Today…it’s about GRACE.
Which makes me think of HONEY.
I started honey sampling this past winter. German honey production has a rich history and can be a consistently lucrative. Honey bees and making money extends back to the pre-Chrisitan era, most notoriously in the form of Honey Wine (not MY cup of tea). The first laws of the land on record contain how-to guidelines regulating the honey making business. Every year, an exact account had to be performed, and churches and abbeys relied on honey making for candles, honey, and alcohol production. More recently, in 1976, they enacted a food law titled ‘the Honey Purification Act’ that stipulates extremely strict standards for honey purification. Sugar contents, HMF and enzymes are among these standards.
Meaning…they take their product very seriously.
I think I go through about the smallest package of sugar every four months or so, but average 2-3 baked goods a week. I rely on honey, molasses, agave and maple syrup as sweeteners in these baked goods.
And so, it’s not hard to imagine my delight when introduced to the honey-maker stand this past January. I am now looking for local honey almost every where I travel….including a past trip to china. I brought this back to fellow honey lover and after a month “stole” the jar back to serve up in a lovely, oh so scrumptious honey cake.
Southern Style
Corn Meal Honey Cake
1 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
1 Cup Bob’s Gluten Free Mighty Tasty Hot Cereal
3 teaspoons baking powder, 1 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 teaspoon kosher salt
(Spices….4 teaspoons ground cinnamon, 1/2 teaspoon ground cloves, 1/2 teaspoon ground allspice)
1/3 cup vegetable oil
1 cup honey
1 large eggs at room temperature
1 teaspoon vanilla extract, 1/4 teaspoon orange extract
1/2 cup strong tea
1/4 cup Tequilla
Fits in one large loaf pan. Preheat oven to 350°F. Generously grease pan(s) with non-stick cooking spray. In a large bowl, mix dry ingredients and wet ingredients separately, and then slowly mis together.
Bake until cake tests done, until it springs back about 35 to 40 minutes.
Let cake stand fifteen minutes before removing from pan.
Grace is a funny thing
You can gulp it in the morning,
and be parched by afternoon
Slumbering,
we don’t touch the miracles
or the wonders
or the a-mazing hereness of
us
we feel
suffering means
something is wrong
and don’t care
that the truth often is,
the broken body means something is healing
the temper tantrum that the brain is growing
the weed that the soil is fertile
and the tears that the love was vital
So, no matter where you are with
GOD
you honor me
by showing up
and sharing
this
honey
and that, to me…
is
GRACE
