\7, The BiG Story Weighing In On Some Important News For You, My Sweet Tooth Elizabeth Applebaum AppleTree Editor \ 7 -, 1 /-' /- 7 f you're looking for a sweet new treat to try at Rosh Hashanah, here are some terrific ideas that use everybody's favorite holiday food, honey. #1) Honey Shake It Up (courtesy National Honey Board) 1-1/2 cups milk 1-1/2 cups sliced strawberries 1 cup vanilla yogurt 1/4 cup honey 5 ice cubes Combine all ingredients, except ice cubes, in blender until thick and creamy. Add ice cubes one at a time and blend until smooth. #2) Super Fast Honey Snack (courtesy National Honey Board) 1/2 cup peanut butter 1/4 cup honey Blend together and use as a dip for carrot and celery sticks, or pear and apple slices. #3) Honey Make My Morniri'g Muffins (courtesy the National Honey Board) 1/2 cup milk 1/4 cup honey 1 egg, beaten 2-1/2 cups buttermilk baking mix (biscuit mix) In medium bowl, mix milk, honey and beaten egg. Add baking mix and stir until moistened. Spoon into greased muffin tins. Bake at 400 degrees for 18-20 minutes. Makes 10-12 muffins. #4) Flavored Honey For a fun new treat at your Rosh Hashanah table, try serving home- made flavored honeys. You can mix up a batch of 10 different kinds and place in pretty bowls. Most flavors will be tasty on both bread and apples. The amount of flavoring you use will vary according to taste, but as a rule you should start small so the fla- vor complements, rather than over- comes, the taste of the honey. Try start- ing with 1 teaspoon flavoring to one-half cup of honey. Some foods you may want to try mixing with honey: rosemary chocolate syrup fresh basil almond or vanilla extract orange juice concentrate strawberry jam lemon peel fresh spearmint cinnamon maple syrup mango juice creamed avocado #5) Drinking Israel No doubt you've heard Israel referred to as the Land of Milk and Honey (which comes from the Torah, Exodus 3:8). But did you know it's also a tasty drink? Warm milk mixed with a little honey (d'vash, in Hebrew) is not only delicious, it's great for sooth- ing sore throats, for warming you on a chilly evening, or for helping you relax after a long, hard day. B eautiful baby Brooke Wylin of Pontiac has this bit of vital information for new moms and dads: Never give honey to an infant. Honey may contain bacterial spores that can cause infant botulism, a rare but serious dis- ease affecting the nervous sys- tem of babies under 1 year old. Honey's Jewish Connection Did you know... The honey cited in the Torah is not the honey we know today. Instead, it was a thick syrup, most likely made from dates. He-man Samson dined on honey at his wedding to Timnah. *Bees, of course, cannot be eaten as kosher. So how is it that their bbney can? The rabbis ruled that because bees only store honey in their bodies, rather than actually produce it themselves, it is not treife. : During the Middle Ages, children were taught the Hebrew alpha :;bet using drops of honey, which were placed atop letters written on a 'Slate. As a child learned, he was allowed to lick the honey so that the words of the Torah might to him be "as sweet as honey." Despite its name as the "land of milk and honey Israel actually .0oduces very little honey. Flower Power oney bees communicate by dancing, which tells the workers where to find nec- tar. This poor bee, though, has no friends. Can you help her find her way to the flower? (Courtesy the National Honey Board)