Sweet Treat

Honey is such a simple every day kind of pleasure, but it's also just something I don't have very often so it's a sweet treat for me. I often make these sandwiches during the cooler months as one of my comfort foods. You can't go wrong with peanut butter and add a banana so it seems healthier and then add some honey for that extra sweetness. Toast it all for some warm goodness and by all means, make extras to share.

While growing up, we always had a little bear jar of honey and I'm sure it was clover honey, consistant in color and taste so that's what I thought honey was supposed to taste like (as a rule.) As it turns out, there are so many different varieties of honey that it gives new meaning to the phrase "busy as a bee!"




The color and flavor of each kind of honey differs depending on the blossom the bee decides to visit. The colors range from very light, almost colorless, to a deep amber brown and usually the lighter the honey, the more mild of a taste it has while the darker honey is stronger, sometimes more bitter. Bees that visit orange trees produce a white to very light amber honey with a unique taste and aroma of orange blossoms. Of course, this honey is popular where they grow orange trees like Florida. Blueberry honey is from the white blossoms of the blueberry bush and it is also very light amber with a wonderful flavor, found in New England. Tupelo honey comes from the tupelo tree which grows clusters of greenish flowers which later develop into berry-like fruit. This honey has a mild flavor with just a hint of lemon and is also very light in color, very popular here in the southeast where the tupelo tree grows.

I would like to try out all these (300 or more!) varieties of honey and I wonder how they will taste with my peanut butter and banana sandwich?