January 17, 2011
-
Honey, Honey, How You Thrill Me! (with update)
I have a four day weekend ahead of me with fun plans. We’re headed up to PA to visit the Architect’s parents and to visit the infamous Farm Show. We went with my now MIL last year and had a blast. It’s basically like a county fair on steroids. Having grown up in a county where we actually got a day off to attend the fair, I appreciate that.
Last year we were just there to wander around but this year, we’re on a mission; we’ll call it Operation: Sweet Beehive and we’re looking for honey. You see, back in September when we stayed in Assisi, we were introduced to the most amazing honey that I had ever tasted. And it came from right there on the farm. It had all of these amazing crystals in it and the texture was like honey mixed with sugar. I could have eaten that honey slathered on a ciabatta roll for the rest of my life. I love just about any kind of honey but this kind was on another level.
We bought one small jar back to the States with us and I savored it and used it sparingly. I scraped every last drop of honey out of the jar and was about as close to devastated as you can get over a food item. I tried looking for something similar in some of the grocery stores (including some of the higher end ones like Whole Paycheck… er… Foods) to no avail. I found raw honey, which is also very good but it’s. Not. The. Same. Every food-type place that we go, I keep my eyes out for something that comes close. I haven’t seen anything since we’ve been back in the States. My stomach finds this unfortunate… very unfortunate.
So when I realized that we would be able to make it to the Farm Show again, I was excited as there are tons of vendors selling all sorts of things and I think I remember seeing honey there. I’m hopeful! Otherwise I may just have to start importing my own honey from Italy…
Hopefully it’ll be a great success!
Edit:
There are many reasons that I feel like I won the In Law Lottery. My in-laws are really, really great people and super thoughtful. We got to PA late Friday night and early Saturday morning at breakfast, my mother in law presented us with honey that she thought might be what we were looking for. The Architect and I tasted it and it was most definitely our honey.
Here’s the deal: it’s raw honey; unheated, unfiltered, unpasteurized. My MIL found it at a local farmers market from an Amish farmer. So now we know what to look for but my MIL has already offered to get honey whenever we wanted! Score!
Comments (23)
As a lover of honey, I can appreciate the insistent search for honey nirvana, haha. May your quest be successful!
~V
I hope your mission is successful! I love honey too and had a similar experience with honey from New Zealand. I would love to find a local honey maker wherever we move. If you have success on this mission, and the bee farm has a website, do share!
It wouldn’t be TOO crazy to import your honey from Italy. We toured a vanilla plantation in French Polynesia and bought a jar of crushed vanilla beans. When that jar ran out (it lasted nearly 3years), I actually was so sad that I found them online and bought another such jar.
Someday I want to go to Assisi. And a few other places in Italy. I’m sure you blogged about it…when would you have posted. I must go see what you had to say.
Dear Meg,
It might even be possible through the internet to find the exact same honey as you sampled in Assisi.
Although I have left a couple of comments since your marriage, I never commented my congratulations. I just went looking for the wedding pics, and couldn’t find any. Have you forgotten to post them, or am I just looking in the wrong places?
Loved going with you (virtually of course) on your honeymoon. Also, I didn’t realize you were only 25. You write with a much more experienced point of view, which led me to believe you were a bit older. 25 seems so young from my own point of view.
So much belated congratulations.
BTW, as a web designer, I always cringe when I see unwanted code on a webpage. On the main page of your blog, under your header image, and below your bloglink mantra about he clover under your feet, is the custom module, which you are not using. It still says “insert HTML here.” You should just be able to delete that module if you are not using it from your dashboard.
Michael F. Nyiri, poet, philosopher, fool
Good luck with your search for honey!
We have been eating local honey for the last year and it is so much better than the store bought kind. Mmmm. I can appreciate the hunt for your favorite honey – hope you find it!
Was there not a way to order the same type of honey online? or something similar?
