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We Olive & Wine Bar is now open in Houston! The shop features premium artisan domestic wines, olive oil inspired small plates, craft beer and events with artisan producers and winemakers. Stop by for a complimentary tasting of California Extra Virgin Olive Oils, vinegar, and gourmet foods that are offered daily. And while you are there, pick up our raw infused Fiery Sweet Mesquite and our Lucky Lime & Sea Salt Clover honeys. Our infused honeys are fantastic when drizzled on your favorite everyday foods, such as pizza, chicken, pork, veggies, desserts and even in mixed into your cocktails. We have been surprised (and inspired) to hear how folks are using our infused honeys so creatively. Feel free to share your clever cooking ideas with others on our Facebook, Twitter or Instagram. There’s a chef in everyone! We Olive & Wine Bar is located in The Heights at 249 West 19th Street in Houston, Texas and is open Tuesday through Thursday from 10AM until 9PM, Friday and Saturday from 10AM until 10PM, and on Sunday from noon until 6PM. We can’t wait to see you there!
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Lone Star Bee Company now offers a plain raw honey created by bees located in the Blackland Prairie region of central Texas! This wildflower blend is rich and sweet and stands on its own, so we’ve decided to offer this honey in its natural state and not infuse it with other ingredients – it is perfect as is! This honey tells a unique and inspiring story about the Blackland Prairies of Texas. The region was named the Blackland Prairie from the rich soil once found throughout the prairie. The Blackland Prairie includes two narrow swaths of land of nearly 20,000 square miles running from the Red River on the Texas-Oklahoma border, through Dallas / Fort Worth and beyond San Antonio. In the early 1800s, the region was a tallgrass prairie, but by the end of the century most of the prairie was converted to farmland. Once a home for animals such as buffalo, wolves and jaguars, today the Blackland Prairies consist of less than one percent of its original prairie due to development, agriculture, and overgrazing. But, there is some good news! The Native Prairies Association of Texas (Blackland Chapter) is a leading voice to identify, preserve, and promote prairies in Texas. Formed in July 2014, the Blackland Chapter members were spurred by the discovery of original Blackland Prairie parcels at White Rock Lake in Dallas. The chapter has been instrumental in shining a light upon and working to preserve the living history of the Blackland Prairies for generations to come. We thank these fine Texans for their dedication and appreciation of such an important cause! Follow this link for more information about the Blackland Chapter of the Native Prairies Association: https://blacklandnpat.wordpress.com/about/ Foodie Friends, come join us on June 10 and 11 in Dallas as we participate in the Taste for Dallas event!
The Taste of Dallas is the largest summertime food and beverage event in Dallas and focuses on foodies. This is the 31st year for this event, which features over 250 participants and exhibitors, including:
The Taste Marketplace showcases a unique mix of foods, cooking demonstrations, and food samplings from specialty vendors. Wander the aisles packed with a variety of sinfully delicious and unique culinary creations and commodities. Sample and bring home tastes from one-of-a-kind exhibitors offering handmade spices, sauces, dips, olive oils, jams and more. Take time to peruse the exceptionally wide selection of contemporary vendors, artists and craftsmen plying their trade and selling their wares. We’d love to see our foodie friends in Dallas, so join us at Fair Park, 3600 Grand Avenue, Dallas, Texas 75210. This event benefits the North Texas Food Bank as the Charity Partner: https://www.ntfb.org/. See you there! We humans are so lucky to have air conditioning in the summertime, especially here in southeast Texas, where on average high temperatures can reach more than 100 degrees Fahrenheit several times each year. Bees, on the other hand, have to work to keep their hives at a perfect temperature to ensure proper development of their brood; between about 91 and 97 Fahrenheit. Honey bees are very efficient in cooling their hives. One method bees use is to position themselves along the landing board in the front of their hive and energetically fan their wings to draw air outside the hive and create air circulation within the hive. The bees will also bring extra water into their hive to keep it cool. They may bring up to a gallon of water in one day and distribute it around the hive to function as a coolant. Bees also regulate the hive temperature by working as a team and clustering together on the outside of their hive. This phenomenon is called “bearding”. Bearding together outside the hive helps to prevent congestion inside the hive, removing extra body heat and lowering the internal hive temperature. We beekeepers also have a role in assisting the bees in keeping their hive cool. First, when we originally installed our hives, we strategically positioned them along a mature tree line so that the afternoon sun is blocked by shade from the trees. Second, we use a screened inner cover instead of a solid wooden cover inside the top of the hives, which allows for inflow of air. On steamy days, hot air has a better chance to escape. These strategies keep the bees from having to work as hard to regulate the hive temperature. Hive temperature regulation is very important all year long, and as we approach another hot summer, we will keep a close eye on our hives to be certain they remain healthy in the bee yard. Every hive of bees has only one queen. She communicates with her colony by using pheromones. The bees respond to her and generally the hive will work together as a single unit. Occasionally, a hive will require a replacement queen. Perhaps the original queen has died, or is no longer a productive egg layer. The photo above shows a colony of bees meeting their new queen for the first time. This queen was purchased from another beekeeper who reared her and placed her in this tiny wooden box called a queen cage. The queen cage is hollow on one side and is covered by a screen to allow the bees to interact with the queen. Fondant has been placed inside the cage for two reasons; as food source for the bees, and to slow down the queens progress in escaping. Once the fondant has been completely eaten by the bees, an escape route will be presented and the queen will exit the cage and join her new colony. This process will take a few days and it is a good thing because by then, the bees will be accustomed to her pheromones and will accept her as their new queen. Come join the fun with our friends at BeeGoods Mercantile in Navasota, Texas! It will be a great day full of honey bee adventures!
