2014 and the Greensboro Adventure
I completely missed my date of return. In my final post of 2013 I indicated I’d be back up and running by November. I didn’t mean to lie but I should have known better. If you have been following my blog for anytime and read the last post you know my husband was working out of town for several months while I held down the Texas fort, held down a job and made preparations for one spectacular wedding!
I made mention of some changes when 2014 rolled around. Now I can divulge the changes that have taken place with “The Orange Bee”. It will explain why I wasn’t able to be back up and running in November.
First, we are proud of the addition of our terrific son in law, who I’ll refer to as Ty. Our daughter LuLu tied the knot with Ty on a dreary October day in the Texas hill country. No matter the grey of the day nor the quick rain shower that came just as dinner was to be served the event was perfect and beautiful. Held in an old Amish barn adorned with glowing candles and just under 200 of our closest friends and families LuLu and Ty said, “I do”. Then we had a party! I can’t resist sharing a few photos of LuLu & Ty’s big day.
Now that I have bored you with family photos let me move on to what happened next. My man Dan and I moved to North Carolina! Yep, we have moved to Greensboro, N.C. All of the time spent apart for Dan and me turned into a permanent job for him as senior photog for a major department store. His working for this new studio is a blessing to say the least.
The decision for us to move – lock, stock and barrel from Texas to North Carolina didn’t come easy. The one hard part for me is that I chose to leave my bees in Texas. I felt the move, especially at this time of year would be stressful for them and I could end up loosing them. I have found another beekeeper who will move the hives to his pastures in the spring. I miss my bees. I worked hard to recover each hive I have and to keep them healthy and happy for over 3 years. It is not easy to give them up. One good thing is I have already met a couple of local bee keepers and plan on taking my hobby up again, here in North Carolina. I can’t say for sure when I will start my first hive but you will be the first to know! I might even be lucky enough to keep one or two in my back yard.
Needless to say my delay in blogging can be attributed to having to pack up our home of 22 years, solo, and prepare to move the week of Thanksgiving. It was huge for me but I accomplished it and when the movers showed up I was ready.
Greensboro is a beautiful city and North Carolina is a fabulous state. We are already enjoying the diversity so close by. Mountains, rivers, lakes, wildlife, city life, and beaches, all a stones throw away. The city of Greensboro is bursting with local arts, night life, Revolutionary War history, parks, hiking trails and an abundance of fantastic grocery stores.
I am still adjusting to all the newness but am feeling so grounded today as I sit and begin writing for “The Orange Bee” once again. This year I am devoting my blog recipes to “Honey”. I will be testing and using honey in dozens of recipes and sharing my results with you. I am also excited to begin writing reviews about restaurants, food stores, and farmers markets not only locally, but around the state. This seems like a natural progression for me as we will be exploring new establishments regularly.
Please stop by again soon to follow along on my “Greensboro Adventure”. I’ll leave you with one of my favorite honey recipes which I will be baking later today. Don’t be fooled, in the future my honey recipes will not always be dessert related!
Enjoy!
Honey, Orange & Ginger Cookie
Honey, Orange & Ginger Cookies
Ingredients:
1/2 cup butter, softened
1/3 cup white sugar
1/3 cup brown sugar, firmly packed
1/2 cup honey
1 tsp. orange extract
1 large egg
2 1/4 cups all-purpose flour
1 tbsp. orange zest
1 tsp. ground ginger
1/2 tsp. baking soda
1/2 tsp. baking powder
Preheat oven to 350*. Beat sugar and butter at medium speed with a heavy-duty electric stand mixer until creamy. Add honey, orange extract and egg, beating until blended. In a medium bowl stir together dry ingredients. Gradually add dry ingredients to sugar mixture beating until blended. Cover and chill at least 30 minutes and up to 1 hour. Shape dough into 1″ balls, roll in sugar. Place 2″ apart on ungreased baking sheets and slightly flatten each with the bottom of a glass. Bake 8-10 minutes or until lightly browned. Cool completely on wire racks. Makes about 4 dozen.
Unreal! I was just thinking about you and your blog the other day, even stopped by to see if there was anything going on that maybe my subscription failed to notify me…
Glad to see you back, and so full of great news!
beautiful couple… beautiful photos…
HAPPY NEW YEAR!!!!!!
Hi there – thanks so much for checking on me! I’m so glad to be back! Happy New Year!
So, glad to see you back and now understand the hiatus. I also want to thank you for some inspiration. I made it known that I wanted a beehive for Christmas……..I received the next best thing….my daughter bought me a 3 hour beekeeping class. A practical compromise and a better way to see if I want to pursue a backyard hive. I am looking forward to your 2014 offerings!
That makes me SMILE! You should get a good idea after your class if bee keeping is for you. I LOVE it and miss it so much. I’ll be interested to hear what you think after your class…please keep me posted!
Yes, I’m glad your back online! I miss you BFF and will try to find a weekend to get out there soon!
I miss you too – please come visit there is so much we can do!
My dear friend,
As soon as I saw this recipe, I HAD to make them and as luck (or every good cook) would have it, I had all the ingredients (including the last 1/2 cup of some delicious local honey from a beekeeper we all know and love)! I love ginger so it was a priority to make them- today. They are a very nice and light tasting cookie. I sent some with David to his KCCWB meeting tonight and are awaiting the accolades! LOL I will defiantly make these again. I think I will try fresh ginger for a stronger ginger taste.
Glad to see you and yours are all settled in. Looking forward to more posts from The Orange Bee!
Love, Sheri
Ah – we love these cookies. LIght and easy! Fresh grated or minced finely ginger would be a nice addition for stronger ginger flavor. Can’t wait to hear what the KCCWB folks thought. Glad you popped in ! Love you too!
I was just thinking I need to get with you and get some new honey! Oh, my, what changes you have had in your life. The wedding pictures are just magical, and what an adventure and opportunity for you and your hubby. Wishing you all the best!
Hi there! I have had some major changes but all for good! Sorry I won’t be there to help with honey. Hope all is well with you!
Hi Linda, great to hear from you again. The wedding looks lovely and the couple – gorgeous! Look forward to the avalanche of honey related posts…or am I being too optimistic? 😉
Hey there Genie! Thank you! Oh yes an avalanche of posts I am sure….I’m excited for the challenge of honey recipes all year! Stay tuned. BTW I loved your video of Tofu drinking from his new water bottle!
Hey there Genie! Thank you! Oh yes an avalanche of posts I am sure….I’m excited for the challenge of honey recipes all year! Stay tuned. BTW I loved your video of Tofu drinking from his new water bottle!
Love the wedding pictures. I am from Tn and next to that, I love NC. Always enjoy your blog and recipes.
Hi Debbie – thank you! We are loving NC too! SO much to explore – it’s an adventure! Tennessee is beautiful also – what part do you live in?
Wishing you and your family all the best as you all start new adventures.
Hi Karen, thank you so much – so far so good!
It is always hard to leave a home you have been in so long but I’m sure you will be happy in you new home. 🙂