There are over 300 unique flavors of honey in the U.S.
Color is usually an indication of flavor concentration. Colors can range from near-white through yellow, yellow-green, gold, amber, dark brown or red to even nearly black. Usually a lighter color will indicate a milder flavor, while darker honey is customarily more robust and contains more minerals. Texture can also vary from thin to heavy.

Honey may also be frozen, although there's really no need.

Do not be alarmed if stored honey becomes cloudy. This is called crystallization. It is not harmful nor is it any indication of deterioration. In fact, honey has an indefinite shelf-life thanks to its high concentration of sugar. Raw honey with high pollen content will crystallize even faster, and cold temperatures also cause crystals. Crystallized honey is one of the many forms intentionally produced for purchase by many beekeepers.

If your honey crystallizes, you can easily re-liquify it by gently heating the jar in a pan of hot water, stirring while heating.
Do not overheat as heat may alter flavor and color as a result of carmelization of the sugars.

not for babies!                                                                        
Although honey is a natural, healthy food that normally cannot support bacterial life, it's important to note that it can carry C. botulinum spores which may be harmful to the undeveloped immune systems of infants. The old practice of dipping pacifiers into honey to soothe crying babies should be aborted.

Infants up to one year of age should not be fed raw honey, as their immune systems are not yet developed enough to fend off this normally benign strain. Infection can cause a flaccid paralysis weakening the baby's muscles, causing a "floppy" baby. Other symptoms include constipation, lethargy, poor feeding, weak cry, droopy eyelids, expressionless face, drooling or swallowing difficulty, and occasionally, respiratory arrest. By the age of one year, most children develop enough to resist this normally benign strain of botulinum.

Infant botulism is rarely lethal, but is obviously easy to avoid in this instance. Although food manufacturers make extensive use of honey in their products, baby food manufacturers, as a rule, will not include honey in their foods recommended for those babies under one year of age.

It must also be pointed out that infant botulism is not exclusive to the ingestion of honey. The botulism spore can also be found in dust, soil and other uncooked foods that older children and adults are exposed to daily. The risk is minimal. Yet, it is an avoidable risk, and honey should not be fed to infants under the age of twelve months. Don't play the odds.

Honey and Health
Honey is composed of two main sugars, levulose and dextrose. These sugars do not need to be broken down by the digestive process, so honey is quickly absorbed into the bloodstream, giving a quick energy boost to the body. It also contains protein, vitamins and minerals, but no cholesterol.

Darker honeys have more nutrients than light ones. Vitamin and mineral content depend on the floral source of the honey. Honey has less than 2% sodium, and as such can be labeled as a sodium-free product by Food & Drug Administration standards.

Thick&Easy® from Hormel
Hormel Health Labs Offers Flavorful Products for Swallowing Difficulty.
www.homecarenutrition.com
The reason is because honey has osmotic properties; that is, it tends to withdraw water. Water molecules strongly react with the sugars in honey, leaving little water available for microorganisms. Thus, infection-causing bacteria is literally dehydrated to death by honey.

Enzymatic activities of honey also produce hydrogen peroxide, which generate highly reactive free radicals which kill bacteria, further contributing to its antibacterial properties.

Honey has also been used to successfully store skin grafts for up to twelve weeks. Lab tests have shown that different types of honey have differing antibacterial sensitivities, so research continues to determine which floral sources are most beneficial.

Honey Recipes

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Honey Recipes Index: Honey Butter, Honey Creamed Cheese, Orange Cream Spread, Orange-Date Muffins, Honey Jelly, Honey Hard Cookies, Spicy Honey Applesauce Cake, Comb Honey Used, Winter Delight, Milk & Honey Bread, Orange & Honey Bread, Honey-Moist Cornbread, Honey Bread, Honey Sweet 'n Sour Wings , Oven-Baked Orange Chicken , Roast Turkey with Honey Cranberry Relish

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Honey Butter
In small bowl, cream ½ cup margarine or butter until soft. Slowly beat in ¼ cup honey; beat on high speed until light.

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Honey Creamed Cheese
In a small bowl, cream 1 pkg. ( 8 oz.) cream cheese until soft. Gradually beat in ¼ cup honey.

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Orange Cream Spread
One 8-oz package cream cheese
1/4 cup honey 2 tablespoons orange juice 1/2 teaspoon grated orange peel
Combine all ingredients and blend well. This can be kept chilled overnight. If not making it for a bee meeting, try it for breakfast on rolls, muffins or a croissant.

