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My man Dan and I celebrated our anniversary last night at home with a scrumptious home cooked meal for a fraction of the cost of a restaurant dinner. We’ve never had more fun nor a more delicious meal. Originally my wonderful husband made reservations at a fancy restaurant where we’ve celebrated in years past. After […]

The 5 restaurants you shouldn’t miss when visiting Quebec City and Montreal may or may not be ones you’ve heard of. I am a foodie and aren’t we all to some degree? My goal is to always eat the best food. One thing that is certain, in the time we spent in both cities there […]

Blueberries are everywhere and blueberry pie is on my kitchen counter! When I found these tiny blueberries I knew I needed to scoop them up and get busy baking a blueberry pie for the weekend. Blueberries are not always small, often we find big, plump berries when shopping for summer fruits. In Maine they say […]

With only 2 days in Montreal we wanted to find the best sites, sounds and tastes of this popular Canadian destination. After the first half of our trip to Canada, (Quebec City) was slightly tainted by a ginormous heat wave, massive numbers of cruise ship passengers and cancelled flights we were ready to take on […]

We recently returned home from our Canadian vacation and I brought home a revelation as my souvenir. Traveling is critical to my happiness and on this trip I realized how I am awarded this happiness. When you travel are there certain events that make or break how you rate your trip? I need to tell […]

Life happens, doesn’t it? Sometimes it’s smooth sailing but at times it’s a rough and rocky road. One thing I can always count on is the respite from day to day life when I step into the bee yard. The focus and concentration necessary when inspecting my bee hives leaves no room for straying thoughts. […]

If you’ve been following my beekeeping adventure posts you know that once again the bees at the Greensboro Science Center where I am volunteer beekeeper, disappeared. I am not capable of expressing how much this situation saddens me. What I can express is the passion I have for these sweet, valuable little creatures by starting […]

This! Za’Atar crusted chicken with lemon parsley salad is my new favorite chicken dish. If you try the recipe it might become your chicken crush too! Have you tried the spice Za’atar? Here’s a little info in case you aren’t familiar with Za’atar. Za’atar is a generic name for a family of related Middle Eastern […]

The first full day of spring brought snow to N.C. and wanderlust to me – not sure why. Do you ever get the itch? You know, to pack a bag and hit the road – an escape – if you will! An adventure, a respite, maybe an interlude! Considering I won’t be able to take […]

Have you ever wondered exactly how beekeepers get honey from the hive to the jar? I hadn’t given it much thought until, of course, I became a beekeeper. This past weekend I extracted honey from my lost hive as well as some from the “Miracle” hive. Don’t worry – I left plenty of honey inside […]

I had quite a surprise when I went out to disassemble my bee hives at the Greensboro Science Center last week. After discovering that the hives were gone I decided to take apart the hive components and start with new ones this spring. When I’d checked and found that the bees were gone I had […]

Bee keeping ain’t nothin’ but problem solving. Boy ain’t that the truth?!? I’ve lost my bee hives at the GSC again. To say I am baffled, puzzled, perplexed and disconcerted might be an understatement. Sad too! Look at them! They seemed perfectly fine when I closed up the hives in late October, knowing winter was […]

These are the cutest Orange Almond Sugar Cookies you’ve ever seen – they are shaped like bees, flowers and pigs! I had to do something to make myself feel better as I had an unfortunate encounter with my bees on Friday and by Sunday I needed a lift. I’ll be sharing the bee story with […]

We had a chilly, damp weekend and quite a lazy, yet productive Sunday. Before we got busy sorting and purging in the attic I made Buttermilk Pancakes with Maple Bourbon Syrup. It is so delicious that I plan on making large batches of this infused syrup and storing it up for future pancake breakfasts. I […]

Happy New Year – I warmly welcome 2018! I am sharing my 2017 book review in hopes you will share some of your favorites by leaving me a comment in the comment section! Quite frankly 2017 could not end quick enough. While I enjoyed some wonderful moments, (our trip to Europe, a long beach weekend, […]

This is such a busy time of year for all of us. I barely have the bandwidth to spend time at my desk blogging because I’d rather be baking pies! Today I’m sharing recipes for a “variety of pies” for your Christmas table. In The Orange Bee kitchen there will definitely be a Bourbon Pecan […]

“Bourbon Pecan Pie“, ’nuff said! It seems pecans are a favorite holiday nut. I know around The Orange Bee we like them in many ways, spiced, sugared, toasted, in cookies, cakes, breads and especially in this pie. My man Dan wouldn’t consider it a holiday without a Bourbon Pecan Pie. It’s the subtle whiff and […]

Well, do you think I nailed round two of Apple Pie Amsterdam? Hopefully my guests…read…guinea pigs from the second go round will weigh in and answer that for you! Personally I felt good about the outcome. Making the few changes I mentioned in my first post – read it here – made a big difference in […]

SO, I tried my hand at Apple Pie Amsterdam last week. It was only a partial success but I am going to share with you anyway. I know that none of us are 100% successful in the kitchen and sharing a lack of success is as important as sharing every perfect accomplishment. Especially when it […]

Fall is here and winter around the corner. It’s that time of year when I must be certain my bees are ready for old man winter. Earlier this year when I went to observe and check on the hives I discovered all 3 hives at the Greensboro Science Center were no more, I was traumatized. […]