HONEY HONEY

from the Green Table by Alexandra Guarnaschelli

Posted Mon, Jul 23, 2007, 4:52 pm PDT

Ode to Honey

I am always seduced by the honey stand at my local green market. The beeswax candles, the pollen, the different flavors of honey... How can so much good stuff come from one small creature? Here are some of my "rules" for selecting and using different types of honey:

--I buy the "single variety" (usually yielded from only one type of flower) honeys from a local producer that I trust. I find color speaks louder than words. Darker honeys, like Chestnut and Fir varieties, have a stronger flavor. Lighter colored varieties, like Acacia and Clover, are mellower.--Honeys that are jarred with a chunk of or small bits of the honeycomb or labeled "raw" have not been heated or filtered. Though their shelf life is shorter, they have complex and delicate flavors. Buy this type of honey in smaller quantities and use it in more straightforward preparations, like a drizzle on toast, mixed in cereal, or to glaze the top of a cake or tart in place of sugar.

--"Liquid" or "creamy" honeys are not necessarily any less organic" or "natural". They have merely been heated to easily filter out impurities or rendered "creamy" (non-opaque) to make them smoother and easier to use. Because their flavors tend to be more muted, I like to use these for preparations that involve heat. Heat a half a cup of honey, for example, until it bubbles and froths, and add a generous splash of sherry or red wine vinegar. Cook for an additional minute until the texture thickens, stir in some of your favorite mustard, and pour the mixture over a pork roast or roasted vegetables just as they finish cooking in the oven. A delicious glaze.

--Try a small jar of that bee pollen! These little nuggets, loaded with vitamins, taste like the pure essence of honey. I like to add them to my homemade granola mix. Sprinkle them over banana slices caramelized in some honey or sprinkle them over a bowl of yogurt.--Don't be ashamed of that plastic honey bear. Sure, "Grade A" or "Natural" honeys are the purest, but most of all, buy what you love and what you will use!

from Beauty Eats by Real Age

Posted Thu, Mar 29, 2007, 10:00 am PDT

The Magic of Honey

"Hi, honey!" That happy greeting may also apply to the yellow-capped squeezie bear in your pantry, since the contents are good for so much more than sweetening tea. Honey is a natural antiseptic, moisturizer and, thanks to all its antioxidants, an age-fighter too.

"The high concentration of sugars gives honey germ-killing power, which is why it's been used for thousands of years to encourage wound healing," says New York City dermatologist Amy Wechsler, MD, our RealAge skin expert. Honey's thick, sticky consistency also makes it a natural protective salve, sealing out infection and creating a moist healing environment within. Use it in a pinch, Wechsler suggests, if you develop blisters on a camping trip and remembered your honey packets but forgot the Neosporin.

Honey is a terrific moisturizer for the face and body, too. "Honey is a natural humectant, meaning it draws 'free water' from interior tissues to the surface layers of the skin," says Wechsler. That subtle fluid shift creates a plumping effect that temporarily improves the appearance of wrinkles--handy before a morning presentation or a big night out.

To see for yourself, try this moisturizing honey mask, which Wechsler says also sooths dry, sensitive, or irritated skin:

Mix 2 tablespoons of honey and 2 teaspoons of whole milk.
Warm slightly in the microwave.
Smooth the mixture onto the face and lie down for 10 minutes (relaxing, plus it avoids sticky drips).
Rinse off with warm-not hot-water.

If you prefer a more cosmetic form, store shelves are swarming with honey-enhanced beauty products such as BeeCeuticals Organics' Honey Thyme Hand and Body Lotion, which is made from unfiltered, organic, nonirradiated honey ($9.95 for 8 oz. at www.healthfromthehive.com). It's made to be gentle enough to use even on psoriasis or eczema. And Benefit's Honey...Snap Out of It Scrub ($23 for 5 oz. at www.benefitcosmetics.com) has honey, vitamin E, and crushed almonds. Leave it on for three minutes and you've got a soothing and smoothing honey/almond mask.

As for the age-fighting effects, all types of honey contain antioxidants that appear to block skin-cell damaging free radicals, though dark honeys--particularly the honeydew and buckwheat varieties (check health-food stores)--have more of them than paler clover honeys. While there's still a debate on how effective antioxidants are when applied to the skin, Wechsler gives the thumbs up to swirling dark honey into your yogurt every morning. "It's a simple way to nourish your skin from the inside." Sweet.

quick bites..

uuwahh !..


if there's any 'lazy cum boring blogger contest' out there..im sure i'll be one of them :p


nothing much happened and yet quite a bit of happening for the past dayssssss..


first i got hooked on one particular HK drama (溏心風暴 Heart of Greed) recently that i finished it within 3 days. it has really been a long long time since i REALLY watch a HK series especially ever since a man named BYJ appeared in my life. but maybe its bcos Bae's world has been kinda quite of late and bcos i managed to find some time during then that made me watch it. anyone watched the drama? kinda like Raymond Lam and after the watching him in this cos i din like him previously hahaha... and i like the way his character and his girlfriend write their diaries....u'll know if u watch it ^^


then my pc got sick. but after reformatting i cant seem to get my internet back on so had to wait for my bro's rescue. u know...i was 'out of wave' for almost 4 days and i survived..hahahahaha. so it isnt so bad after all without BYJ huh? ok ok....i did ask for a dear sis to inform me should there be any 'important' BYJ's news...hehehe...thanks sis !


but now that im back i had something else to do and my dateline is this friday and problem is i have to attend a company dinner on the same day ! gggrrrrrrr

ahh..i found this while browsing thru daum news...

who u think he looks like? they were saying Johnny Depp. i agree but i think i also see 'some YJ'.
their style somehow look kinda similar. IMHO whoever is in charge of 'dressing up' the 2 men should give each of them their own style. rest my case.


back to YJ...heard there were sightings of him here and there recently before he went back to work. wonder what its like being someone like him who gets spotted evwhere he goes....hmm...or maybe he's so used to it that he don mind at all BUT instead he'll be the one wondering if there's NOBODY around to spot him??


anyway...its good to know he's back at work finally and like evone else..lets hope things go smoothly for him and also the whole crew so that we'll get to the King in action SOON!

oh dear...guess i should get back to work now la...annyeong~