00 pm till 3:00 pm. Reserve your seat on our web site.


Learn how honeybees make this liquid gold we call honey, how location and nectar source determines a honeys color and flavor and how is harvested and extracted from the comb. Beekeeper and Honey Sommelier, Marina Marchese will show us how to taste and evaluate honey using the Honey Sommelier tasting guide in her new book HONEYBEE Lessons from an Accidental Beekeeper.

Read: What Fairfield Green Food Guide says about our Honey Tasting Events!


If you can't make our formal events, our Honey Tasting and Bottling Kitchen is opened 12:00 noon till 4:00 pm seven days a week by appointment only. Honey lovers are invited to join us for a Tasting Flight of any seven honeys of your choice with accompaniments locally produced bread and goat or brie cheeses for $5.00 per person. Groups of six or more could reserve our veranda overlooking the apiary and gardens.

Red Bee® JUNE EVENTS

SATURDAYS •••••••
Farmers Markets have officially begun and Red Bee Honey can be found at the New Canaan and Fairfield Brick Walk markets.

JUNE 3
Ocean County Library Stafford Branch • 129 N. Main Street, Manahawkin, NJ 08050
Honeybee Lessons from an Accidental Beekeeper Book Talk

JUNE 5
Sculpture Barn Art Center • Preservation Celebration • 3 Millltown Road RT39, New Fairfield, CT
Honey, Cheese and Wine Tasting

June 12
Centennial Bee Day Party • Brooklyn Botanical Gardens
Honey Tasting and Honeybee book signing

JUNE 20
Seven Flight Honey Tasting
at Red Bee Apiary

JUNE 25
Artisanal Cheese Center • Honey, Cheese and Wine
Beekeeper and Honey Sommelier Marina Marchese and Affineur Erin Hedley

Here is one of our favorite recipes It is so easy and elegant...
Honey Figs with Goat Cheese and Pecans Recipe

Goat cheese or Chèvre cheese is cheese made from goat's milk (chèvre is French for goat). In regions where domesticated goats are kept, many kinds of goat's milk cheeses are produced.
Caprino is a Italian goat's milk cheese and Castelo Branco is a Portuguese goat's milk cheese. So don’t be afraid to experiment.

Servings: 6
Prep Time: 25 minutes

Ingredients:
1cup pecans, finely chopped
3/4 cup of wildflower honey
6 oz log of goat cheese
12 fresh figs Calimyrna or black missions, halved
Coarse salt and freshly ground pepper


Methods:
Place the finely chopped pecans in a shallow dish. Season with salt and pepper. Roll the goat cheese log in the pecans to evenly coat. Refrigerate log until firm. To serve, cut evenly into rounds. Divide figs evenly between 6 dessert plates. Top figs with a round of pecan crusted goat cheese. Drizzle 2 tablespoons of honey over each serving. Serve immediately.

Blooming and Buzzing!

Our gardens are blooming and the bees are buzzing! It's finally June at Red Bee® and is it just me, or is everyone crazy for honey? Now more than ever, people are paying attention to where their food comes from and now...even their honey. Did you know that honeybees are responsible for pollinating 100 different fruits, vegetables, nuts, seeds, spices? My personal favorites that I could not live without are coffee, chocolate and the cotton for my blue jeans. Beekeepers nurture natures greatest pollinators while providing local honey at their source. They are the rising rock stars of today's green movement. We find ourselves here at Red Bee Apiary are busier than ever, educating the public on honey and beekeeping. People are reading labels too! They understand that what you put on your body is as important as what you put in it. With that said, our Rossape sustainable skin care products are getting attention too. Could bees and honey possibly be getting a little bit of respect?



So if your interested in learning more about the health benefits and the culinary delights of honey, join us at one of our workshops here at Red Bee Apiary. There are a few coveted seats left for our next Seven Flight Honey Tasting Workshop on Sunday, June 20th at 1:00 pm till 3:00 pm. Reserve your seat on our web site.


Learn how honeybees make this liquid gold we call honey, how location and nectar source determines a honeys color and flavor and how is harvested and extracted from the comb. Beekeeper and Honey Sommelier, Marina Marchese will show us how to taste and evaluate honey using the Honey Sommelier tasting guide in her new book HONEYBEE Lessons from an Accidental Beekeeper.

Read: What Fairfield Green Food Guide says about our Honey Tasting Events!


If you can't make our formal events, our Honey Tasting and Bottling Kitchen is opened 12:00 noon till 4:00 pm seven days a week by appointment only. Honey lovers are invited to join us for a Tasting Flight of any seven honeys of your choice with accompaniments locally produced bread and goat or brie cheeses for $5.00 per person. Groups of six or more could reserve our veranda overlooking the apiary and gardens.

Red Bee® JUNE EVENTS

SATURDAYS •••••••
Farmers Markets have officially begun and Red Bee Honey can be found at the New Canaan and Fairfield Brick Walk markets.

