Dessert one member brought to the meeting. How cute is that?
I just wanted to give a shout-out to the Lady Beekeepers of Arkansas, who had me over tonight for my first-ever speaking engagement as Fancy Pants Foodie. (I can use that like a name, right?)
My talk, other than a bit of shameless self-promotion and plugs for Pulaski Technical College Arkansas Culinary School, focused on food trends, especially locally-grown, sustainable goods. They’re white-hot. And what is more local, more sustainable, more straight-from-the-backyard-to-your-mouth than honey?
I also gave a quick comparison of honey to wine, the latter of which gets all the glory for its depth and range based on growing conditions. Honey has a wondrous range that most bear-bottle consumers have never experienced, based on the type of plant from which the bees were collecting pollen. One attendee described her watermelon honey, and I absolutely must try it. (If you’re reading, please please save me some!) In Arkansas, the most common types include clover (although more complex than the blended stuff you get at Kroger), soybean and cotton.
As promised, I am listing links to the articles and recipes I mentioned in my talk. If you weren’t there, I’m sure you’ll get just as much out of it.
And if you have any interest in maybe, possibly keeping bees, these are a great group of ladies to get you started. (And if you’re a guy, they can direct you to the “other” meeting.) They’re a hoot. Tell ’em Fancy Pants sent you.
National Honey Board Culinary Education Materials (For foodservice professionals and culinary students/instructors only): Honey Culinary Instruction Kit and The Honey Culinary Library. I ordered mine, which I got free for being a foodie student! I forgot to mention these in the meeting, but if you qualify, here you go.
My favorite Honey Wheat Sandwich Rolls (used in the Flank Steak Sandwich post). They can also be made into a loaf or smaller rolls. Honey feeds the yeast and gives a perfect foil to the rich whole wheat flour.
Smoking Chipotle Honey Sauce. Heat and honey; two great tastes that go great together. Also a nice burger recipe on this page, as well as some tips on storing and cooking with honey.
Honey Wheat Ice Cream. Another example of how honey’s delicate sweetness can stand up to and compliment the flavors of vanilla and, yes, wheat germ. I think this would be great with the watermelon honey. This is actually a great article on “shopping local,” with one person’s story of cooking from what she finds in the mercantile of products from no more than 100 miles away.
Good Eats, Pantry Raid IV: Comb Alone. This episode of (yes, again) my favorite show highlights the various incarnations of honey, historical and biological facts, and some fabulous recipes.
Fancy Pants Foodie 
You are right about the store bought “bear honey”. Their is so much more and better honey out there that most people will never get to experience. I started beekeeping myself about a year ago because a friend gave me some real honey, every since then I could never use the “bear honey”.
Those cupcakes look very good, by the way.
Brian, thanks for stopping by! I discovered real, local honey while I was at college (the first time) in Jonesboro. I can’t imagine what enticed a 19-year-old to pull over and buy honey, but I did.
I didn’t make the cupcakes, but they were delish, and super cute to boot.