Bear Foot In The Kitchen

During the week I don't devote much of my morning time to breakfast. Sleep and reading the news usually takes precedence. On weekends I celebrate the morning on its own terms. Recently, I felt that such a morning demanded focus on one of my favorite honeys, which I pushed to a showcase position.

Breakfast: poached eggs with sea salt and black pepper over baby spinach, whole-wheat toast with butter and Bear Foot creamed chai honey, paired with black coffee.

Since visiting the Santa Rosa Harvest Fair '09 I've had a special love for chai-infused honey. Bear Foot's was not my first, but it's worth close attention. Observe:




















Bear Foot's creamed chai honey is a delightful blend of sweet and spices for those who love cinnamon toast, but would be interested in taking things to the next level.

On the whole, the company's operation is pretty remarkable. Everything is delicious, but their devotion to unique, artisan honey is the essence of Low-Hanging Fruit. For Christmas, I gave jars of their Raw Knap Fire and Raw Mint-Thistle honeys. I would have given the chai, but it was sold out in even the smallest of quantities. These two honeys are beautiful freaks of nature. They are born of wildfire, and the serendipitous consummation of otherwise strange pollens. They literally will never be tasted again in quite the same way.

I have a bad habit of saving things and never using them. I used to horde Halloween candy until it spoiled. I've saved honey until it turned to crystal. The lesson I can learn from Bear Foot honey is that if something goes unused, it loses whatever wonderful potential it had. You have to break the jar's seal to enjoy its contents, and even if something you love is, by its nature, limited, something else will surely come along. Enjoy life's fruits while they're ripe, and more will come in time.

Office Mayhem

I cruised into San Francisco today to visit Molly Mayhem. I brought along some Chai High honey from Bee Kind in Sebastopol, and the nectar that is Larrupin sauce. The chai-infused honey is a new treat I found at the Santa Rosa harvest fest a few weeks ago, and the sweet-and-tart Larrupin is a staple in my fridge. Both are loaded with awesome.
Molly and I usually get something to eat whenever we hang out, so she brought me to the Chow near her place. The prosciutto and arugula pizza, with Lunatic Lager was a great afternoon refresher, but I want to bring up something very important:



















Banana Butterscotch creme pie. Molly would also like to interject with her superb pumpkin pie. The butterscotch and big chunks of banana are a nice twist against the usual banana creme, giving extra dimensions of sweetness. This was a daily special, but that's no reason for you to stay away; Chow's menu is full of hand-crafted comfort food to enjoy. You should go...right now.

I left with Molly's old writing desk in the back seat of my car. It's a bit of a trek, hauling office furniture in a small convertible, out of San Francisco and about 50 miles up the road, at night, in November, but now my laptop has a nice place to sleep. Thanks, Molly!