If you live in a part of the world where Thanksgiving is celebrated this week, please take a minute to ponder the wealth of fresh vegetables and fruits on the dinner table that are only possible thanks to our busy bees. There are too many to list here, so let’s look at three very popular foods.
This is the harvest time of year and the sweet potato is symbolic of the bounty of autumn in many ways. It can be eaten as a savory or sweet dish and is filled with rich nutrients our bodies need to function well at this cooler time of year. Even though it is a root vegetable, its flowers must be pollinated by bees. If the thought of an old-fashioned apple pie makes your mouth water, thank the bees that tirelessly pollinate apple blossoms so we can enjoy these juicy fruits. Brussels Sprouts are more popular than ever. They are an earthy and potent health food, packed with deep green nutrition.
Here is the easiest way to enjoy sweet potatoes. There are many fancy dishes, but this 1:14-minute video by world famous kitchen diva Martha Stewart gives the masterful basic oven-baked sweet potato recipe.
Basically, include one sweet potato for every guest, with maybe a couple of extras just in case. Scrub the skin to clean them, pat them dry and poke holes all over them with a fork. Drop them directly on the rack of your oven at 375 degrees and bake until soft and caramelized. This takes about 1 ½ hours.
When you remove them, they will look shriveled like prunes. Slice them down the middle lengthwise and push the ends inwards to make them open and fluff up a bit. Serve with melted butter, salt and pepper added, as well as other possible toppings like raw brown sugar if you prefer yours sweet, and even add some chopped walnuts, pecans or cranberries. You can use your imagination to dress it up.
Staying with streamlined back-to-basics recipes this year, here is a marvelous recipe for Roasted Brussels Sprouts in the form of a 3:19-minute video featuring Dani Spies at Clean & Delicious.
Rinse the Brussels Sprouts in cold water and dry them well. Then slice off the end of each, cut them down the middle in half, lengthwise, and put them in a glass dish. Drizzle about 1 teaspoon of olive oil for every pound of Brussels Sprouts. Sprinkle a half teaspoon of Kosher salt and grind fresh black pepper over them as well as half a teaspoon of garlic powder. Toss them well to get the olive oil well distributed. Pour them onto a rimmed baking sheet and make sure they are all facing down so the sliced side gets browned and the top stays crispy. Put them into a 400-degree oven for 30 minutes. At the 15-minute mark, take the baking sheet out and shake it before reinserting it. When done, they look browned on top and caramelized on the bottom. Place them in a serving dish and top them with a little more Kosher salt.
Last but not least today, when it comes to apple pie, there are endless recipes, one better than the other. This one is time tested and truly worth the time. Watch the 2:11-minute video by Tasty first and then bake your own.
Apple Pie from Scratch
PIE CRUST
Pie Dough
2½ cups flour
1 teaspoon salt
1½ sticks butter, cold and cut in cubes
4-8 tablespoons ice water
FILLING
2½ pounds Granny Smith apples, cored and sliced
¾ cup sugar
2 tablespoons flour
½ teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon cinnamon
¼ teaspoon nutmeg
½ lemon
1 egg, beaten
1 tablespoon sugar
Vanilla ice cream
PREPARATION Preheat the oven to 375°F/200°C.
Please watch the video to see how the preparation unfolds.
When you raise a glass to toast those you love, and drink to everyone’s health, please toast the bees in gratitude, for they make it all possible.
If you try these recipes and enjoy them, please consider going to the YouTube video pages of the presenters and giving them a like and even a follow if you'd like more recipes from them.
At Bee Mission, we truly value your presence. In many ways this is a somber Thanksgiving. The devastation of 2020 will linger for a long time to come, as people struggle to find hope and gratitude. We can learn much from bees, as they never lose sight that they are all in it together and each bee works for the greater good of the hive.
Thank you for all you do for bees, even if it is just spreading the word, sharing this blog post with friends and raising consciousness about the needs of bees.
Bee Kind and Bee Blessed.
Happy Thanksgiving.