Monthly Archives: February 2012

National Trust honey – sustainable living at Swan Barn Farm

Posted on February 26, 2012 by elizabethgowing

‘The simple action of putting honey from a local beekeeper on your toast in the morning can have knock-on benefits across the countryside.’ This is advice from David Elliott, the National Trust warden at Swan Barn Farm near Haslemere in … Continue reading →

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Travels in Turkey’s honey

Posted on February 25, 2012 by elizabethgowing

In my last post I promised I’d talk more about the honey I brought back with me from Istanbul. Of course, I brought back lots of honeys – those circulating in my bloodstream still from sampling in the market, the … Continue reading →

Posted in Turkey | 3 Comments

How the Bal-kans got its name. Bal and apricots for breakfast in Istanbul

Posted on February 23, 2012 by elizabethgowing

I’m writing this at Istanbul airport, on my way home after a mini-break of honey. Honey has been a fine golden thread running through our meals and our shopping, and connecting me here in the Ottoman capital, with the food … Continue reading →

Posted in Turkey | 2 Comments

Afternoon tea with hazelnut and honey cake

Posted on February 19, 2012 by elizabethgowing

It’s Sunday afternoon, and that means tea. As Monday and its obligations nudge nearer, there is only one thing to do: hunker down around the toaster with a pot of honey, and a freshly-baked cake. Today, this was our cake, … Continue reading →

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Swimming in baklava? The honey from Pristina’s lakeside hives

Posted on February 18, 2012 by elizabethgowing

On one of my first weekends in Kosovo a new friend invited us to come with her on a day trip to a local beauty spot. ‘Everyone loves swimming in Lake Baklava’ (I thought) she said. A lake of baklava … Continue reading →

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Independence Day in Kosovo; my celebratory hazelnuts in honey recipe

Posted on February 17, 2012 by elizabethgowing

Last night I made my way home along the main thoroughfare in Pristina, stumbling and slipping and having near-misses with a pavement which is more like a ploughed field in texture; churned and scarified and half-melted and refrozen, icy and … Continue reading →

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Pots in the post: transported to a Warwickshire garden

Posted on February 12, 2012 by elizabethgowing

Beekeepers are sharing people. It’s a craft, or a science, best learned from others in situ, not from books. Just as I was tutored by Adem on his smallholding in north-east Kosovo, 2km from the Serbian border, most beekeepers owe … Continue reading →

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Bzzzz Brrrr. Seeing you through winter – bee fondant

Posted on February 7, 2012 by elizabethgowing

It’s cold here. It’s cold almost everywhere in the northern hemisphere as far as I can tell, but the polar gales, the snowdrifts, the frozen pipes and frozen roads and frozen fingers – they seem to have set up their … Continue reading →

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