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Orange-Date Muffins
2 eggs Preheat oven to 375 degrees. Butter muffin tins. Squeeze enough juice from oranges to make ½ cup, combine with milk. Take one of the squeezed oranges and chop coarsely. Place chopped rind in the blender with milk, butter, eggs, honey and blend until finely chopped. Stir wet mixture into dry mixture and quickly mix together. Fold in dates. Spoon into tins and bake 20 minutes. Cool on rack. Can be frozen. Makes 18.
1 cup whole wheat flour
½ cup unbleached white flour
2 tsp. baking powder
2 oranges
½ tsp. salt
½ cup wheat germ
¼ cup melted butter
½ cup mild honey
½ cup dates, chopped

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Honey Jelly
Mix honey and water, heat to boiling quickly and add pectin at once, stirring constantly. Then heat to a full rolling boil and immediately remove from heat. Skim; pour quickly into sterile jelly glasses and seal with paraffin at once. Makes about 5 (6 oz.) glasses. Vicki Cresson
3 cups (2 1/3 lbs.) strained honey
1 cup water
½ cup (½ bottle) pectin

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Hard Honey Cookies
Combine sugar and honey in large mixing bowl, beating well. Add egg, cinnamon, cloves, ginger and salt, beat well. Dissolve soda in water; add to honey mixture, stirring well. Stir in flour and almonds. Press dough evenly into a greased and floured 13 x 9 x 2 inch baking pan. Bake at 350 degrees for 20 to 25 minutes. Cut into 3 x 1 inch bars. Remove cookies to wire rack to cool completely. Yield: about 3 dozen. NOTE: cookies may be stored 3 to 4 weeks in a cake tin with an apple to mellow.
1 cup sugar
1 egg
½ cup honey
1 tsp. ground cinnamon
½ tsp. ground cloves
dash of salt
¼ tsp. ground ginger
1 tbsp. water
½ tsp. baking soda
2 1/3 cups flour
½ cup slivered almonds

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Spicy Honey Applesauce Cake

Cream honey and butter. Blend in eggs, vanilla and applesauce. In separate bowl, combine dry ingredients, then stir gradually into creamed mixture. Add to a greased 9 x 13 inch pan. Bake at 325 degrees for 25-40 minutes. E. Ballard, Dryden

1 cup honey
½ cup butter
3 eggs, beaten
1 tsp. vanilla
1 cup applesauce
1 tsp. cinnamon
2 cups flour, sifted
½ tsp. salt
1 tsp. baking soda
½ tsp. nutmeg
¼ tsp. powdered cloves
1 cup nuts, chopped
¼ tsp. powdered ginger
Comb Honey Used

Sandra Ruggles of Dryden uses comb honey (wax & all) in her bread recipes. Mix comb honey with olive oil & water in blender and use as the liquid in bread recipes.

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Winter Delight

Put cranberries in a blender to mash and grind skins. Cook apples and cranberries about 45 minutes, until tender. Measure out 3 cups pulp and add pineapple, lemon juice and honey to it. Mix well and boil rapidly at 9 degrees above boiling until thick and clear, about 8 minutes. Spoon hot into hot sterilized jars. Leave ¼ head space. Process 10 minutes in boiling water bath. Makes 5 ½ pints. Leslie Ballerini

3 cups cranberries
1 ½ cups water
1 ½ cups diced apples, peeled
1 ½ cups crushed pineapple, undrained
2 tbsp. lemon juice
2 1/3 cups honey

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Milk and Honey Bread

Heat milk and honey together until the honey is dissolved, then stir in the butter. When the milk and honey mixture is somewhat cooled, beat in the eggs. Sift together the flours and baking power. Add the wheat germ and gradually stir the dry mixture into the liquid. Stir in the walnuts, mix well and turn into a butter loaf pan. Bake at 325 degrees for 1 hour. Makes 1 loaf.