They do sell honey there – but I think you may be disappointed. I would try finding a local farmer that would sell you honeycomb. It might be closer to what you want!
I was just thinking today that the farm show should be right around now. Im sad that Im missing it this year.
I LOVE it.
have a great week end and I hope you find your honey at the farm show.
I have not heard of Italian honey. Barolo, mushrooms, cheese, gondolas and masks from Venice. Even langoustines from Sicily. Maybe the honey is next big thing! –BTB
When are you going to set up your own hive? Urban beekeeping is all the rage, from what I hear.
Up in Chiang Mai is a honey shop, operated by the director of the Northern Thailand Beekeepers Association. (One wonders how many Northern Thailand beekeepers there are…) His shop sells these wonderful varieties – longan, lichee and sunflower are three of my favorites. When friends visit from Chiang Mai, I have them ship down a half-dozen bottles.
I have a customer who visits about 3x’s a year, whose nickname is HoneyB. They always bring their own honey with them to sell, and I always buy from them. Wonderful… store bought just can never match. Have fun & good luck!
Have you tried searching for the honey you are looking for at Wegman’s? It is kinda sorta like foodie Disneyland…
May you find your magic honey!
I am happy your in laws were able to get the honey for you, and how good that it tastes ditto.
WOOHOO!! Glad you got what you wanted!!!
I never had “honey” in my life, but your description here makes me want to try even the cheap ones I can find here in the Philippines.
Yayyy for your in-laws. One of the problems I had with the last guy I dated was that his parents were impossible. And we had only been dating for four months when I realized that. I’d love to have nice in-laws, I mean if I’ll ever have them. So, before I sleep tonight, I’m gonna make sure I say a little prayer to thank God for giving you wonderful ones.
Huzzah!
Wow, that does sound like good honey. Besides being raw, I wonder which flower the bees get their pollen from. Clover? Orange trees?
You did win the inlaw lottery! How sweet of her!
Happy ending! You got your honey!
@TheMarriedFreshman - And it was quite successful!
@BigToePeople - Sadly the guy who had the honey is Amish and therefore there is no website… but if you’re ever in Central PA…
@baldmike2004 - Ugh, I keep forgetting to put up wedding pictures!!! I need to remember to do that! Also, I get the age comment a lot. I’m not sure what it is but maybe it has to do with being the oldest of three siblings. I always had to be the responsible one; something I’ve carried with me to adulthood!
@JoyousMemoriesPhoto - Ooo, my mother in law found it for us!
@turningreen - Local stuff always tastes better. My mother in law found the honey for us!
@NightlyDreams - We could order the Italian honey online but shipping would have been outrageous!
@der_lila_Stern - Last year was my first time at the Farm Show. I loved it! It’s a great way to waste a few hours.
@grannyinboxers - Found it! I’m so excited.
@buildthebridge - Seems it’s simply unpasteurized and raw and you can get it here in the States. I’m excited!
@christao408 - Actually when we were in Assisi, we sat with a couple from Louisville, KY and the wife had quit her office job to become a beekeeper!
@endlesssummer128 - Nothing beats fresh honey!
@Redshirte - Now that I know the honey is unpasteurized, I don’t think that a grocery store could sell it.
@marigold_mom - Found it!!!
@ZSA_MD - I’m so excited about it!
@Rainboxx - Ooo, you should try honey. I love it in my tea! I feel really lucky that my in laws are so awesome. I’ve seen how hard it can be when a person doesn’t like their in laws with some of my friends!
@SoapAndShampoo - This was just wild flower honey. My MIL said the farmer also had orange and alfalfa honey. I want to try both!
@WakeUpLaughing - It was very, very nice!
@icepearlz - Indeed. Breakfast is amazing once again!
I am glad that your in laws are so wonderful and supportive. This honey must be amazing. I’ve always been nervous trying unpasteurized honey. There’s so many literature for them and against them. But I can only imagine the smell, the taste and texture of this honey you so cherish. It must be amazing.