May Newsletter: : Update on Summer Farmer’s Market, Mother’s Day, A Sweet Treat!

The end of April typically notes the end of the farmer’s market season. However, this will not be the case for the 2021 season. Below we have listed the most up to date information on each of the markets so that we can keep you “sweet” through the summer months!

Wednesdays, Phillippi Farmhouse Market: Sarasota Magazine’s 2021 Gold Winner of Best Farmer’s Market! What we enjoy about this market is that this is where the locals go. Parking is easy, music is great, the food… OMG good, and majority of the vendors are from Sarasota and Manatee County. By supporting this market, you are supporting the local Manatee and Sarasota economy. The market runs from October to the end of April. Wednesday, April 28th will be the last day for the market until October.

But WAIT… We Have GOOD NEWS!

Many of our customers reached out to us expressing how bummed they were going to be not having the convenience of getting their honey and some other of their favorite products once the market went on summer break. We are PLEASED to announce we received park approval to set up a “pick-up” site at the park every 2nd and 4th Wednesday from noon to 1:30pm. We won’t be pitching a tent but we will be in a white, Honda Ridgeline with either a “honey” flag or black and yellow balloons. You can order what you will want via our website, either pay online or person. Please be sure to click that you will be picking up from Phillippi at check out. You can also text us your order at 941-726-8755 please be sure to include your name in the text. All orders must be received before noon on Tuesday.

But WAIT, We Have EVEN BETTER NEWS! You will not only be able to order from our line of honeys, soaps, cream, jams and sauces…but also our fresh farm eggs, beer pickles, mustards, honey candies, spice mixes, nut butters, and sauerkrauts from some of your favorite vendors. We are in the process of updating our website to you can add your other local favorites to your Wednesday pick up order! To see what is available, go to sarasotahoney.com and click on the “shop” tab which then will prompt a drop menu of product options. We are hoping to have the website completely updated by the first week of May.

Thursdays, Dearborn Street Farmers Market, Englewood FL. This was the newest market we joined this season. Every Thursday Englewood gets bizzzy when a variety of farmers markets come to life to create a massive farmers market experience. The Sarasota Honey Company booth is located on the north side of Dearborn St in the area where the trees are located. We love our location…keeps us cool and from baking in the sun. Although some vendors will be going on Summer break, many are staying until the end of May. The second Thursday in May will be our last day.

But WAIT We Have GOOD NEWS! You can now find our honey at Vino Loco and at the One Stop Co-op you can find our line of soaps, candies, sauces, jams, and dressings. Both locations are less than 3 mins from the Farmers Market location. To get to the “One Stop-Co-op” go west on Dearborn…towards the bay, once it dead ends go right (north) on Old Englewood Road, pass 4 streets, it is on the left next to the “Open Studio”. They have beautiful gardens and all kinds of classes, guest speakers and events…a must stop for the local community!

Saturdays, Venice Farmers Market. Sarasota Honey Company’s raw honey can be found at the Bliss Butters Booth. We visited the market for the first time in April. We loved the mix of friendly food and craft vendors. This market will NOT be closing for the summer but will have special summer hours of 8am to noon…to beat the heat!

But WAIT We Have GOOD NEWS!

When Alma oversaw the Bliss Butter booth in April, she brought our Old Florida Farms sauces, dressings, and fruit butters which included: Peach Butter, Apple pecan butter, and our Monkey Butter. What’s Monkey Butter? Our Monkey Butter includes: Bananas, Mangos, and Pineapples. NO monkeys were harm in the making of the butter nor were they a part of the work force…that would be bananas! Our Venice customers just went ape over the new products…a total hit! So much so, that Bliss Butters will now bee offering our Old Florida products.They are all natural, low in sugar, no corn syrup, no MSG. No monkey business here… just quality good tasting goodness. We hope you buzz over to the Bliss Butter booth and check it out!

Saturday, Downtown Sarasota Market. We have many people ask us where our booth is located at the downtown Sarasota farmers market or that they got our honey at the downtown farmers market. Unfortunately, Sarasota Honey Company has not been able to get in the Sarasota Downtown Farmers market. The honey at the Sarasota downtown market is from a company located in the Orlando area.

But WAIT, We Have GOOD NEWS! You can get our honey from our honey store less than 10 mins from the Downtown Sarasota. You can also check out our Honey tours every Saturday morning at 9:30 am…unless the bees or mother nature tells us otherwise. You must register online to check out our gardens, live bee village, exotic chicks, and learn about the amazing honeybee. Our store is located at 2227 University Parkway, Sarasota, FL 34243.

Sundays, The Market at Lakewood Ranch. The Market at Lakewood Ranch is currently located at the south parking lot of the Lakewood Ranch Hospital. This market offers chef demos, live music, a good mix of food and craft vendors, and customer appreciation punch cards. Customer’s get a special card punched each time they make a purchase, once the card is filled the customer get a market gift! Previous seasons the market ended in April.

But WAIT We Have GOOD NEWS! We just learned the Market will be going YEAR ROUND! Every Sunday from 10am to 2pm!

