A NIGHT OWL REVIEWS BOOK REVIEW | Reviewed by: Terri
When I saw Honey, I’m Homemade become available for review, I couldn’t pass this opportunity up. I don’t normally review cookbooks nor do I usually buying them to read but I had been asked earlier this year on what to do with some honey and thought this book might give me some ideas.
Let me explain, the farm next to me sells honey in 5 gallon buckets. That’s a lot of honey! Yet, they were mailing it out and having no problems selling it. I had no idea what anyone could do with that much honey. Now, I know.
Honey, I’m Homemade doesn’t start with a bunch of recipes and that is it. No, Honey, I’m Homemade gives a history of honey, what honey is, how it’s produced and so much information that when I was done, I thought what a great book and I hadn’t even gotten to the recipes! Not only that, all that wonderful information was presented in an interesting, straight forward way so I wasn’t ever bored.
Then, came the recipes. There are several sections including 3 different cookie types, breads, no-bake desserts, pies, and puddings. Again, even the recipes weren’t average. First, many are award winning recipes from fairs that have been made modern. After all, who has time to make some things when it’s so easy to buy! Other recipes are from co-workers and friends of the editor. Best of all, there are little notes and comments with many of the recipes making it feel like a well loved aunt or other relative sent them to you, not that they are in a cookbook.
I read all of the recipes and many sounded interesting and easy. I have a couple that I can’t wait to try as soon as my schedule lets up. There are also quite a few that I plan on sharing with friends and family who have wanted to now, what do you do with honey. Now, I know and it’s a lot more usable than I thought!
Weather you just wanted to know about honey and bees or you want some time tested recipes, this book is made for you. Informative and educational with more ways to use honey than I ever knew was possible from lots of countries where honey was a main ingredient. Bring on the honey!
Aug 03, 2010 | 9780252077449
5 = Rare - Top Pick | 4.5 = I Loved It - Top Pick | 4 = Good Solid Read
3.5 = Enjoyable | 3 Stars = OK - Needs a few changes | 2 Stars = It just didn't click / DNF
Book Blurb for Honey, I'm Homemade
Honey, I'm Homemade: Sweet Treats from the Beehive across the Centuries and around the World showcases a wealth of recipes for cookies, breads, pies, puddings, and cakes that feature honey as an essential ingredient. Collecting recipes from hundreds of cookbooks, noted entomologist May Berenbaum also details the fascinating history of honey harvesting and consumption around the world, explains the honey bee's extraordinary capacity to process nectar into concentrated sweetness, and marvels at honey's diverse flavors and health benefits.
Honey is a unique food because of its power to evoke a particular time and place. Every time it is collected from a hive, honey takes on the nuanced flavors of a particular set of flowers--clover, orange blossoms, buckwheat, or others--at a certain point in time processed and stored by a particular group of bees. Honey is not just a snapshot of a time and place--it's the taste of a time and place, and it lends its flavors to the delectable baked goods and other treats found here.
More than a cookbook, Honey, I'm Homemade is a tribute to the remarkable work of Apis mellifera, the humble honey bee whose pollination services allow three-quarters of all flowering plant species to reproduce and flourish. Sales of the book will benefit the University of Illinois Pollinatarium--the first freestanding science outreach center in the nation devoted to flowering plants and their pollinators.
Because so much depends on honey bees, and because people have benefited from their labors for millennia, Honey, I'm Homemade is the perfect way to share and celebrate honey's sweetness and delight.
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