Making a Lemon Honeypot is such an easy thing to do at home and it was one of my very first posts when I began blogging. The idea isn't new, but it is a nice one if you're expecting company over for some tea and cookies. A natural honeypot like this not only adds charm to your table, it also adds flavoring to your tea in a most fragrant way.
Lemons are fruits that can always be found in my kitchen. No ifs ands or buts about this. If I'm visiting my parents on the west coast during the winter I make it a point to bring back a suitcase of lemons from their citrus trees. I can't imagine my life without lemons.
Rather than grabbing a honey bear which may or may not contain actual honey, source your honey from a local farmer if it's possible. With farmers markets springing up everywhere, I have a feeling that local honey is more readily available these days. The beekeepers in Lancaster County, Pennsylvania, provide me with my favorite honeys and I do try different varieties just to see what they're like. Honey is delicious drizzled over a buttered biscuit or stirred into some Greek yogurt, but it is fantastic in a cup of tea. If it's coming out of a lemon pot, then it is superb!
Let's make a Lemon Honeypot.
My dad's lemons are the best. I love having them in my kitchen sitting on one of my cake stands, because they're a reminder of the things I love most.
It's quite simple. Choose a lemon (this is a meyer) and slice off a small cross section from the bottom to create a stable base when you set it down.
Cut off about a 1/3 or 1/4 cross section from the top to expose the flesh.
Using a melon baller, remove the flesh and place it in a small bowl. I like to save the juice for a good salad dressing or for some other use.
Leave a bit of fruit on the bottom of the lemon.
Choose a good honey. This raw honey is from Maine and it is quite delicious.
Fill the lemon with honey and bring it to the table along with the top. Supply a honey wand for guests to dip. Let each person flavor & sweeten their tea to taste.
Simple. Beautiful. Delicious.
Don't forget to have something freshly baked when offering your guests a proper tea. Madeleines make a perfect accompaniment to tea and if you're like me, make sure to have several 'mads' per guest.
Enjoy!
Everything you show us is always so elegant David! I don't have the right touch for this myself, but I appreciate seeing it in your photos and I can aspire to it!! Hope that you enjoy your tea.
ReplyDeleteOh Amy,
ReplyDeleteYou're so sweet. Over the years I've taught myself how to style and photograph....through trial & error I have learned a lot!... a lot of error.... :/
And, thank you, the tea was and is always delicious!
:)
David
All I can say... I love this idea.
ReplyDeleteExcellent! :)
ReplyDeleteOh, David! You are talking my language with this post! I have lemons in the kitchen at all times and it's the one thing I ask for the most when dining out. "The more lemons you can bring to the table, the better" I always say to the waitstaff!
ReplyDeleteI've made a few lemon honey pots in my day but yours is the most beautiful I've ever seen - pure perfection!
I miss our home in California and my parents who still live in Monterey, and I miss my lemon tree too!!
xo
Janet, I normally don't feel jealousy toward anyone, but when someone tells me they have an actual lemon tree on their property, I get green!! :)
ReplyDeleteI hope you enjoy a good cup with a bit of lemon and honey!
Keep it sweet! ;)
David
We have some property at the edge of town, and had been asked by a local citizen if we would mind if he placed his bee hives there. Of course, we said yes!
ReplyDeleteI don't know what happened to the bees, but Randy tells me there is not one to be seen anywhere. There goes my hope for some really fresh honey! :(
I agree wholeheartedly with having lemons on hand, plus I adore limes, as well...just not in tea!
Thank you, David, for bringing this back in your blog so those of us who haven't known you quite as long can benefit from your ingenuity. I cannot wait to do this, especially with cold and flu season coming up. We drink so much more tea with honey and lemon then.
Nancy,
ReplyDeleteThat sounds like Colony Collapse to me. How awful and heartbreaking to think that our bees are still suffering from this phenomena. Something is not right. Our food industry (really the entire world's) cannot sustain itself without the aid of honey bees!
In the meantime, do get your honey and use a good lemon or two to use as a pot. It's nice and I agree, with flu season coming, it's good for sore throats.
The one thing is that if you're using thin-skinned Meyer lemons, the honeypot may not keep overnight. The honey tends to seep from the bottom, so use it up during the day & create another one the next day.
Stay healthy this season!