HONEYBEE Book Tour Begins

Oh my, it's already here! Time to leave for the west coast leg of my "HONEYBEE Lessons from an Accidental Beekeeper" tour. Tomorrow, Friday morning I will be up before the sun rises and flying off to San Francisco. Next Portland, Seattle then another engagement in SF then to Tuscon and finally Texas! These are all places I confess I have never been to. Well, I am lying-I did go to SF for a week with my parents. I don't remember a thing back then. Lucky for me, Facebook has helped me reach out to old friends I would never had been able to find otherwise and meet up in each one of these cities. This is truly a twenty first century luxury that will make my travels much more exciting and definitely memorable.


If you would like to follow my schedule visit the events page on my web site at www.redbee.com or friend me on Facebook at Red Bee Marina. There will be a few live radio interviews posted. This way we can keep in touch! Hope to see you there! Marina

HONEYBEE Book Tour Begins

Oh my, it's already here! Time to leave for the west coast leg of my "HONEYBEE Lessons from an Accidental Beekeeper" tour. Tomorrow, Friday morning I will be up before the sun rises and flying off to San Francisco. Next Portland, Seattle then another engagement in SF then to Tuscon and finally Texas! These are all places I confess I have never been to. Well, I am lying-I did go to SF for a week with my parents. I don't remember a thing back then. Lucky for me, Facebook has helped me reach out to old friends I would never had been able to find otherwise and meet up in each one of these cities. This is truly a twenty first century luxury that will make my travels much more exciting and definitely memorable.


If you would like to follow my schedule visit the events page on my web site at www.redbee.com or friend me on Facebook at Red Bee Marina. There will be a few live radio interviews posted. This way we can keep in touch! Hope to see you there! Marina

English Tea with English Honey by English Beekeepers

Last weekend our English beekeeping friends Lillian and John were visiting their family here in CT. When they visit we always get together and exchange information and updates on how our bee season is going. They reported to have harvested some 3,000 lbs of honey this year and are always thoughtful enough to bring us a jar of their special harvest. Their Oxfordshire honey is close to white in color with a hint of warm yellow. As you can see from the picture it is practically pure cream in texture yet with a gentle granular texture. I love how honey can have these two completely different qualities in the same mouthfull. Not only did we get to indulge in their honey, we were treated to a traditional English tea party! Below are a few photos of the offerings...


ABOVE: Lovely cucumber sandwiches, crustless in the traditional style, English Breakfast tea with bee designed napkins...a thoughtful touch. BELOW: Scones with strawberry jam and REAL clotted creme! It was all so heavenly and a chance to relax and while reflecting over the bees who bring us such lovely indulgences.


My Recipe for Traditional English Scones:

Yield: 1 dozen
Level: easy
Cook time: 20 minutes

Ingredients

• 3 cups all-purpose flour
• 1 tablespoon baking powder
• 1 cup (2 sticks) unsalted butter, at room temperature
• 1/4 cup, plus 2 tablespoons sugar
• 3 large eggs
• 1/3 cup buttermilk
• 1/2 cup raisins

Directions

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F.

Sift together the flour and baking powder. In a separate bowl, beat the butter until creamy. Add the 1/4 cup sugar, beating until pale and fluffy. Add the eggs, 1 at a time, then add the flour mixture and the buttermilk. Sprinkle the raisins over the dough and gently fold them in. Using an ice-cream scoop, place mounds of dough on a baking sheet and sprinkle with the remaining sugar. Bake for 20 minutes. Serve the scones warm, with strawberry jam and clotted cream.

English Tea with English Honey by English Beekeepers

Last weekend our English beekeeping friends Lillian and John were visiting their family here in CT. When they visit we always get together and exchange information and updates on how our bee season is going. They reported to have harvested some 3,000 lbs of honey this year and are always thoughtful enough to bring us a jar of their special harvest. Their Oxfordshire honey is close to white in color with a hint of warm yellow. As you can see from the picture it is practically pure cream in texture yet with a gentle granular texture. I love how honey can have these two completely different qualities in the same mouthfull. Not only did we get to indulge in their honey, we were treated to a traditional English tea party! Below are a few photos of the offerings...


ABOVE: Lovely cucumber sandwiches, crustless in the traditional style, English Breakfast tea with bee designed napkins...a thoughtful touch. BELOW: Scones with strawberry jam and REAL clotted creme! It was all so heavenly and a chance to relax and while reflecting over the bees who bring us such lovely indulgences.


My Recipe for Traditional English Scones:

Yield: 1 dozen
Level: easy
Cook time: 20 minutes

Ingredients

• 3 cups all-purpose flour
• 1 tablespoon baking powder
• 1 cup (2 sticks) unsalted butter, at room temperature
• 1/4 cup, plus 2 tablespoons sugar
• 3 large eggs
• 1/3 cup buttermilk
• 1/2 cup raisins

Directions

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F.

Sift together the flour and baking powder. In a separate bowl, beat the butter until creamy. Add the 1/4 cup sugar, beating until pale and fluffy. Add the eggs, 1 at a time, then add the flour mixture and the buttermilk. Sprinkle the raisins over the dough and gently fold them in. Using an ice-cream scoop, place mounds of dough on a baking sheet and sprinkle with the remaining sugar. Bake for 20 minutes. Serve the scones warm, with strawberry jam and clotted cream.

What's in my Garden this week?

Hello September, Summer is winding down yet this is the time of year when our gardens produce the best harvest. The early spring rain gave every living thing a very late start and these last few weeks of warmer temperatures and full sunshine my garden is looking...well quite nice! This year we had an amazing crop of garlic, eggplant, peppers, cucumbers, tomatoes, butternut squash, melons, basil, oregano, chamomile, catnip, fennel, mints and edible flowers! Our baby Americana chickies have grown up and begun laying brilliant blue eggs! We also harvested some fresh honey from our hives. No need to go shopping...I think I'll just shop in my own backyard! Now that is the definition of sustainable.

What's in my Garden this week?

Hello September, Summer is winding down yet this is the time of year when our gardens produce the best harvest. The early spring rain gave every living thing a very late start and these last few weeks of warmer temperatures and full sunshine my garden is looking...well quite nice! This year we had an amazing crop of garlic, eggplant, peppers, cucumbers, tomatoes, butternut squash, melons, basil, oregano, chamomile, catnip, fennel, mints and edible flowers! Our baby Americana chickies have grown up and begun laying brilliant blue eggs! We also harvested some fresh honey from our hives. No need to go shopping...I think I'll just shop in my own backyard! Now that is the definition of sustainable.

Hungry honeybees...

The other day I thought it would be a good idea to take some new photos of my honey jars outside. So I set up a few props on a wooden table in my yard and styled them for a bee-utiful shot. My phone rang while I was arranging things so I ran inside to pick it up. I have no idea how long the conversation went on but it must have been close to ten minutes. When I returned to begin shooting this is what I found. Hungry honeybees enjoying the box of honeycomb. Some how they managed to open the plastic case and were happily dining on their own good stuff. After about an hour or so the plastic lid was moved a few inches as they polished off the last few nibbles bees wax and all. So I left them to enjoy their last bit of honey goodness and decided to shoot these photos anyway.


Accidental Beekeeper Lesson: Never leave your honey unattended even to answer the phone!