The Fresh Honey Cookbook

September 15, 2013

With beekeeping on the rise, so is the need for recipes that use its sweet by-product--honey. Cafe owner and beekeeper Masterton uses her North Carolina locality as inspiration for this cookbook. She offers 84 recipes grouped by month, emphasizing a different honey varietal and assortment of fresh ingredients in each section. The author also returns to her roots (her parents' famed Blueberry Hill Inn), including many recipes from her mother Elsie Masterton's series of cookbooks, adapted for today's honey varietals. Each set of recipes features a full menu, from appetizers such as BBT (bacon, basil, and tomato) bites to desserts such as sauteed fruit compote with brandy. Information about bees and beekeeping are highlighted with seasonal beekeeping tips, spotlight information on bees, and an emphasis on ingredients that would not be available without these insects and their pollination. VERDICT Readers with an appreciation of bees and honey will enjoy this compendium of recipes and information that suggests sweet and savory dishes for throughout the year.--Kristi Chadwick, Emily Williston Memorial Lib., Easthampton, MA

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