NYC Honey Day Coincides With New Raw & Unfiltered Honey Release

Raw, unfiltered local honey

At The High Line today, local beekeepers and artisanal honey purveyors celebrate the burgeoning NYC (and Brooklyn-centric) honey movement http://www.thehighline.org/activities/nyc-honey-day-at-the-high-line. The pop-up includes samples of local honey and a glass enclosed beehive so you can see the inner workings.

Coincidently, I was sent a sample of L.R. Rice Raw & Unfiltered Honey. The company works with local beekeepers around the country so you can get local honey. With the way my allergies have been this year, I am grateful to get any benefit available from eating local honey.

Or drinking. 

I decided the make a simple syrup with the honey, substituting honey for the usual sugar. For cocktails, I prefer a less sweet simple syrup, so I use a 1:2 ratio of sugar to water; 1 part sugar to 2 parts water.

With honey, which is even sweeter, I used a 1:3 ratio. I steeped fresh mint in the syrup, then used it in a mint julep that both helped beat the heat and included the antimicrobial and antibacterial properties of raw unfiltered honey.

The syrup was cloudy, since honey is thicker than water, so the cocktails were not the most beautiful I’ve ever seen. But they may have been the healthiest.

Maybe next week I’ll try kale and gin.

For the mint simple syrup:

1/3 cup honey

1 cup water

3 sprigs of mint

Heat water and honey in a small pot till boiling. Turn off, add the mint, cover and let cool.

Pour into a mason jar and refrigerate.

If you don't use within a few days, strain the mint out.

For the mint julep

Fill a shaker with ice. Add 2 shots bourbon, 1 shot mint syrup. Shake and strain into a martini or coupe glass.

Garnish with fresh mint.

Enjoy!

Bermuda Rails to Trails

On Earth Day, creative reuse is on my mind. I love the High Line, in New York City which turned an abandoned rail trail into an elevated park.

And last weekend, I ran on the Bermuda Railway Trail, a walking, running and occasional biking path in Bermuda.

Bermuda’s short-lived railway cut through the heart of the island, and from the trail, you can see parts of Bermuda that are off the tourist track. I peeked into gardens and backyards and saw a lot of chickens and crazy wild nasturtiums. The leaves of some of those nasturtiums were bigger than my hand.

The Railway Trail is a work in progress; on parts, you have to watch out for cars, and if you are biking, you might have to carry your bicycle over trestles or up stairs. For a few miles around Hamilton, Bermuda’s main town, the railway abruptly ends.

But I was staying at the Fairmont Southampton, which has a railway entrance on its property.

Be sure to bring water; there are no facilities on the trail. 

On my 50 minute run, I encountered true solitude (except for the chickens). Most the section I ran was inaccessible to cars, and on the section that allowed cars, only one passed me. I saw no people.

Note: I was a guest of the Bermuda Department of Tourism.

Fitness Challenge: Day 4

New York City throws in a roadblock to the fitness quest. We live near the controversial new two-way bike lane, which I support. I like to ride the Prospect Park bike lane to show my support.

So, before riding our bikes to meet friends at the High Line, my husband and I ride the new bike lane to the farmer's market. Then we stop at home for bananas and lock our bikes outside. When we return, 10 minutes later, our bikes are gone.

Our Kryponite lock lies sliced in our front garden.

So, just a 3 mile bike ride, followed by walking 10 miles with our friends.

High Line & Haute Cuisine

One of the joys of the High Line extension is The Lot, at 30th Street and 10th Avenue, in NYC. This former parking lot, at the new northern terminus of The High Line, is filled food trucks and an outdoor bar, The Lot on Tap.

For those of us with OCD issues, The Lot has well-maintained portable toilets, with running water and soup outside, so you can wash your hands. The water is operated by a foot pedal, so no touching grotty faucets.

You need clean hands to tackle some of the food, which on the day we visited included Taim Mobile. This all vegetarian truck has falafel sandwiches, with fresh and tasty falafel and spicy sauces to perk up your lunch (or dinner - The Lot operates 11am – 10, Sunday – Wednesday; till 11pm other days).

Taim also makes a zesty and refreshing ginger mint lemonade and date smoothies; the kids can drink this while parents have a craft beer on tap.