Honey, Sweetie

Though technically I have an outdoor space at home, it can’t reliably be called a yard. It’s concrete on five sides and open on top. I generously call it a patio, but really it’s the bottom of other peoples’ fire escape. And a drain. Sun sneaks in for an hour or two each day, and that’s barely enough to keep my hostas alive.

I think it’s my lack of a true garden space that allows me to declare with gusto (and no follow through) things like “I want to raise chickens! Wouldn’t that be wonderful?” And after tonight, “I want to keep bees!”

Tonight I watched Corky Luster of Ballard Bee Company pull bees out of a hive in a parking lot in Ballard—and I was hooked. They wiggled and squirmed. Some flew around. They all stayed close. And after just a few weeks in their parking lot home they had already started to make honey. It was amazing.

For now, I’ll continue to lean on my limited outdoor space as an excuse and rely on people like the folks at Ballard Bee Company and Sweet As Can Bee Honey to keep me supplied with local gold. But some day, I tell you, I’m going to keep bees.

Here's one of my favorite honey pairings and weeknight desserts:

• Dark chocolate
• Sharp cheese—a strong blue is my favorite, tonight I used Pecorino Romano because I had it
• Toasted whole walnuts
• Yummy local honey