JUNE 3
Ocean County Library Stafford Branch • 129 N. Main Street, Manahawkin, NJ 08050
Honeybee Lessons from an Accidental Beekeeper Book Talk

JUNE 5
Sculpture Barn Art Center • Preservation Celebration • 3 Millltown Road RT39, New Fairfield, CT
Honey, Cheese and Wine Tasting

June 12
Centennial Bee Day Party • Brooklyn Botanical Gardens
Honey Tasting and Honeybee book signing

JUNE 20
Seven Flight Honey Tasting
at Red Bee Apiary

JUNE 25
Artisanal Cheese Center • Honey, Cheese and Wine
Beekeeper and Honey Sommelier Marina Marchese and Affineur Erin Hedley

Here is one of our favorite recipes It is so easy and elegant...
Honey Figs with Goat Cheese and Pecans Recipe

Goat cheese or Chèvre cheese is cheese made from goat's milk (chèvre is French for goat). In regions where domesticated goats are kept, many kinds of goat's milk cheeses are produced.
Caprino is a Italian goat's milk cheese and Castelo Branco is a Portuguese goat's milk cheese. So don’t be afraid to experiment.

Servings: 6
Prep Time: 25 minutes

Ingredients:
1cup pecans, finely chopped
3/4 cup of wildflower honey
6 oz log of goat cheese
12 fresh figs Calimyrna or black missions, halved
Coarse salt and freshly ground pepper


Methods:
Place the finely chopped pecans in a shallow dish. Season with salt and pepper. Roll the goat cheese log in the pecans to evenly coat. Refrigerate log until firm. To serve, cut evenly into rounds. Divide figs evenly between 6 dessert plates. Top figs with a round of pecan crusted goat cheese. Drizzle 2 tablespoons of honey over each serving. Serve immediately.

Honey, not just for your Tea

Honey and tea has been a staple for as long as we could remember. Grandmother's swore that it would ease symptoms related to colds and flues. The latest buzz is that local honey helps seasonal allergies and our customer swear by this. They stop by daily, specifically to purchase our local honey.

Here at Red Bee Apiary, we use honey on just about everything and there is no food that has escaped the drizzle of our liquid gold, from home baked breads to a sweetener for our morning coffee. YES, I said coffee. Who ever thought honey could be the perfect "green" sweetener for your morning Joe? It's full of minerals and vitamins that you won't find in processed sweeteners.

To help you explore the possibilities of coffee and honey, we are hosting a Coffee Roasting Workshop here in our gardens at Red Bee Apiary and posting three of our favorite honey recipes below. Coffee and Honey are the perfect accompaniments for home baked breads. We will be serving up all three of these tasty honey spreads with locally made Wave Hill breads and the freshly roasted coffee at the workshop.

Please join us for a Coffee Roasting Workshop with Peter and Junalyn Duveen of the Siberian Pipeline Coffee Company in NY. Learn how to roast your own coffee beans for a much fresher, robust flavor. Find out about pan-roasted coffee, and automatic roasting machines, and taste the result--freshly brewed coffee with delicious locally made Wave Hill Bread and Red Bee Honeys! Each guest will receive one sample sized bag of coffee beans.

Sign Up for our Coffee Roasting Workshop

Here's a sneak preview of what's on the menu at
Red Bee's Coffee Roasting Workshop
RECIPES:

Coffee Creamed Honey

Makes 1 cup

• 9 oz. creamed honey
• 1 Tablespoon instant coffee
• 1 teaspoon hot water

In small bowl, bring creamed honey to room temperature. Combine instant coffee and hot water. Add to creamed honey. Stir in quickly but do not blend completely, leaving some swirls of coffee. Chill until ready to serve. Makes 8 2-Tablespoon servings.

Chocolate Honey Hazelnut Spread (Nutella)

Makes 1-1/4 cups

• 1/2 cup honey
• 1/2 cup butter, softened
• 1/2 cup ground skinned roasted hazelnuts
• 1 teaspoon raw cocoa powder
  

Cream honey and butter; add hazelnuts and stir until smooth. Serve spread at room temperature; store in refrigerator, tightly covered. Cream honey and butter; add hazelnuts and stir until smooth. Serve spread at room temperature; store in refrigerator, tightly covered. * Roast hazelnuts on flat pan at 325°F for 15 minutes or until skins blister and nuts are lightly browned. Cool slightly; rub between palms of hands or with clean towel to remove skins. Grind in blender or food processor until fine but not pasty.

Whipped Honey Cinnamon Butter

Makes 1 cup

• 1/2 cup (6 oz.) whipped or creamed honey
  
• 1/4 lb. (1 stick) butter, softened
• 1 teaspoons ground cinnamon
  

In a medium bowl, mix together honey and butter. Spoon into jars with tight-fitting lids. Store in refrigerator.

Honey, not just for your Tea

Honey and tea has been a staple for as long as we could remember. Grandmother's swore that it would ease symptoms related to colds and flues. The latest buzz is that local honey helps seasonal allergies and our customer swear by this. They stop by daily, specifically to purchase our local honey.

