Exploring the Pioneer Valley: The Honey Festival

First stop of fall semester: Tenth Annual Honey Festival at Warm Colors Apiary in Deerfield, MA
 
Is there a better way to spend a sunny September morning than getting lost in Western Massachusetts on the way to the sweetest festival in the area with your friends? Probably not.
 
I embarked upon this quest as a participant in Plimpton House programming (alas, I like to pretend sometimes that I still live on the Hill).  After a few harried directional guesses and at least two U-turns (I was giving directions, after all), my friends and I arrived at the festival: a low-key event off a dirt road in the backyard of a farmhouse.
 

The first honey experience: honey ice cream, obviously. Straight from Flayvors and onto my dancing palette. From there, we tried out the multitude of honeys the Apiary had to offer, and we pretended to taste the nuances of each variation, like the honey connoisseurs we most certainly are not. We browsed through all kinds of products I never imagined could be made with honey: candles (asparagus shaped!), barbeque sauce, soap, and plenty more. I even tried eating pollen, which is apparently full of protein, and also tastes exactly like what you’d expect pollen to taste like: chewy, and kind of like the inside of a plant. Who knew?
 
The head pastry chef from UMass gave a demonstration on baking with honey, and I learned some useful tips that I will probably never use (as I tend to, well, suck at cooking), but will gladly pass on to the ambitious chef*:
 
–Your baked goods will stay fresh longer when made with honey because it absorbs moisture.
 
–Honey has a higher sweetening power than sugar. You can use less honey than sugar to achieve the desired sweetness.
 
–When baking with honey, remember to:

• Reduce liquids by a ½ cup for each cup of honey used
• Reduce oven temperature by 25 degrees to prevent over-browning
• Add ½ teaspoon baking soda for each cup of honey used

 
The entire event was such a beautiful and poignant sensory experience: the vibrant colors and indulgent scents of the gardens, the low murmurs of the honeybees, and, of course, the sweet taste of honey in its various forms. I floated in a honey high all the way back to campus, and, after a quick lunch at Val, promptly crashed for the rest of the afternoon.
 
I’ll leave you with a delicious, protein-packed, honey-filled recipe (apologies for the unconventional measurements):
 
Peanut Power Bar*
 
Wheaties Cereal – 15 oz
Cheerios Cereal – 10 oz
Peanuts, roasted – 1 lb 10 oz
Craisins, dried – 1 lb 7 oz
Honey – 2 lb 8 oz
Brown sugar – 1 lb 10 oz
Peanut Butter – 1 lb 1 oz
 

1. Combine the cereals, peanuts, and Craisins.
2. In a pot, bring the honey, sugar, and brown sugar to a boil.
3. Remove from heat and pour over cereal mixture; mix together.
4. Press into a sprayed sheet pan, using a rolling pin to pack the mixture tightly.

 
Voilà!  Happy cooking!
 
 
*All sources: Warm Colors Apiary