Shawn Mistaleski

Similar recipe submitted by Rande Listerman

1 cup milk
2/3 cups honey
¼ cup butter
1 tbsp. baking powder
1 ½ cups white flour
2 eggs
1 cup whole wheat flour
½ cup toasted wheat germ
1 cup walnut halves or chunks

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Orange-Honey Bread

Cream shortening and honey together thoroughly. Add egg and orange rind. Sift flour and baking powder, soda and salt. Add to creamed mixture alternately with orange juice. Add nuts. Bake in greased loaf pan in moderate oven (325 degrees) for 70 minutes. Makes 1 loaf. Vicki Cresson

2 tbsp. shortening
1 cup honey
1 ½ tbsp.. grated orange rind
2 2/3 cups sifted flour
1 egg, beaten
2 ½ tsp. baking powder
½ tsp. baking soda
½ tsp. salt ¾ cup orange juice
¾ cup chopped nut meats

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Honey-Moist Cornbread

Heat oven to 400 degrees. In a medium bowl, stir together flour, cornmeal, sugar, baking powder and salt. Stir in remaining ingredients just until moistened. Pour into greased 9” square baking pan. Bake for 20 to 25 minutes or until wooden pick inserted in center comes out clean. Vicki Cresson

2 cups all-purpose flour
½ cup sugar
1 cup yellow cornmeal
½ tsp. salt
1 tbsp. baking powder
¼ cup honey
1 cup whipping cream
¼ cup vegetable oil
2 eggs, slightly beaten
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Honey Bread

Mix all ingredients together. Fill foil-lined, greased tins ½ to ¾ full. Bake in slow oven (325 degrees) for 1-1 ¼ hours. Remove from pans and foil. Cool. Wrap in plastic wrap or foil and store in tightly covered container to ripen. (2-3 weeks) When ripe, the top will have a very moist layer. Slice thinly and serve as cofee cake. May be buttered if desired. This makes 3-4 medium loaves.

This recipe was given to my parents by a Belgian couple (Truck gardeners who lived near Selfrigde Field) in the Mid 1930’s. We make at least one batch in time to be ready to eat at Christmas and often will make another later.

It is a good way to use up left-over coffee, but it can be made with strong instant coffee also. It is very important that you follow the instructions about the lining in the pan and the ripening of the bread after the baking. The pans are bread loaf size. We use the smaller size as this gives more top sides. Richard C. Bloom, Grand Blanc.

2 lbs. flour
4 tsp soda
2 eggs
1 tbsp salt
1 pint sugar
1 tbsp cinnamon
1 pint coffee
few drops oil of anise
1 pint honey
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Honey Sweet 'n Sour Wings
Makes 1-1/2 pounds
(18-24 wings).

3/4 cup honey
3/4 cup diced red sweet peppers
1/3 cup rice wine vinegar
1/3 cup pineapple juice
1/2 teaspoon garlic salt
1/2 teaspoon bottled hot pepper sauce
1 1/2 pounds fried or baked chicken wings

Combine honey, peppers, vinegar, pineapple juice and seasonings in small saucepan; mix well. Cook and stir until mixture begins to thicken. Pour over chicken wings in baking dish. Bake at 350 ºF 12 to 15 minutes or until wings are glazed with sauce.

Serving tip: For a spicier version buffalo chicken wings may be used.
Oven-Baked Orange Chicken
Makes 6 servings.

From the National Honey Board

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Oven-Baked Orange Chicken
Makes 6 servings.

6 chicken breast halves,(4 to 6 oz. each) skinned if desired
1/4 cup (1/2 stick) butter or margarine, melted
1 can (6 oz.) frozen orange juice concentrate, thawed
1/4 cup honey
3/4 cup fine bread crumbs
1/2 cup all-purpose flour
1 tsp. paprika
1/4 tsp. thyme
1/2 tsp. Salt

Brush chicken breasts with butter. Combine undiluted orange juice and honey in shallow dish. Mix bread crumbs, flour, paprika, thyme and salt. Roll chicken in honey mixture, then in bread crumb mix. Place chicken in a large greased baking pan and drizzle with any remaining butter or honey mixture. Bake at 375° F for 45 to 50 minutes or until tender and no longer pink.

From the National Honey Board

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Roast Turkey with Honey Cranberry Relish
Makes 8 servings.

1 medium orange
12 oz. fresh or frozen whole cranberries
3/4 cup honey
2 lbs. sliced roasted turkey breast

Quarter and slice unpeeled orange, removing seeds. Coarsely chop orange and cranberries. Place in a medium saucepan and stir in honey. Bring to a boil over medium-high heat. Cook 3 to 4 minutes;cool. Serve over turkey.

From the National Honey Board

For additional honey recipes go to www.honey.com
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