Happy New Year honey fans!

We’re back from vacation with lots of energy for 2011! This is going to be a defining year to Grampa’s Gourmet as a label – we have an ambitious agenda – and we’ll keep you updated as things unfold…

To start the year right, below are the best honey recipes I’ve read while this blog’s been idle.

Beautiful marzipan bees on a chocolate honey cake. Bees and photo by Melissa Mai (used with permission).

• Nigella’s Honey Chocolate Cake by Melly (@crunchytiger)
  • In addition to making an irresistible dark-chocolate honey cake (most favorite combination ever?!), Melly decorated the cake (recipe by Nigella Lawson) with absolutely adorable marzipan bees!
• Goat Cheese with Honey by Leite’s Culinaria (@leitesculinaria)
  • Anytime anyone pairs cheese with honey they’ll be awesome in our book! This recipe is from a book by a famous Seattle chef Ethan Stowell. And the recipe doesn’t just use any old honey – the fresh goat cheese is paired with chestnut honey! Great minds must think alike – checkout our Tamarisk Honey page – recognize the fresh goat cheese in the picture?
• Cider and Mead Sangria by Jewcy Magazine (@jewcymag)
  • I’ve been more and more interested recently in variations of alcoholic beverages made with honey. This recipe has a distinct old-world kind of a feel. It’s also apparently a Jewish thing.
• Honey Preserved Clementines by Miss Tracey Nolan (@misstraceynolan)
  • My wife and I made cinnamon and cloves spiced honey over the holidays and there is something about sweet viscous liquids in jars that I think is just beautiful. Miss Tracey does something very similar here, but puts the emphasis on clementines vs the honey itself. The result looks great – very gift worthy indeed.
• Honey-Roasted Root Vegetables by Carrots ‘N’ Cake (@CarrotsNCake)
  • The last recipe is the simplest of the bunch –  but I’m including it because it shows how versatile honey is, and how fundamental it could be to any kitchen. Those carrots and sweet potatoes look delicious!

I’ve been reading more and more honey recipes recently, and here’s the round up from this week’s best:

• Romanesco Floret Fritters in Beer and Honey Batter by Food Wanderings (@foodwanderings)
  • The photography of the Romanesco broccoli in this post is unbelievable – it looks like graphic of fractals  in a math textbook! Awesome creativity of the ingredients – I haven’t even seen a Romanesco before.
• Struffoli Honey Balls by Dulcis in Furno
  • First of all, this post in written in two languages: Italian and English, so you gotta give props for that. Apparently these are a traditional  Italian Christmas dessert typical of Campania. And Campania has a very old and rich history of beekeeping and honey – it’s home to Diecimare Natural Park, which maintains an organic beefarm of about 700,000 bees to take advantage of the protected, natural flora as an example of sustainable farming. The region is home to varietal honeys like Acacia, Chestnut, Citrus, Eucalyptus, and local wildflowers.
• Gorgonzola, Pear, and Balsamic-Honey Galette by Deserts for Breakfast (@shihbakes)
  • This recipe comes with absolutely stunning staged food photography (food porn at it’s best!). I particularly like the traditional still life of Gorgonzola cheese, pears, walnuts and the vinegar arranged around a cutting board. It’s simply, traditional and conveys a great sense of the flavors. The only things that’s missing from the shot is the honey – but that’s OK, because the awesomeness of the recipe makes up for it.
• Almond & Honey-Butter Cookies by The Novice Chef Blog (@TheNoviceChef)
  • Bonus points go out to this recipe for using lots of honey – not only in the cookie itself, but as a filling as well. Yum! These cookies look very cute, especially with the toasted sliced almonds as bunny ears for garnish.

It seems that everyone’s cooking this week – so I thought I’d share some of the more interesting recipes from around the blogosphere. It’s been freezing in Colorado recently, so you’ll notice most of these involve using the oven:

• Roasted Acorn Squash with Honey-Lime Glazed Pepitas by Food Blogga
• Honey Chicken with Butternut Squash with Dried Cranberry and Pecan Rice Dressing by More Than Burnt Toast
• Pear Honey Vinaigrette by The Renegade Health Show (Episode #707)
• Honey Cornbread by Big Apple Nosh
• Honey Cornbread Muffins by Sweet Pea’s Kitchen
• Honey Lavender Sugar Cookies by Triple Max Tons
• Honey Spice Cookies by Maren’s Morsels
• Elegant Endives by Katie at the Kitchen Door
• Multigrain Rolls by Annie’s Eats

Happy Thanksgiving everyone!