Winter Fun and Food

Before I start with the fun and food, we're very excited about a new series of workshops that my honey man will be offering this year.  The idea is to build your own beehive, get the bees to go in it and then learn how to work with the bees and hopefully extract some honey.  The cost of equipment and bees is high but we hope to find some people to help us in our efforts to keep honey bees naturally.  The more people involved in keeping bees the more likely we are to navigate through all of the many problems that arise.

Alright, lets talk food.  I made baklava with almonds and honey.  Usually the recipe says to pour sugar syrup over the whole thing after you bake it but I just warmed some honey a bit to make it liquid and added lemon zest and poured  that over top.  It seemed like the best way to go.

 We've been having such mild weather we've only skated on the pond once this year.  It was early January and we were lucky enough to have a visit from Uncle Seth and Auntie Tera who were lots of fun on the ice.  Other times we've walked down to the pond only to find it wet and dangerous.

We went to Ottawa for a wedding show and a visit with more family.  We figure since we can't go somewhere warm we might as well enjoy the cold.  On the way to Ottawa we went to this beautiful studio called Radiance of the Ordinary where I bought the most beautiful hand made broom.  Of course the kids wanted matching little brooms too but we told them they'd have to save up their allowance.  I really felt like a mean witch but it was my Christmas present from my honey man.

 Here I am with my new broom. 

Ottawa was so extremely cold we were a bit shocked.  My family took the kids ice sliding while my honey man and I gave out honey samples at Wed by Hand.  I had made hundreds of mini scones with the help of work group for people to taste the honey on.  In a world of mini cupcakes I think we stood out.  The most tested honeys were lavender and cinnamon.  The small jars of honey are the most popular choice for wedding favours but we also offer mini soaps and mini teas.

We've had lots of fun with downloading vintage valentines this year.  My favorite site so far is Vintage Holiday Crafts.  Rowan liked the corny popcorn card so much he gave it to everyone on his list.

I love the Victorian ones and this one is quite spectacular. I went a bit crazy one night downloading and printing these out.

Another wonderful work group was spent making garlic jelly.  We made three kinds in a morning with six of us working to peel garlic, measure ingredients and process jars.  We've got ginger garlic, rosemary garlic and lemon verbena garlic.  Next I want to make thyme garlic.  We've been infusing lots of herbs into mead and now I've discovered the fascinating world of fermented soda pop.  This site is especially enlightening.  I can't wait to try making honey elderflower pop!