Here at Red Bee Apiary, we use honey on just about everything and there is no food that has escaped the drizzle of our liquid gold, from home baked breads to a sweetener for our morning coffee. YES, I said coffee. Who ever thought honey could be the perfect "green" sweetener for your morning Joe? It's full of minerals and vitamins that you won't find in processed sweeteners.

To help you explore the possibilities of coffee and honey, we are hosting a Coffee Roasting Workshop here in our gardens at Red Bee Apiary and posting three of our favorite honey recipes below. Coffee and Honey are the perfect accompaniments for home baked breads. We will be serving up all three of these tasty honey spreads with locally made Wave Hill breads and the freshly roasted coffee at the workshop.

Please join us for a Coffee Roasting Workshop with Peter and Junalyn Duveen of the Siberian Pipeline Coffee Company in NY. Learn how to roast your own coffee beans for a much fresher, robust flavor. Find out about pan-roasted coffee, and automatic roasting machines, and taste the result--freshly brewed coffee with delicious locally made Wave Hill Bread and Red Bee Honeys! Each guest will receive one sample sized bag of coffee beans.

Sign Up for our Coffee Roasting Workshop

Here's a sneak preview of what's on the menu at
Red Bee's Coffee Roasting Workshop
RECIPES:

Coffee Creamed Honey

Makes 1 cup

• 9 oz. creamed honey
• 1 Tablespoon instant coffee
• 1 teaspoon hot water

In small bowl, bring creamed honey to room temperature. Combine instant coffee and hot water. Add to creamed honey. Stir in quickly but do not blend completely, leaving some swirls of coffee. Chill until ready to serve. Makes 8 2-Tablespoon servings.

Chocolate Honey Hazelnut Spread (Nutella)

Makes 1-1/4 cups

• 1/2 cup honey
• 1/2 cup butter, softened
• 1/2 cup ground skinned roasted hazelnuts
• 1 teaspoon raw cocoa powder
  

Cream honey and butter; add hazelnuts and stir until smooth. Serve spread at room temperature; store in refrigerator, tightly covered. Cream honey and butter; add hazelnuts and stir until smooth. Serve spread at room temperature; store in refrigerator, tightly covered. * Roast hazelnuts on flat pan at 325°F for 15 minutes or until skins blister and nuts are lightly browned. Cool slightly; rub between palms of hands or with clean towel to remove skins. Grind in blender or food processor until fine but not pasty.

Whipped Honey Cinnamon Butter

Makes 1 cup

• 1/2 cup (6 oz.) whipped or creamed honey
  
• 1/4 lb. (1 stick) butter, softened
• 1 teaspoons ground cinnamon
  

In a medium bowl, mix together honey and butter. Spoon into jars with tight-fitting lids. Store in refrigerator.

Honey Bee Open House

What’s Buzzing at the New Canaan Nature Center?
Honey Bee Open House
144 Oenoke Ridge
New Canaan, CT 06840
Phone: (203) 966-9577
Saturday, July 25, 2009
10:00 AM – 2:00 PM

Did you know that one third of our food is pollinated by honeybees? Did you know that we have lost 50% of our honeybees in the United States due to environmental stresses and a little known condition called Colony Collapse Disorder (CCD)?

Everyone is invited to our Honey Bee Open House to learn more about honey bees and honey, pollination, the amazing health benefits and the importance to our environment and ecosystem.

• 10:00AM Unveiling of the new honeybee observation hive in the Discovery Room
• 11:00AM – Noon Marina Marchese, owner of Red Bee Honey will share her experiences as a beekeeper and conduct a honey tasting to highlight different nectar sources that create each unique flavor profile
• Noon – 1:00PM Encaustics (beeswax) art demonstration with Silvermine Guild artist Elizabeth Back, Nash Hyon, Kari Englehart, Leslie Guiliani and Maria Marchese
• 1:00PM Wildflower walk & talk
• 1:30PM Honeybee costume parade - prizes will be awarded!

Honey Bee Open House

What’s Buzzing at the New Canaan Nature Center?
Honey Bee Open House
144 Oenoke Ridge
New Canaan, CT 06840
Phone: (203) 966-9577
Saturday, July 25, 2009
10:00 AM – 2:00 PM

Did you know that one third of our food is pollinated by honeybees? Did you know that we have lost 50% of our honeybees in the United States due to environmental stresses and a little known condition called Colony Collapse Disorder (CCD)?

Everyone is invited to our Honey Bee Open House to learn more about honey bees and honey, pollination, the amazing health benefits and the importance to our environment and ecosystem.

• 10:00AM Unveiling of the new honeybee observation hive in the Discovery Room
• 11:00AM – Noon Marina Marchese, owner of Red Bee Honey will share her experiences as a beekeeper and conduct a honey tasting to highlight different nectar sources that create each unique flavor profile
• Noon – 1:00PM Encaustics (beeswax) art demonstration with Silvermine Guild artist Elizabeth Back, Nash Hyon, Kari Englehart, Leslie Guiliani and Maria Marchese
• 1:00PM Wildflower walk & talk
• 1:30PM Honeybee costume parade - prizes will be awarded!