Honey Recipes--September is National Honey Month--foodreference.Com

Once again I browse the internet for inspiration and at foodreference.com I discover that September is national honey month!! Honey is one of my favorite foods. My old(er) brother used to be a beekeeper and got the rest of us on his bandwagon. I am always looking for new recipes which use honey. I have a cousin who won't touch honey and at one time became very pale when I offered some to him. At that time I had no idea why it would turn his stomach, then I ran to a reference book to find out. Honey is bee barf. At first I really had to take a step back and ask myself if I wanted to continue to use it. I decided that up until now, it hadn't killed me and there were certainly worse things I could be eating. Besides, honey tastes so darn good and I love it on my morning piece of toast with peanut butter----so, yes-----I continue to use it. You can make your own judgements.

There is one thing I'm going to add to this article. Do you know that babies less than 1 year old are NOT supposed to have honey. There is a risk of botulism and babies don't have a defense against it. NEVER give a baby honey.

Drinks Made with Honey:

Apricot Ambrosia: 8 oz. carton of low fat, plain yogurt; 1/4 cup instant dry milk; 6 ice cubes; 1/2 cup drained, canned apricot halves; 1 tsp. honey (or to taste). Place all ingredients in a blender; cover and blend at medium speed for 15 seconds. Stop blender and scrape sides down. Cover and blend for 15 more seconds or until smooth. Makes 1 serving.

Peanut Butter Triplet: 1/2 cup peanut butter; 3 Tbsp. honey; 3 cups cold milk. Blend peanut butter and honey until well mixed. Slowly add the 3 cups milk to blender on low speed. Blend for 15 seconds. (You can also use vanilla ice cream).

Blender Fizzies: Fill blender 1/4 full of fruit pulp; add enough honey to sweeten. If you wish add kool-aid powder to enhance flavor. Blend until frothy. (It tastes great with ice cream-like a fruit milkshake).

Blended Banana Milkshake: Blend until smooth--2 bananas, 3 big scoops vanilla ice cream; 1/2 cup milk; honey to taste.

Cinnamon Chocolate: 8 oz. unsweetened bakers chocolate; 1 3/4 cup water; 6 cups milk; 1 cup half and half; 1 cup honey; 4 cinnamon sticks. In medium saucepan, over low heat, heat chocolate and water until chocolate melts. Mix in remaining ingredients and heat until hot but not boiling, stirring constantly. Remove cinnamon sticks. Pour into pitcher and beat with a wire whisk. Serve the drink with additional cinnamon sticks in each cup.

Pumpkin Cooler: 1/2 cup pumpkin, cooked and mashed; 2 cups cold milk; 1 Tbsp. honey. Combine ingredients in blender and mix well. Sprinkle with cinnamon before serving.

Thirsty Goblin Punch: 12 oz. can of orange juice concentrate, thawed; 2 quarts apple cider, chilled; 1/2 cup honey; 1 quart lemon-lime soda, chilled; ice cubes. Make up orange juice with three cans of water as label directs. In a large punch bowl, combine orange juice, apple cider and honey. Stir to blend. At serving time add lemon-lime soda and ice cubes.

Almond Delight: 4 cups water; 6 Tbsp. instant tea mix; 6 Tbsp. honey; 1/2 cup orange juice; 1 1/2 tsp. almond extract; 2 cups ginger ale. In pitcher, combine sugar, iced tea mix, honey, orange juice and almond extract. Stir until dissolved. Blend in ginger ale. Makes 12 4-oz. servings.

Nectarine Soda: 2 fresh nectarines; 2 Tbsp. honey; 1 pint strawberry or vanilla ice cream; 10-oz. bottle chilled club soda. Peel, halve and crush nectarines to measure 2 cups. Blend crushed fruit with honey. Spoon 1/4 cup nectarine mixture into 4 (10-oz.) glasses. Divide ice cream into glasses. Pour on soda and stir gently. (For a sweeter soda use 3 Tbsp. honey)

Hawaiian Rabbit: 2 cups canned pineapple juice; 1 cup thinly sliced, peeled carrot; 2 Tbsp. honey; 1/4 inch slice of lemon; 8 ice cubes. Place pineapple, carrot, honey and lemon slice in a blender. Cover and liquefy at high speed for several minutes until mixture is apricot colored and very smooth. Add ice cubes and blend for a few sesconds longer, until most of ice is liquefied. Makes approximately 4 servings.

Hot Grapefruit Toddy: 3 cups grapefruit juice; 1/3 cup honey; 2 cinnamon sticks; 6 whole cloves. Combine all ingredients in saucepan, stir well. Heat just to boiling; reduce heat and simmer for 20 minutes, stirring occasionally. Remove cinnamon and cloves. Pour into mugs. Makes approximately 4 servings.

Red Glow: 2 cups pineapple juice; 1 pint strawberries; 1 Tbsp. honey. Blend half the strawberries with half the pineapple juice. Repeat this procedure with the other half. Combine and stir in honey.

Hawaiian Buttermilk Nog: 3 cups cultured buttermilk; 8-oz. can crushed pineapple; 1/4 cup honey; 1 tsp. vanilla; 5 ice cubes. Place buttermilk, undrained pineapple, honey and vanilla in blendeer. Cover and blend on medium speed for 30 seconds or until blended. Add ice cubes one at a time, blending until mixture is nearly smooth and frothy. Pour into mugs. Makes approximately 6 servings.

Super Nog: 2 cups milk; 3 ripe bananas; 1/4 cup wheat germ; 2 Tbsp. honey; 2 eggs. Combine all ingredients in blender. Cover and process at highest speed for 1 minute. Serve immediately.

Rhubarb Punch: 8 cups diced, raw rhubarb; 5 cups water; 2 cups honey; 1 quart ginger ale; 6 oranges, peeled and sectioned; 3 lemons, peeled and sectioned. Simmer the rhubarb in water until quite mushy. Strain and measure liquid into an enameled kettle. Add 1/3 cup of honey for each cup of rhubarb juice, stirring over low heat until honey is dissolved. Cool. Add orange and lemon sections, chill. Add ginger ale just before serving. Serve over ice cubes.

Blender Breakfast: Combine 1 cup milk; 1 cup orange juice; 1 cup corn flakes; 1 egg and 2 Tbsp. honey. Blend until thoroughly mixed about 1 minute. Serve immediately.

Honey-Ade Milk Shake: 6 Tbsp. honey; 6 oz. concentrated lemonade or limeade, thawed; 3 cups very cold milk. Combine honey and concentrate. Add milk gradually and shake, blend or mix with rotary beater.