Monthly Archives: September 2013

by

Cooking With Honey – Homemade Honey Sriracha

Fresh Sriracha (aka, home made 'Rooster')

Given that I keep stingy insects like honey bees, it’s not surprising that hot and spicy foods are my favorites!

In my humble opinion,  the taste of  a mouth-burningly hot dish, tempered with the uniquely flavorful sweetness of honey, is one of  life’s greatest pleasures!

My bees must feel the same way because my friends swear that my honey tastes a bit spicy.  I think that’s part of its charm!!

Anyway, here’s my recipe for homemade honey Sriracha.  You may never use store-bought again!!

Yield:   1 1/2 cups
Ingredients:
 
1/2 pound red fresno chiles, coarsely chopped
4 garlic cloves
1teaspoon kosher salt
1 cup distilled white vinegar
2  tablespoons honey
Directions:

Place all the ingredients except the honey in a jar and let sit overnight to mellow the heat of the peppers.

Place the mixture and honey in small saucepan. Bring to a boil over high heat, then lower the heat and simmer for 5 minutes. Remove from heat and set aside to cool to room temperature.

Transfer to a blender and puree for about 5 minutes, until a smooth, orange-red mixture forms. Run through a strainer, extracting as much juice as possible.

Once refrigerated, the sauce should have the same consistency and texture as store-bought Sriracha, but less salty and fresher tasting!

Related articles
by

Shine On Harvest Moon

harvestmoon2

With the autumnal equinox set to fall on Sept. 22, the 2013 Harvest Moon will be in full bloom tonight.

The term “Harvest Moon” or “Corn Moon,” is used to describe the full moon that occurs closest to fall’s equinox. For skywatchers in North America, the full moon is expected to rise shortly after sunset (depending on your location) on Sept. 18 and will peak at 7:13 a.m. EDT the next morning.

The Harvest Moon will be especially visible during the overnight hours, even though it won’t actually be “full” until Thursday morning.

As EarthSky explains:

No matter where you are on Earth, this full moon – and every full moon – ascends over your eastern horizon around the time of sunset. It’s always highest in the sky in the middle of the night, when the sun is below your feet. That’s because a full moon is opposite the sun. Being opposite the sun, the moon is showing us its fully lighted hemisphere, or “day” side. That’s what makes the moon look full.

However, the almost full Harvest Moon should also be visible for North American viewers on Thursday night, when the moon will turn full for observers in Asia.

The annual celestial sight was dubbed the “Harvest Moon” because its light allowed farmers in the Northern Hemisphere to harvest their crops for several hours more into the night, Farmers’ Almanac notes.

Related articles
by

Our Joy

My beloved Bayard has been memorialized by my dear friends at Gardens for Goldens!! They are truly angels on earth!!

Gardens For Goldens

The garden served up its usual beauty this weekend. Fall is beginning its advance and the flowers and their friends are grateful for the more moderate temperatures and cool nights.

Garden_9_13_A
Monarch-Bee_9_13
Dahlias-Purple_9_13

Their appreciation is clearly on display.

Dahlia-Pink-Bee2_9_13DragonFly_9_13_BObedient-Plant_9_13_A

But the most beautiful moments of the weekend did not involve flowers. First, new bricks were installed in the Memorial pathway.

The-Boys'-Bricks_9_13

I donated this one for one of my very first blogger friends, Deborah at Romancing the Bee and her beloved companion recently departed – the Noble Bayard.

Noble-Bayard_9_13

The garden hosted the usual parade of pups. Hank took up residence on Steve’s lap –

Hank-Steve_9_13

Fozzie Bear, who just recently arrived, made his first trip to the garden –

Fozzie-Bear-9_13

beautiful Sting relaxed in the shade, exhausted from playing in the sprinklers –

Sting1_9_13

while Lilly practiced her table manners.

Lilly-Busted_9_13

In between, two great tales unfolded. First, Sydney – a special needs Golden who has pretty…

View original post 228 more words

by

Beautiful Beekeeping – Permaculture Playing Cards

Permaculture Bees

Good advice!  And this is just one card out of a deck of Permaculture Playing Cards.

How do you tell people what permaculture is? If you give them a book, they might look at a few pictures.  If you send them a link to something they tend to save it for later.  The idea of the deck of cards is that they might browse it like a book – but this is all pictures and just a few words.  Much easier to browse.  And hopefully convey a bigger picture in a smaller package.

playing cards

If you want to explore this subject further and/or purchase a deck of Permaculture Playing Cards, go to http://www.kickstarter.com/projects/paulwheaton/permaculture-playing-cards

Related articles