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Honey

Spotlight on Singing Cedars Apiaries

Indigenous Peoples’ Day is celebrated on the second Monday of October and offers a time to honor the historic and cultural significance of the Indigenous Peoples here in Vermont and beyond, with the recognition that our country was founded and built upon unceded lands that Indigenous communities have inhabited and stewarded since time immemorial. The Western Abenaki are the traditional caretakers of these Vermont lands and waters, which they call Ndakinna. With this in mind, we wanted to shine an extra bright Member Deals Spotlight on Singing Cedars Apiaries, which, according to their website, was started by native Abenaki Roland Smith and his wife Deborah in the basement of their teepee in 1971. From October 5th – 11th, Co-op member-owners can enjoy a 20% discount on all of Singing Cedars Apiaries’ glorious honey products! Read on to learn more about this family-owned business and their commitment to providing you the best honey the Champlain Valley has to offer:

 

Singing Cedars Apiaries is a family operation started by native Abenaki Roland (Wants To Be Chief) and his wife Deborah (Little Cloud Big Storm) in the basement of their teepee in 1971. According to their website, they specialize in producing pure raw honey for retail sale, and nucleus colonies and queens both for their own enterprise and to sell to other beekeepers. A feature in American Bee Journal also points out that they sell their beeswax to candle makers and crafters, maximizing the use of every material their bees produce. In true family fashion, Roland, Deborah, and their four children developed this apiary which now manages over 1100 colonies with their grandchildren and Son-in-Laws Christopher (Hates to Bee Sticky) and Tim (Aboriginee) doing much of the work. Deborah was heavily involved with the beekeeping in the beginning, though now she has her hands full managing the office handling all of the orders of honey, queens, and nucs. 

Over the years they’ve established authentic relationships with each of the local retail outlets that offer their honey. Roland points out that the customers they’ve served for 20-plus years, with whom they have developed strong working relationships are the foundation of their stable business. Their bees are spread out over both sides of Lake Champlain in both Vermont and New York. Their forage primarily consists of white Dutch clover, honeysuckle, basswood, goldenrod, and asters. In a good year, they’re able to produce 100 – 150 pounds of honey per hive!

Singing Cedars offers a variety of honey products, including creamed honey flavored with natural oils. Their honey is unpasteurized to retain all the natural goodness nature provided in its enzymes and pollen, and unfiltered yet strained to remove any wax and propolis sometimes associated with raw honey to provide a rich smooth product for your enjoyment.

Charcuterie

The season of picnics, potlucks, and graduation celebrations is upon us and charcuterie boards can make for an attractive, low-effort, crowd-pleasing centerpiece for these types of gatherings. The word “charcuterie” refers to cold cooked, cured, or smoked meats, so in the most literal sense, a traditional charcuterie board is just a meat platter, though the everyday definition has expanded to include a broad combination of cheeses, dried and fresh fruits and vegetables, pickled veggies, toasted nuts, olives, and complementary condiments – honeys, jams, jellies, chutneys, mustards and more! Our weekly sale from May 18th – 24th features a lineup of ingredients to help get you started and this recipe will guide you in pulling those ingredients together. That being said, a prime ingredient in any charcuterie board is creativity, so consider this a canvas upon which to build according to your own tastes!

Roasted Grapefruit with Granola & Yogurt

Ever tried roasting a grapefruit? Now’s a great time to give it a try! You’ll find organic grapefruits featured in the weekly sale from January 5th – 11th and this simple recipe will help you pull it off. The warmth and spice from the ginger elevate this citrus fruit to a new level. Paired with local Cabot yogurt, which happens to be featured in the sale, plus your favorite local granola and a drizzle of honey, you’ve got a uniquely delicious new way to enjoy some healthy breakfast staples. 

Honey Pistachio Brittle

Whether you’re a seasoned pro at candy-making or this is your very first foray, we think you’ll find success with this super simple Pistachio Brittle recipe. It skips the corn syrup in favor of local raw honey. You’ll find organic pistachios featured in our Weekly Sale from November 26th – 30th, so it’s a perfect time to whip up a big batch. If you manage to summon the restraint needed to avoid eating it all yourself, we happen to think it packages up beautifully for an edible holiday gift. Just be sure to store it in a cool, dry place to keep it crisp!

