Friday, August 07, 2009

Aug 7, 2009 Friday Faves - buzzzzz....

Each Friday, I hope to spotlight a couple of our advertisers and a couple other cool things I've come across. Since my last entry showed my fascination with the bees in the yard (after last evening, I am fervently hoping it doesn't turn into a snake thing), we are continuing with that - the buzz of bees!
First is The Original Soap Dish. The Bailey family succeeds in bringing their customers some of the finest ingredients available for soap and lotion making. Beeswax pastilles (SO nice to work with!) and honey powder are there, as well as sometimes hard-to-find Lye, colors, fragrances, packaging, extracts, things like strawberry pulp powder, and additives to add volume, shine, glide and shimmer.
Here in Lancaster, we have Dutch Gold Honey. For a long time, the plant was run on a residential street by the Gamber family. It wasn't even noticeable, and I know that because I lived a block down the street for years.The honey house was built on a vacant lot across from their home in the 50's. It is now a home, surrounded by other houses. The honey bear bottle that we've all come to recognize was Ralph Gamber's "baby", and Dutch Gold used it long before it became part of the PBJ of our collective childhoods. They have grown to now be using a very large warehouse, and they supply several interesting honeys in their shop - blueberry, eucalptus, tupelo, wildflower, orange blossom, and buckwheat come to mind. They have a page with honey recipes.
At Herbs from the Labyrinth, Sarah gives the bees plenty of pollen and nectar from the labyrinth garden she's been tending for several years in her backyard. Many of her fine balms and salves contain beeswax, and she uses local products whenever possible. Stop by her website to see pictures of the labyrinth and visit her shopping cart -OR- if you are in Lancaster for vacation (or if you live in the area) she has a delicious shop called Radiance at 9 W. Grant St., Lancaster PA. Sometimes you will even find me behind the counter. I like to put in a day here and there. She lets me play in the vast apothecary :-). Haagen-Daz ice cream has a website devoted to honey bees and their struggle against colony collapse, called Help the Honey Bees. There are ideas of ways that we can all help, and lots of information.

Edible Honeydust Powder :-)
1 C cornstarch
2 T Vanilla Powder
2 - 3 T honey powder
Mix in blender.

And, last but not least, I caught a few minutes of The Today Show this morning, and the author of this article was shown in a segment about the value of farmers markets. Check out these scrumptious recipes!!!
101 simple salads: http://www.nytimes.com/2009/07/22/dining/22mlist.html?_r=1
GO FARMERS!!!!

1 comment:

Comfrey Cottages said...

cool post tina! sorry i missed it earlier! so cool to learn the history of our little honey bears! herbs from the labrynith does rock! big herbal hugs to you, oh and you are entered in my contest!