We are super excited to have our Lucky Lime & Sea Salt Clover and Fiery Sweet Mesquite honeys on the shelf at Texas Hill Country Olive Company in Dripping Springs, Texas! Their beautiful property, just outside of Austin, makes for a great destination on a weekend road trip through the scenic Texas Hill Country. evgenykarandaev/shutterstock Cinco de Mayo is a pretty big deal in history, but do you know why? May 5th commemorates the Mexican Army's improbable defeat of French forces at the Battle of Puebla on May 5, 1862.
We often have “taco night” at our house and Mark makes the best margaritas. Here’s one of his fun recipes using our Lucky Lime & Sea Salt Clover honey…enjoy! 1 oz. Don Julio Anejo Tequila 1 oz. Cointreau 1 oz. Fresh Lime Juice 1 oz. Lucky Lime & Sea Salt Clover Honey Rim the margarita glass using the Lucky Lime & Sea Salt Clover Honey and salt. If you are feeling adventurous, use our Fiery Sweet Mesquite Honey in place of the Lucky Lime & Sea Salt Clover Honey. It's amazing, too! Tip for using honey in cocktails: When a cocktail recipe calls for ice, it works best to use a shaker to mix honey with alcohol BEFORE adding ice into the mix. This method incorporates the honey consistently throughout the cocktail. Honey is created when bees collect nectar from nearby flowers and take it back to the hive. The bees partially digest the nectar into more simple sugars and store it in their honeycomb. They fan their wings over the honey, which creates airflow around the honeycomb and helps to evaporate the water. Eventually, the nectar loses moisture and condenses into thick, sweet honey. Honey contains less than 18.6% water, but water generally makes up approximately 70% of nectar.
Folks often ask us what the difference is between wildflower honey and other honeys, such as mesquite and clover. The type of flowers from which the bees visit and collect nectar will influence the color and flavor of honey. When bees visit many types of flowers found around their hives, the honey is referred to as wildflower honey (polyfloral). The taste and flavor of wildflower honey will vary each season, depending upon which flowers are most dominant when the bees are collecting the nectar. According to a recent article written by Tanya Zuckerbrot (April 19, 2017), there are five reasons why spicy food is good for your health. Capsaicin is a compound found in jalapeños, habaneros, cayenne and most other chili peppers. Tanya credits capsaicin for these healthy benefits: 1. You’ll lose more weight. Capsaicin is a thermogenic substance, meaning it causes the body temperature to rise, temporarily boosting metabolism and revving its ability to burn calories. Capsaicin may also decrease appetite and help curb cravings. A 2005 study in the International Journal of Obesity found that exposure to capsaicin increased participants’ satiety, and reduced their calorie and fat intake. 2. Your heart will thank you. Studies suggest capsaicin may lower LDL cholesterol, which accumulates on artery walls and constricts blood flow to the heart. Spicy food can help dilate blood vessels, promoting circulation and helping to manage your blood sugar, research presented during a 2012 American Chemical Society meeting suggests. 3. You may reduce your cancer risk. A 2006 study in the journal Cancer suggests capsaicin may inhibit the spread of prostate cancer cells. Spicy foods also are known to boost immunity. Studies suggest they can act as a decongestant, protecting against irritants and pollutants, like dust and smoke. 4. You’ll eat more mindfully. Research suggests people who eat spicy foods are often more satiated than those who don’t, which can reduce the chances of overeating. That may be because spiciness in food naturally slows the eating process, giving the brain more time to realize the body is full. The end result: fewer calories consumed. 5. You may live longer. A Harvard University study suggested that people who ate spicy food every day saw a 14 percent lower risk of death compared to people who ate spicy food only once a week or less. |
AuthorNicki Praiswater is co-founder and co-owner of Lone Star Bee Company alongside her life-partner, Mark Crippen. Together, they both enjoy beekeeping, traveling and eating great foods. Archives
September 2023
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