Spotlight on Singing Cedars Apiaries

Indigenous Peoples’ Day is celebrated on the second Monday of October and offers a time to honor the historic and cultural significance of the Indigenous Peoples here in Vermont and beyond, with the recognition that our country was founded and built upon unceded lands that they have inhabited and stewarded since time immemorial. The Western Abenaki are the traditional caretakers of these Vermont lands and waters, which they call Ndakinna. With this in mind, we wanted to shine an extra bright Member Deals Spotlight on Singing Cedars Apiaries, which, according to their website, was started by native Abenaki Roland Smith and his wife Deborah in the basement of their teepee in 1971. From October 6th – 12th, Co-op member-owners can enjoy a 20% discount on all of Singing Cedars Apiaries’ glorious honey products! Read on to learn more about this family-owned business and their commitment to providing you the best honey the Champlain Valley has to offer:

 

Singing Cedars Apiaries is a family operation started by native Abenaki Roland (Wants To Be Chief) and his wife Deborah (Little Cloud Big Storm) in the basement of their teepee in 1971. According to their website, they specialize in producing pure raw honey for retail sale, and nucleus colonies and queens both for their own enterprise and to sell to other beekeepers. A feature in American Bee Journal also points out that they sell their beeswax to candle makers and crafters, maximizing the use of every material their bees produce. In true family fashion, Roland, Deborah, and their four children developed this apiary which now manages over 1100 colonies with their grandchildren and Son-in-Laws Christopher (Hates to Bee Sticky) and Tim (Aboriginee) doing much of the work. Deborah was heavily involved with the beekeeping in the beginning, though now she has her hands full managing the office handling all of the orders of honey, queens, and nucs. 

Over the years they’ve established authentic relationships with each of the local retail outlets that offer their honey. Roland points out that the customers they’ve served for 20 plus years, with whom they have developed strong working relationships are the foundation of their stable business. Their bees are spread out over both sides of Lake Champlain in both Vermont and New York. Their forage primarily consists of white Dutch clover, honeysuckle, basswood, goldenrod, and asters. In a good year, they’re able to produce 100 – 150 pounds of honey per hive!

Singing Cedars offers a variety of honey products, including creamed honey flavored with natural oils. Their honey is unpasteurized to retain all the natural goodness nature provided in its enzymes and pollen, and unfiltered yet strained to remove any wax and propolis sometimes associated with raw honey to provide a rich smooth product for your enjoyment.

Roasted Grapefruit with Granola & Yogurt

Ever tried roasting a grapefruit? We hadn’t either, but with grapefruits featured in the weekly sale from December 30th – January 5th, it seemed like a great time to give this recipe a try. We were instantly hooked! The warmth and spice from the ginger elevate this citrus fruit to a new level. Paired with local, True North Granola and Green Mountain Creamery yogurt, both of which are featured in the sale, plus a drizzle of honey, and you’ve got a unique new way to enjoy some healthy breakfast staples. 

Honey Pistachio Brittle

Whether you’re a seasoned pro at candy-making or this is your very first foray, we think you’ll find success with this super simple Pistachio Brittle recipe. It skips the corn syrup in favor of local raw honey from our friends at Lemon Fair Honeyworks. You’ll find their delicious honey along with organic pistachios featured in our Weekly Sale from December 2nd – 8th, so it’s a perfect time to whip up a big batch. If you manage to summon the restraint needed to avoid eating it all yourself, we happen to think it packages up beautifully for an edible holiday gift. Just be sure to store it in a cool, dry place to keep it crisp!

Spotlight on Singing Cedars Apiaries

Indigenous Peoples’ Day is celebrated on the second Monday of October and offers a time to honor the historic and cultural significance of the Indigenous Peoples here in Vermont and beyond, with the recognition that our country was founded and built upon unceded lands that they have inhabited and stewarded since time immemorial. The Western Abenaki are the traditional caretakers of these Vermont lands and waters, which they call Ndakinna. With this in mind, we wanted to shine an extra bright Member Deals Spotlight on Singing Cedars Apiaries, which, according to their website, was started by native Abenaki Roland Smith and his wife Deborah in the basement of their teepee in 1971. From October 7th – 13th, Co-op member-owners can enjoy a 20% discount on all of Singing Cedars Apiaries’ glorious honey products! Read on to learn more about this family-owned business and their commitment to providing you the best honey the Champlain Valley has to offer:

 

