14 January 2011

A land flowing with milk and HONEY


The Old Testament mentions the Promised Land flowing with milk and honey-symbols of abundance. Honey was discovered in the Egyptian tombs unspoiled-even after being in storage for more than 2,000 years! Besides being used as food, it was used as medicine-more than half the remedies prescribed by Egyptian doctors contained honey. Ancient Egyptians, Greeks, and Romans spread honey on wounds to hasten their healing-so did the German field medical personnel during WWI. Even as late as 1070 in England, a surgeon announced he was using honey on open wounds after surgery-and had fewer bacterial infections than similar wounds treated with antibiotics. Honey proved to be an effective disinfectant; it hastened healing; and bacteria did not develop resistance to it, as often happens with antibiotics.~Making the Best of Basics. James Talmage Stevens

The lowdown on honey

Honey may be used, measure for measure, in place of sugar in the following preparations:
baked apples
baked ham
candied vegetables
cinnamon toast
custards
dressings for salads
glazes lemonade
pie fillings puddings
punch drinks
sweet & sour dishes

When baking with honey as a substitute in regular recipes, there are three steps you must take in order for it to work.
1. Use only 75% liquid honey for sugar-1/4 C. honey for each 1 C. sugar
2. Reduce the total liquid ingredients by 25%-eliminate 1/4 C. liquid for each C. of sugar replaced by honey.
3. Reduce oven heat approximately 25-35 degrees. Honey caramelizes, becoming darker and/or burning at a lower temperature than sugar.

Recipes for honey

Honey butter-1/2 C. butter and 1 C. honey. Blend well and store in refrigerator. For cinnamon butter add add 1 teas. cinnamon to the honey butter.

Honey chippers-1/2 C. butter
1/2 C. honey
1 egg
1 1/4 C. sifted butter
1/2 tsp. baking soda and salt
1 C. chocolate chips
1/2 C. chopped pecans.
Cream butter and honey together, add egg and beat well. Mix dry ingredients and add to creamed mixture. Stir in chocolate chips and pecans. Drop onto greased cookie sheet. Bake at 375 for 12-15 minutes. About 3 dozen

Honey butter cookies-2 C. butter
1 C. honey
2 eggs, separated
1 T. grated lemon peel
8 C. flour
1 1/4 tsp. baking powder
2 T. lemon juice
1 C. almonds, chopped
Mix all together except for egg white. Shape into balls and flatten. Brush with beaten egg whites and sprinkle with almonds. Bake at 350 for 10-15 minutes. About 7-8 dozen. Dough may need to be chilled before shaping.

Honey Custard~A favorite
2 eggs, 2 C. milk, 1/4 C. honey, and 1/8 teas. salt.
Beat eggs slightly and add milk, honey, and salt. Pour into molds and set in a pan of water. Bake at 350 for 30 minutes. About 24 oz.

Peanutty chompers-1 C. honey, 1 C. peanut butter, 1 1/2 C. nonfat dry milk
Add peanut butter to warm honey and mix well. Stir in dry milk. Form into small balls.

Honey crispies-a favorite
1/2 C. butter
2 T. milk
1 C. flour
3/4 C. honey
1/4 tsp. salt
1 C. coconut
1 teas. vanilla
2 C. rice Krispies cereal
Combine all ingredients except vanilla and cereal in saucepan. Cook over medium heat, stirring constantly until dough leaves sides of pan and froms a ball. Remove from heat and cool. Add vanilla and cereal. Shape into balls; roll in additional coconut. Store in fridge.


12 comments:

Cinnamon said...

Thank you for all those yummy recipes! I'll have to try those out this wknd. We love local honey....so tasty!

~Cinnamon

Jennifer said...

Awesome facts about honey. So good to know. Thanks for sharing this.

dggp said...

Interesting Tricia. I never knew this. We love honey on nearly anything and everything.

Mountain Home Quilts said...

It's important to know that the honey that was found, still good, so long ago was RAW honey. Not the usual honey you buy at the grocery store. The honey you find on the shelf has been pasteurized. When looking for honey with extra ordinary powers (like all the live bacterias!) it's important to buy real, raw honey. :)

Unknown said...

Definitely yes. Pure, raw honey is the absolute best of the best. Thanks for bringing that up.

Anonymous said...

What a great post! I use raw honey but it is always good to see other ways to add in additional health benefits.

Anonymous said...

Thanks for the excellent information in regards to honey. I learned some great things from this post. I also too the liberty of copying some of your honey info. as well as the recipes for my recipe book. Hope you don't mind that I did this.

-Lady Rose

OurLilFullFam said...

Love honey here! I have never thought about cinnamon in the honey butter, great idea.

And those krispie treats look very yummy, we will try those soon!

Stephanie

Brenda Wheeler said...

Oh we so love our honey. And thanks for the many recipes and tips. I am excited to try some.

Kim said...

Very interesting post! Looks like some great recipes :0)

Cheesemakin' Mamma said...

We're big honey lovers, too, especially raw honey. Thanks for spreading the word about this wonderful gift from God!

busymomof10 said...

thanks for all the info and yummy honey recipes! We LOVE honey butter on fresh homemade bread or biscuits!!! YUM!!!

All this talk of honey makes me miss my buddy, Winnie the Pooh! My children have gotten too old to watch their old favorite Pooh videos! :)

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