The Gillaspie Family

Archive for the ‘Culinary Arts’ Category

Lemon Honey Jelly

Thursday, January 20th, 2011

Our family has made wild grape jelly using sugar for many years. Mom and I were pleasantly surprised how easy it is to substitute honey for sugar in jelly making. We both liked the taste of this recipe, adapted from honey.com, but Dad still prefers berry jellies. Actually, he said, "This jelly could ruin a good biscuit." Fortunately, the recipe requires a low time and ingredient investment, so it’s worth a try!

Step 1: Combine 2-1/2 cups local honey, 3/4 cup strained lemon juice, and 4 teaspoons lemon zest in a 6-quart saucepan. Over high heat, bring mixture to a rolling boil, stirring constantly.

Step 2: Quickly stir in 1 (3 oz) package of liquid pectin. Still stirring, boil mixture for 1 minute longer.

Step 3: Remove from heat. Skim off foam with a metal spoon.

Steps 4 & 5: Quickly pour jelly into 2 hot, pint jars, filling to 1/4 from tops (have an extra, smaller jar available in case you have an excess of liquid); wipe jar rims with a damp cloth. Cover immediately with metal lids and screw on bands.

Process jars in a water bath canner for 5 minutes.

Cool jars on a wire rack for 12 hours, or overnight.

We entered our cinnamon creamed honey and lemon honey jelly at the Family Camp Fair. The creamed honey placed third, and the jelly garnered "Best of Show!"

Tags: Beekeeping, Cooking, Honey
Posted in Culinary Arts | 2 Comments »

An “interesting” recipe

Thursday, January 13th, 2011

Since we started beekeeping and therefore had our own abundant honey source, Mom and I have been on a quest to find new recipes using honey (preferably a lot of it!). And, having to submit recipes for the 2011 Honey Queen brochure spurred us on in our efforts. We’ve experimented and tested recipes for the past 5 months, some were successful, and others, well, not so much.

Having a surplus of carrots, and already experimenting with jelly recipes, we decided to give Spicy Pickled Carrots a try. After one bite, we realized that pickling spices and honey is actually not a good flavor combination (who knew?). So, after trying to unload them on friends, relatives, and enemies with little success, we’ve decided to be a little more discerning in our future recipe hunts, and, when in doubt, halve the recipe.

Tags: Beekeeping, Cooking, Honey
Posted in Culinary Arts | 2 Comments »

Culinary Adventure 101

Wednesday, June 2nd, 2010

Luke 11:11-13 “If a son ask bread of any of you that is a father, will he give him a stone? Or if he ask a fish, will he for a fish give him a serpent? Or if he shall ask an egg, will he offer him a scorpion? If ye then, being evil, know how to give good gifts unto your children: how much more shall your heavenly Father give the Holy Spirit to them that ask him?”

Dr. Golden came bearing a really good gift! We couldn’t wait to try these delicacies and she told us just how to prepare them. We are grateful for not only this fine gift, but also for this treasured friend!