spring, hayfever, raw honey, bee pollen, and a berry smoothie

A healthy berry smoothie with fruits, greens, raw honey and bee pollen.

It's springtime! We're more than halfway through the season, and this year I have some secrets up my sleeve: raw honey and bee pollen.

I've heard that these two things may be used as natural remedies for hayfever, and as this is an allergy that has given me grief over the recent few years, I figured it was worth a try. This requires some planning - it's not meant to be an instant fix, but is best implemented throughout the year to build up your immunity gradually, so your body is well-prepared by the time spring and summer comes around. Or at least, that's what I've read.

Thus, in autumn this year, I started incorporating raw honey into my diet a few times a week. In winter this year, I added bee pollen to my repertoire. While we're at it, can I heartily recommend the bee pollen from Windarra Honey in Swan Valley? At the time of purchase, it was the first time I had ever tried bee pollen, and I absolutely fell in love with their product, which, according to the label, is gathered by their bees "from the pristine forests from the South West of Western Australia". I've grown to appreciate it even more since sampling another brand of bee pollen that a friend bought from a health food shop, which I didn't particularly care for due to hints of astringency and bitterness. My little jar of Windarra pollen, in contrast, has a wonderfully bright, pure, sweet taste - like honey in tiny golden nugget form. Just gorgeous.

A major word of caution, however. Bee pollen can cause serious, potentially life-threatening allergic reactions for some people. When I got my jar, I was advised to take just two or three granules at first to gauge my response - if all goes well, I can slowly increase my dosage on subsequent days, a few granules at a time. Suffice to say, there were no adverse effects for me, and these days, I usually consume about one teaspoon's worth each time, a few times a week.

With delicious, great quality bee pollen, I love eating it like candy, just by itself! Alternatively, I also throw it into smoothies - if you're not keen on the taste of your bee pollen, this is a good way to enjoy it. Here's a smoothie recipe you can try out - I like the gorgeous juxtaposition of purple and gold, plus it's healthy and tasty, too.

gold-studded purple berry pollen smoothie
(serves 1)

1 teaspoon raw honey
3/4 cup water
3/4 cup mixed frozen berries
10 baby spinach leaves
1 small banana, peeled and broken into chunks, fresh or frozen
1 lime, or small lemon, juiced, approx. 2 tablespoons of juice
1/2 teaspoon bee pollen, plus an extra 1/4 teaspoon to garnish

Stir raw honey together with water until it all dissolves. Blend this honey solution with the rest of the ingredients. Pour and serve with an extra sprinkling of bee pollen.

A pretty purple smoothie with flecks of gold.

Oh, and if you're wondering if my regular use of raw honey and bee pollen has helped ease my hayfever? It's still early days, but I swear I'm feeling a difference. I'm not completely cured, but the frequency, severity and duration of my hayfever attacks have been easier to deal with this spring. I've still had to reach for my nasal spray a couple of times, but the same time last year, it would've been more like a dozen times, plus I was also taking fexofenadine tablets as well, which I haven't yet bothered with this year. It may be a placebo effect, or a coincidence, but I wouldn't be surprised if there really is something to this natural remedy.

Do you enjoy raw honey and bee pollen? Have you tried any natural remedies for hayfever? Feel free to share your experiences in the comments!

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passionfruit and honey ice cubes

honey and passionfruit ice cube.

Just a quick one today... passionfruit and honey ice cubes!

Spoon some passionfruit pulp into ice cube trays, let it freeze until semi-firm, then top up with a generously sweet water-and-honey solution.

Easy to make, pretty to look at, and with its refreshing blend of sweet and tart, I even have them just on their own as an icy snack!
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of loquats and tea

a lone loquat

I do not come by loquats very often, so when I discovered a stall selling them at the market last weekend I immediately pounced. Generally appearing in springtime, fresh loquats are delicate and refreshing, and to me, they are like a cross between plums and pears in both taste and texture. A little tart, a little sweet. The riper they are, the sweeter.

I prefer them peeled, but the skin is edible too, and is actually not bad - similar to the skin of apricots. There isn't a lot of flesh, as they have seeds inside which take up quite a bit of room. I love the sweet ones just as they are, and for the ones that are a little more acidic, I think they work well simply poached in syrup, or stewed into a jam.

a peeled loquat

The weather has started to warm up in the last few weeks of spring here in Australia, so I decided to make a simple loquat tea just to see what it would be like.

iced loquat tea

freshly brewed tea (I used white tea)
loquats
honey, to taste

Simply whiz the loquats in a blender and add it along with some honey to freshly brewed tea. You can have it hot, or chill for a few hours and serve cold. I also added a few little chunks of loquat as well for a bit of bite. I made the tea a fairly mild brew so as not to overpower the taste of the loquats, and as an estimate I used the juice/puree of two loquats for approximately every 250ml cup's worth of brewed tea.

iced loquat tea with little chunks of loquat

While it didn't blow me away, I thought this made a pleasant and refreshing drink. The healthy combination of loquats and tea had a surprisingly distinct taste which reminds me of sweet Chinese herbal beverages. It was a warm sunny evening when I had this, and it really cooled me down!

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strawberry grapefruit thyme compote

strawberries, grapefruit and thyme - bought on a whim at the market because they were so cheap!

Who knew making compote was so ridiculously easy? Certainly not me, until recently when I discovered how little time and effort it took, and actually gave it a go myself. The following is the recipe for a strawberry, grapefruit and thyme compote, because those were the ingredients I happened to have sitting around, but feel free to create your own special concoction!

Recipe:

250g strawberries, hulled and halved (I quartered the massive ones)
segments of one small grapefruit (remove pith before using, as they can be quite bitter - I removed the membranes as well)
2 tablespoons honey
1 tablespoon mead (optional)
a few sprigs fresh thyme

Combine all ingredients in a saucepan and simmer for 15 minutes, stirring occasionally. That's pretty much it!

The scent of strawberries and thyme when I made this was intoxicating. I was happy with the end result too - the sweetness of the strawberries was wonderful, as was the perfume from the thyme, and there was just a hint of tartness from the grapefruit.

You can serve this warm or cool, with crepes, pancakes, toast, muesli, yoghurt, waffles, ice cream and more. I stored my strawberry compote in a jar in the fridge and for the next few days I gave it a good workout - I first had it on French toast for breakfast, and on subsequent days paired it with vanilla bean ice cream for dessert. Yum!

my strawberry grapefruit thyme compote

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