'what's the first thing you say to yourself?'
'what's for breakfast?' said pooh. 'what do you say, piglet?'
'i say, i wonder what's going to happen exciting today?' said piglet.
pooh nodded thoughtfully.
'it's the same thing,' he said. (--a.a. milne)
i have a lot in common with pooh bear. i suspect our interest in food is built in some part on a bottomless affinity for "hunny." i cannot eat honey without feeling like something out there is in love with me. maybe it is a bee, maybe it is something bigger. maybe the bee and the bigger thing are one and the same. i'll take it whenever it is offered, in any language: miel, mella, honig. i would even fly to seattle for a jar of moon valley fireweed honey at pike place market. treacly, floral, smoky, grassy--each jar is suffused with landscape and season. in the world of food, honey is the most seductive storyteller.
ten things to do with honey:
1. infuse a jar of it with rosemary, lavender, sage, bay leaves, hibiscus, or thyme. let it steep a few days before using.
2. move over peanut butter: tahini, banana, and honey sandwiches sprinkled with toasted sesame seeds
3. drizzle a tiny bit over thick slices of heirloom tomatoes. it's like putting a push up bra on a tomato's sweetness.
4. st. agur blue cheese + honey. if you have not tried this classic combination, i command you to stop reading and find your way to the nearest fromagerie.
5. use honey in lieu of sugar when making lemonade. i'm pretty sure honeyed lemonade & iced tea is how they serve an arnold palmer in heaven.
6. caramelize roasted vegetables: toss with olive oil, honey, salt & pepper before they hit the oven.
7. chop honeycomb into pieces the size of half your pinkie nail. fold into softened vanilla ice cream. refreeze before serving.
8. smear honey over a halved grapefruit before slipping it under the broiler until bubbling.
9. preserve clementines in honey
10. dip your spoon in a jar of honey and lift it. watch and wait as most of it luxuriously slides back to the origin. lick the rest off the spoon as slowly as possible. repeat as often as needed.