Christmas Honey

Isn't it pretty?

Krumkake

I made two giant batches of Krumkake last weekend for a Christmas cookie exchange. Krumkake's a Norwegian butter cookie that's baked on a flat iron and then rolled on a wooden cone.

Another Article on Urban Beekeeping

Urban beekeeping really does seem to be a popular topic for mainstream media these days. Last week, the New York Times ran a story on the movement to legalize city beekeeping. Denver, Salt Lake City and Milwaukee are the latest cities to endorse backyard bees. Here's a link...

Thanksgiving Dinner

I made Parker House Rolls to go with Thanksgiving dinner. Following the recipe in Cook's Illustrated Baking cookbook, I made them earlier in the day, about 3 hours before dinner was ready. The rolls were absolutely delicious warm, but once they cooled, they seemed a bit dry. It's nearly impossible to bake something while a turkey is in the oven along with side dishes. Lesson learned.



Pies included pumpkin, chocolate pecan and sour cherry-peach. While alone in the kitchen with cooling pies, Aksel decided to help me "decorate" the pumpkin one by dragging sharp objects across the top. Another lesson learned: don't leave a two year old alone with pie. I should have known that one already.

Economics of Urban Beekeeping

We certainly aren't keeping bees to supplement our family income, but this article is an interesting take on the basic economics of beekeeping. Is it an endeavor that can pay off? Sure, if the bees survive the winter and harvested honey is sold for $15-$20 a pound like hipster Brooklyn honey.

Here's the full article.

Wheat Bread

I think I found a wheat bread recipe I like. I have white loaves down, but the wheat bread I've made has been too dense or the flavor has been off. Yesterday, I tried the recipe from Baking Illustrated which is by the editors of Cook's Illustrated. Cook's Illustrated recipes are sometimes pretty complicated, and the prose is kind of preachy, but you have to hand it to them -- the recipes work. This bread is a combination of white flour, wheat flour and a little bit of rye flour sweetened with our own honey.

Half a loaf is cut up for Thanksgiving stuffing. Yum.

November Bees

It's five days before Thanksgiving, but the weather has been great for the last few days. It was over 60 degrees, sunny and calm -- great flying weather for the bees. Karl removed the varroa mite poison from the hive this afternoon. Everything looked fine, and he actually saw bees with tons of pollen. I wonder what they could be collecting these days.