For the Love of Honey
My love of honey started as a child with Winnie the Pooh... what else?! The only thing I remember using honey for as a kid was to sweeten hot, herbal tea. My favorite was red zinger, which is absolutely no surprise to anyone that has known me for any time at all. As I've been contemplating what my focus will be on for 2022, I was spinning out with so many ideas & struggling to land on one that I'd want to stick with for the whole year. Part of the dilemma is trying to not over stretch myself so that I will enjoy it & it not feel like a chore after awhile.
The last 2 years have been challenging in many ways as my health needs & my family's needs have been shifting. The constant feedback I get from how circumstances unfold is that I need to simplify. Keeping it simple isn't something that comes naturally to me. I usually dive in & don't look back, determined that I'll overcome obstacles as they come up. All that ends up doing is stressing me out & flaring up my health causing me not to be able to follow through. So, this year I'm trying a different approach... respecting my body on every front. I can't just stop doing what I love. It's a kind of nourishment that if let go would cause me distress. So, with any luck I've hit the right balance and will be stamping KISS (Keep It Simple Sweetie) on my brain every day!
My focus for 2022 gives me a creative outlet that I crave working with & learning about plants... on a deeper level. It gives me space to deepen my appreciation of pollinators & the importance of them. It gives me a way to share with others, which I also love and provides treats & remedies for my family that will be tasty! My focus is on all things HONEY - infused honey, electuaries, medicinal herbal balls (pills), oxymels & elixirs.
My goal is to post a new recipe once a week with suggestions for culinary &/or medicinal uses. Embracing my inner Pooh bear to thoroughly enjoy this journey into uses for honey in sustainably respectful ways. My first & biggest consideration is sourcing local raw honey and I've already got that covered. My honey guy's the best & we've been "together" for about a decade(ish).