Singing Cedars Apiaries is a family operation started by native Abenaki Roland (Wants To Be Chief) and his wife Deborah (Little Cloud Big Storm) in the basement of their teepee in 1971. According to their website, they specialize in producing pure raw honey for retail sale, and nucleus colonies and queens both for their own enterprise and to sell to other beekeepers. A feature in American Bee Journal also points out that they sell their beeswax to candle makers and crafters, maximizing the use of every material their bees produce. In true family fashion, Roland, Deborah, and their four children developed this apiary which now manages over 1100 colonies with their grandchildren and Son-in-Laws Christopher (Hates to Bee Sticky) and Tim (Aboriginee) doing much of the work. Deborah was heavily involved with the beekeeping in the beginning, though now she has her hands full managing the office handling all of the orders of honey, queens, and nucs. 

Over the years they’ve established authentic relationships with each of the local retail outlets that offer their honey. Roland points out that the customers they’ve served for 20 plus years, with whom they have developed strong working relationships are the foundation of their stable business. Their bees are spread out over both sides of Lake Champlain in both Vermont and New York. Their forage primarily consists of white Dutch clover, honeysuckle, basswood, goldenrod, and asters. In a good year, they’re able to produce 100 – 150 pounds of honey per hive!

Singing Cedars offers a variety of honey products, including creamed honey flavored with natural oils. Their honey is unpasteurized to retain all the natural goodness nature provided in its enzymes and pollen, and unfiltered yet strained to remove any wax and propolis sometimes associated with raw honey to provide a rich smooth product for your enjoyment.

Spotlight on Champlain Valley Apiaries

We’re shining this week’s Member Deals Spotlight on a local business that’s been providing local honey to the Co-op since the very beginning – over 40 years ago. In fact, Champlain Valley Apiaries was founded long before the Co-op existed, way back in 1931, and they’ve been producing pristine, delicious Vermont honey ever since! From February 13th – 19th, member-owners can enjoy 20% off their full line of gooey golden goodness. Read on to learn more about this wonderful local business and their commitment to environmental stewardship:

Champlain Valley Apiaries is a 3rd generation Vermont family-owned business. Founded in 1931 by innovative beekeeper Charles Mraz, they have been producing delicious Vermont honey for over 85 years. Their mission, along with producing the highest quality honey, is to foster sustainable agriculture and bring awareness to the essential role of honeybees in our food system. They are committed to protecting all pollinators, the environment, the well being of their employees, and the local community where they live and work.

They also continually assess and modify business operations so as to lessen their impact on the environment by increasing operational efficiency, conserving energy, water, and other natural resources, reducing waste generation, and eliminating the use of harmful materials. Champlain Valley Apiaries is committed to a triple bottom line, not only valuing profit but seeking environmental excellence and social awareness within their company culture.

The folks at Champlain Valley Apiaries describe their honey as a floral snapshot of a particular area at a given time. Bees gather nectar from a variety of floral sources, depending on the time of year. Sources include things like clover, alfalfa, birdsfoot trefoil, various trees, dandelions, and goldenrod, to name a few. For this reason, the exact makeup of their honey will vary from year to year and even from bee yard to bee yard. In order to keep a consistent product, they blend their Vermont honey with other premium honey produced in the U.S. and Canada.

They treat their bees organically and, during the winter, hives are left with enough of their own honey to survive and thrive. Throughout the company’s history, they have earned a reputation among beekeepers for producing a hardy strain of honeybee that is disease-resistant and able to thrive in the harsh Vermont winter. Owner Chas reflected on their 2019 season in a recent Champlain Valley Apiaries blog post. In his post, he references the flurry of media attention given to the large quantities of adulterated honey on grocery store shelves and reminds consumers of the importance of purchasing honey from local producers whose practices you can verify and trust. Chas assures that, “you will never get anything but the best and 100% pure honey from us at Champlain Valley Apiaries. Our commitment to our product goes back three generations and 88 years and will never be compromised.”

 

 

Baked Honey Pecan Pears

Looking for a simple and elegant hors d’oeuvre to serve at your New Year’s Eve celebration? We think you’ll love these Baked Honey Pecan Pears! The recipe features a handful of ingredients from our December 26th – 31st Weekly Sale, including an amazing local cheese that is the product of a collaboration between the organic dairy farmers at Scholten Family Farms in Weybridge and Jasper Hill Farm in the Northeast Kingdom. Roasting the pears for a few minutes helps to soften them and bring out their natural sweetness and the entire recipe takes around 10 minutes from start to finish!