In season: honey

From local reports

Dianna Tribble and her husband Kelley live in Cumming on land that has been in the Tribble family for seven generations. About 10 years ago, her husband met a sixth-generation beekeeper from South Georgia who interested him in the world of beekeeping. “Kelley grew up helping his grandparents with bees so he did his research and bought our first hives back to the property. The idea was that the bees would be good for our fruit trees, blueberries and extensive gardens,” she said.

Tribble Farms now has more than 100 hives. They keep hives in four locations on their own mountain properties, which allows them to offer a variety of honeys. “We have hives up at Amicalola Falls where we harvest ‘Amicalola flora’ and sourwood honey. Sourwood is the golden nectar of all honey. Then we have hives in Suches and the Coopers Creek area, as well as at our home farm and at Granny’s house where we have hives in her fields.” And the Tribbles swap honey with their South Georgia friend so they also can offer varieties like tupelo and gallberry.

The Tribbles sell their honey year round at Roswell’s Farmers Produce Market and Thursday evenings at Sweet Apple Farmers Market, as well as at the seasonal Vickery Village Farmers Market in Cumming.

They find their customers really appreciate meeting the beekeepers and knowing they’re getting honey straight from the hive. And they appreciate the chance to sample the different honey varieties.

The Tribbles consume a good bit of honey themselves. “When we just started we’d use honey as a great way to say ‘Thank you for teaching our kids,’ ‘Thank you for having us in your home,’ ‘Merry Christmas’ and ‘happy birthday.’ As we produced more honey, we began taking it to farmers markets.”

The Tribbles enjoy their honey throughout the day. “We start off breakfast with yogurt and granola and a drizzle of honey. My college-age kids love banana and honey sandwiches, or banana, honey and peanut butter sandwiches. And we’re now making beeswax lip balm and jewelweed salve. The jewelweed is a plant that grows on creek banks. If you chop it up and steep it in olive oil, then add beeswax, you get a salve that’s great for treating poison ivy, insect bites, rashes, anything like that.”

Last summer, farmers markets in the north Fulton-Cherokee area including the Sweet Apple Farmers Market held pie contests. The winners from each market met to choose a grand champion. Tribble’s no-bake honey lavender cheesecake won first prize for taste, presentation and creativity. “It’s the perfect summer pie, cool and refreshing. We believe part of why it won was that I arranged it in a cooler with ice on the bottom, then garnished it with fresh mint. When the judges opened that cooler they got the scents of honey, lavender and mint. You make it a day ahead of time and the longer it sits, the more those flavors have a chance to mix together.”

Her customers’ continuing questions about how to use Tribble Farms honey have led her to produce the “Tribble Farms Cookbook,” available at the markets for $10. “I encourage people to think about using honey in a lot of dishes where they would have used sugar. It just enhances the flavor of all your food. Grilled salmon brushed with honey is fantastic. Cheese and sliced almonds with honey make a great appetizer. There are so many things you can do.”

Dianna Tribble’s Honey Lavender No-Bake Cheesecake

Once the cookies are made, this award-winning cheesecake requires no baking. Look for lavender flowers in spice shops or natural food stores. Tribble uses lavender from her garden. If you’re using lavender from someone’s garden, make sure it hasn’t been treated with chemicals.

1/4 cup boiling water

5 tablespoons dried lavender flowers, divided

8 Shortbread Cookies (see recipe), finely crumbled

3 tablespoons unsalted butter, melted

2 tablespoons granulated sugar

1 pound cream cheese, room temperature

3/4 cup honey

1 1/4 cups heavy cream

Mint, for garnish

In a small bowl, pour boiling water over 3 tablespoons lavender flowers. Cover and steep 15 minutes. Strain water and discard lavender. Set water aside.

Crush and finely chop remaining 2 tablespoons lavender flowers. In a medium bowl, combine 1 tablespoon chopped lavender, cookie crumbs and butter. Press mixture into bottom of a greased 9-inch springform pan. Cover and refrigerate at least 30 minutes.

Combine remaining tablespoon chopped lavender with granulated sugar. If you like, use food coloring to tint the sugar purple. Cover and set aside.

When ready to fill the pie, in the bowl of a stand mixer or using a hand mixer, beat cream cheese and honey until smooth.

Whip cream until it forms stiff peaks. Fold whipped cream into cream cheese filling. Spoon over prepared crust, cover and refrigerate overnight.

When ready to serve, run a knife around the edge of the springform pan to loosen. Remove sides from pan and put pie on a serving plate. Sprinkle with reserved lavender sugar and garnish with mint, if desired. Serves: 12

— Adapted from a recipe in “Tribble Farms Cookbook” by Dianna Tribble (Wilco Printing Co., $10)

Per serving: 416 calories (percent of calories from fat, 65), 4 grams protein, 32 grams carbohydrates, trace fiber, 31 grams fat (19 grams saturated), 99 milligrams cholesterol, 135 milligrams sodium.

Dianna Tribble’s Shortbread Cookies

3/4 pound unsalted butter, room temperature

1 cup granulated sugar

1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract

1 teaspoon pure almond extract

3 1/2 cups all-purpose flour, plus extra for dusting work surface

1/4 teaspoon salt

In the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with paddle attachment, cream butter and sugar together just until combined. Add vanilla and almond extracts.

Sift flour and salt together and add to the butter mixture. Mix on low speed until dough just begins to come together.

Dust a work surface with flour and move dough to work surface. Knead lightly to form a cohesive dough and then form into a flat disk. Wrap in plastic and refrigerate for 30 minutes. May be made up to 1 day ahead.

Preheat oven to 350 degrees.

When ready to bake, remove dough from refrigerator and roll out 1/2-inch thick. Cut into 2-inch circles, or whatever shape you prefer. Arrange cookies on an ungreased baking sheet. Bake until the edges begin to turn brown, about 20 minutes. Cool on a wire rack. Makes: 32 2-inch cookies

— Adapted from a recipe in “Tribble Farms Cookbook” by Dianna Tribble (Wilco Printing Co., $10)

Per cookie: 151 calories (percent of calories from fat, 52), 2 grams protein, 17 grams carbohydrates, trace fiber, 9 grams fat (5 grams saturated), 23 milligrams cholesterol, 18 milligrams sodium.