Honey Bees in the Garden

         On our little homestead we have an very small orchard, with apple, plum, cherry, prune and pear trees. Their bloom signifies the beginning of spring and the arrival of every kind of bee around for miles. Amid our apple trees and grapes the mason bees emerge from hibernation to go to work. These amazing bees are hard workers and pollinate all my trees. Of course with the help of the local bumblebees and honeybees also. My husband and I love to watch all the bees working and doing their thing. This is when my husband got it stuck in his head that he wanted honeybees. I, on the other hand, was kind of leery of this idea. I asked him where on earth was he going to put them, we use every inch of this property. He didn't really know, he just wanted honeybees. We did some research and found some building plans for a hive. At this point I was still hoping he would lose interest in the idea of beekeeping. That evening he disappeared and I found him in the garage starting on the hive. At that moment I knew he was very serious.
       We visited the local bee supply store and bought a book on beekeeping. We also checked if we could buy a package of bees, but they were all sold out. ( yay! ) They put us on a waiting list just in case they had any cancellations. ( oh.) Evidently beekeeping is very popular in our area. I could tell my husband was very disappointed, I felt bad for him. So I did a little research, did I say a little, I mean a lot of research on honeybees. My husband in the mean time talked to a friend that has honeybees. He wanted to get some experience working with the bees before we got any. Come to find out the friends hive was about to swarm, so he told my husband he could give us some bees. I was a nervous wreak. Where were we going to put them? We have neighbors, we have children( young and old ), we have dogs. This was me in panic mode. My husband evidently wasn't worried at all. He had it all figured out. My daughter was just as freaked out as I was, she hates bees. My son was okay with it. He was so okay with it that when it was time to get the bees he wanted to watch ( without a bee suit). I didn't want any part of any part of it, so I stayed in the house. After it was all said and done I asked how it went and they all said really good. No one got stung, I was amazed.
      We brought the hive home and got it all set in place. My husband choose to put the hive at the end of our thorn less blackberry row, I was not a fan of this, but that is where they are.

We kept the bees closed up for the night and the next day so they could settle. Then it was time to open the entrances so the bees could get to know their new home. (I was so nervous.) We placed grass and leaves in front of the opening so the bees couldn't just pour out and fly away. Slowly, but surely they all came out and the air was filled with bees flying in a circle around the hive. I stayed quite a distance from the hive still being unsure about them. After awhile they all filed back into the hive and went to work. We watched the hive I would say for hours. The bees were hard at work coming and going getting the new home all clean, feeding, and gathering pollen and nectar. They were so interesting and fun to watch.
        Everyday my husband would come home from work, he would say hi to everyone and go straight out to the garden and his bees. Anytime we couldn't find him we would go out to the bees and sure enough there he would be sitting in a chair watching the bees. This forced me to get to know the bees and get over my nervousness. I am happy to say that I love having the bees, they really are a joy to watch. Our kids even like them and we all help when it is time for hive inspection. Our bees are very gentle we can open the hive with out bee suits. My husband wears a bee jacket, but this is because he is handling them and wants to be protected just in case. It has been a great experience for our whole family. Some evenings we all sit in front of the hive like we would a TV and just watch the bees. Some of our family members think that we have lost our minds, but I know we haven't. We just really enjoy the beauty of what God has created for us to watch, it is magnificent and very calming.
     

Dairy- free Gluten-free Brownies

      Okay the other day my daughter and I was looking for a dairy-free brownie recipe and to my amazement there was a ton of them. Some were just dairy-free and others were gluten and dairy-free. So we did some review reading and finally decided on gluten free dairy free brownies from Carla's Gluten Free Recipe Box . My daughter is not gluten free so we just went ahead and made the brownies with all purpose flour. These brownies were very easy to make my daughter makes them all by herself. Her first batch she used olive oil and she thought that it tasted to much like the olive oil, but they were still really good. The second batch she used grape seed oil and this was the winner. These brownies are so good that no one will know that they are dairy free.
     We went to a family thing this last week and my daughter brought her brownies. Sitting among a full table of deserts of all kinds sat her empty plate of dairy free brownies. Luckily my daughter got one for herself before they were all gone. She now has to make a double batch because there is never enough.
     We will be making these brownies gluten free next for those family members that can't have gluten.


Here is the recipe:

Gluten Free Dairy Free Brownies

Rating: 51

Yield: Makes 9 Gluten Free Brownies.

A light, yet fudgey, gluten free dairy free brownies recipe that your friends and family will never know are gluten free!

Ingredients:

• 1/2 cup Carla's Gluten Free All-Purpose Flour Blend Recipe
• 1/2 cup gluten free Dutch Processed cocoa powder (Rochelle brand)
• 1/4 teaspoon gluten free baking powder (Featherweight brand for corn-free)
• 1/4 teaspoon fine sea salt
• 1/2 cup cooking oil (I use EVOO or grape seed oil.)
• 1 cup sugar
• 2 extra large eggs
• 1 1/4 teaspoons pure vanilla extract

Instructions:

1. Preheat oven to 350°F.
2. In a medium size bowl, whisk together dry ingredients (excluding the sugar); set aside.
3. In a large bowl, whisk together the oil and sugar until well combined; add eggs and vanilla; whisk just until combined. Be careful not to over mix.
4. Add the dry ingredients into the oil/sugar mixture; pour into an ungreased 8 x 8-inch pan; bake for about 22 minutes or until sides begin to pull away from the sides of the pan and the top just begins to crack.
5. Cool completely; loosen edges with a knife; slice and serve. Cover and store at room temperature, or freeze individually wrapped.

Tips

The brownies in the photo were made with a portion of cornstarch, versus tapioca starch. See flour blend recipe link for options.

I plan on trying a double batch of these in a 9 x 13-inch pan, as these were a little low. If you decide to try it before I do, please note that the baking time will need to be increased due to the size and increased thickness. Once I try it, I'll update this recipe for the baking time.

If you do not have any Dutch processed cocoa powder on hand, I suppose you could use a natural, unsweetened cocoa powder, however, you should use baking soda, not baking powder. Natural unsweetened cocoa powder has a higher acidity level and works best with baking soda. The difference between Dutch processed and natural/unsweetened is that the Dutch processed variety has been alkalized (acid level washed out), making it less bitter, and darker. The standard rule for substituting baking powder for baking soda is to use 2/3 less, however, I am unsure how these would be effected with only a pinch of baking soda, when using unsweetened cocoa power. If I were to experiment I would keep it at the 1/4 teaspoon.

UPDATE: See my Gluten Free Substitutes page for substitutions.

 

http://glutenfreerecipebox.com/