Ted built this beautiful pond himself.
My friends Rosie and Cat and I hosted a Brunch for Bees in Rosie’s lovely garden last Sunday. The Brunch for Bees is a way to take action to help retailers stop selling the pesticides that kill bees. Friends of the Earth has a brunch hosting kit and guide to hosting one of your own, including recipes, signs and messages to post on your social media sites. Bees pollinate one in three bites of the food that we eat and are declining at alarming rates, with pesticides being one of the leading causes of their decline. The brunch is helping to urge TrueValue Hardware and Ace Hardware stores to stop selling these pesticides called neonicotinoids. And, it is an excuse to get together with friends and family and have brunch! Click on the links to learn more or visit www.foe.org
Our Brunch for Bees food table was divided into 2 sections, one side was pollinated foods the other non pollinated foods.
The menu included foods with ingredients that were pollinated by bees or included honey, made of course, by bees. You can get ideas from the Friends of the Earth website for foods to include. The setting was especially lovely next to the pond in Rosie and Ted’s garden.
Here are the brunchers showing our support for the bees!
The food of course was amazing! We had a menu of Kale and Zucchini Torte with Potato Crust, Spinach and Beet Salad with Goat Cheese, Watermelon Cucumber Salad with Feta, Caprese with Balsamic Reduction, Roasted Salmon with Capers, Cream Cheese and Onion, Baklava, Bagels, Bacon, Scones, Aronia and Blueberry Tartlets, Chocolate Cake, Strawberry Sangria, Thai Iced Tea, Italian Sodas, and our homemade Mead. What a feast!
I put the diet on hold, and we got to eat on Rosie’s grandmother’s china.
The Watermelon, Cucumber and Feta Salad that Rosie made was an unexpected combination of flavors. Cucumbers are a food that is pollinated by bees.
Watermelon, Cucumber and Feta Salad.
Cat made these tartlets with Aronia Berry jam that her sister grew and made in Indiana. Aronia berries are known to have many beneficial properties for health.
Aronia Berry Tartlets
I made a Gluten Free Kale and Zucchini Torte with Fresh Herbs and Potato Crust. The kale, zucchini and herbs were from our garden. It is made in a springform pan. I took it out of the pan then decided to put it back in to warm it up. It didn’t hold together quite as good the second time it came out, but it was still tasty with all of the fresh herbs, cheese and bee pollinated garden veggies!
The Torte I made for the brunch was gluten free and vegetarian.
Rosie made baklava! I have never attempted it myself, and will be getting the recipe for this to try for special occasions. Of course it will be shared with you here on the blog as well.
Rosie also treated us to a rose shaped chocolate cake! As lovely as it was, it was included on the side of the table with the non pollinated foods.
The presentation on Cat’s Caprese Salad was so gorgeous! Look at those perfect tomatoes!
With beautiful homegrown tomatoes, Cat’s Caprese Salad so fresh and delish!
We had fresh fruit salad…
This Spinach and Beet Salad had beets from Rosie’s garden. I will be including a recipe soon!
Spinach and Beet Salad with Goat Cheese.
Teresa brought these scones…
The event turned out to be a wonderful opportunity to spend a few hours with friends, eating wonderful food made with love for a good cause! I highly recommend it. Please check back for recipes of some of the dishes we prepared.
Till then…
Be creative and stay inspired!