We have EVEN BETTER NEWS: The market is schedule to move to their permanent home at Lakewood Ranch’s NEW Premier location Waterside late summer. The market will be expanding to 80+ vendors, a variety of events for kids will be offered, live music/performances and goat yoga maybe returning. Visitors can take advantage of the many new attractions as they are added to the Waterside location such as: volleyball, concert park, theater, kids water park, water taxi, nature center, gardens, bistros and maybe a Spring Sarasota Honey Co. Honeybee Festival. Wink wink! We have to see how the Waterside development goes and keep the pressure on our queen bee to put on another festival. We still get vendors and locals commenting on fun and successful our festivals were.

Speaking of Queen bees…Mother’s Day is coming,

May 9th

For purchases over $25 on Mother's Day week we will be offering free honeybee gift bags for your Mother’s Day gifts! Show mom how sweet she is! Below are just some of our gift ideas:

The BEST Baklava we’ve EVER tasted! Here is the recipe for Florida Sunrise Baklava

Speaking of The Market at Lakewood Ranch, this spring we had a customer that is known for her baklava. She came to our booth looking for a raw honey for her famous baklava recipe. We suggested she use our honey that held the most awards for taste…our Blueberry Orange Blossom Honey. We also told her that if she made some with our honey and brought us some her baklava we would give her a free bottle. She was the first person to be at our booth the very next Sunday with two plates of her baklava. That evening we decided to have the baklava as desert. Everyone’s reaction was the same. A silence that led to smiles and laughing! If felt like a delicious sunrise bursting in our mouths.

The following Sunday, like bouncing kids we were excited to see the master of these pastries... praising and thanking her. Alma, quickly went into business mode offering her an opportunity to partner with us. With her recipe and our honey…WOW…a total winner. Flattered she stated that she was retired and would just give us the recipe. She also offered a few tips on the texture and some ways to change it up a bit to make it even better. If that’s possible…and yes it is!

Alma held on to the recipe for a few months. I was in shock when Alma called me and said, “I’ve been doing some thinking Jess. We are too busy with our other products and the bees to take on this recipe. It would not be fair to keep this recipe to ourselves. Let’s give our customers as treat and a thank you. Release the recipe!” I then asked three times, “Alma are you sure” then emailed Alma for written confirmation before publishing this newsletter to cover my bottom. The key to this recipe, I think is using our Blueberry Orange Blossom Raw Honey that you can find at our store or at any of the markets listed above.

Florida Sunrise Baklava

Ingredients for the Syrup

· 1 cup sugar

· 1 cup of Sarasota Honey Co. Blueberry Orange Blossom Honey

· 3/4 cup water

· ½ tsp of vanilla

· 1 tablespoon fresh lemon juice, plus 1/2 teaspoon lemon zest or Orange Zest

· 2 cinnamon sticks

· Pinch ground cloves

· Pinch ground cardamom

Ingredients for the Filling

· 1 pound walnuts, or a combination of walnuts, pistachios, and almonds

· 1 teaspoon ground cinnamon

· 1/4 teaspoon salt

· 2 sticks unsalted butter

1 pound phyllo, thawed according to package instructions.

Directions

· Make the syrup: Combine sugar, honey, water, lemon juice and zest, cinnamon sticks, cloves, vanilla, and cardamom in a medium saucepan. Cook over medium heat, stirring occasionally with a wooden spoon, until sugar has dissolved. Reduce heat to medium-low and cook until syrup is slightly thickened, about 10 minutes. Remove cinnamon sticks and lemon zest and set syrup aside to cool.

· Make the filling: Using a chef's knife, finely chop nuts. (Alternatively, place nuts in 2 heavy-duty resealable bags and pound them with a rolling pin until finely chopped.) In a medium mixing bowl, combine nuts, cinnamon, and salt and stir well to combine.

· Melt butter over low heat in a small saucepan.

· Using a pastry brush, lightly coat a 13-by-9-inch or 15-by-10-inch baking dish with melted butter.

· Open the package of thawed phyllo and lay sheets on a clean work surface. Measure the phyllo sheets; if they measure approximately the same size as the baking dish you are using, proceed from here. If they are larger than your baking dish, use a sharp knife to cut them approximately the same size as your baking dish. Discard any scraps. Cover sheets with plastic wrap and a lightly damp kitchen towel, as phyllo dries out very quickly if left uncovered.

· Position rack in center of oven and preheat oven to 350 degrees.

· Fold 1 sheet of phyllo in half and place in the bottom of buttered baking dish; lightly brush with melted butter. Repeat with 6 more sheets phyllo for a total of 7 layers. Spread about 1/3 cup nut mixture evenly over buttered phyllo sheets. Repeat with 7 more sheets of phyllo, buttering each layer as before, topping with another 1/3 cup nut mixture. Continue until you have used all of the nut mixture. Layer any remaining phyllo on top, buttering between each sheet, until all phyllo has been used.

· Use a sharp knife to make 4 cuts lengthwise through the layered phyllo at 1 1/2-inch intervals.