German Chocolate Cake has a coconut-pecan
filling and frosting. Photo © H.D. Connelly |
Fotolia.

German Chocolate Cake is a chocolate layer cake filled and topped with a coconut pecan frosting.

The cake has nothing to do with Germany. It is so named because it was originally made with German’s Chocolate, a semisweet-type chocolate created by a Brit, Sam German, who was working in the U.S. for Walter Baker & Co., manufacturer of Baker’s Chocolate.

See more of the history and a delicious three-layer German Chocolate Cake recipe.

We love the description of the honeybees on the farm and would like to share it with all honey lovers:

Well, we’re wrapping up spring in good stead here on the farm. I captured and hived a swarm of honey bees last week and this hive will be the start of a new bee yard over by the currant fields.

It was a robust swarm of about 8,000 bees (3,500 bees weigh 22 lbs) and they’re doing great in their new home. Within 2 days they had made propolis* from the resin of tree sap and sealed up any small cracks and covered over all the knots in the new hive body. They are making honey and storing pollen and her majesty is laying about 500 eggs a day. In about a month, she’ll be up to 2,000 eggs each day!!!

If all goes well, the population of the hive should be in excess of 30,000 bees going into the winter. Worker bees, all females, live for 4-6 weeks during the working season; but the queen can live up to 6 years. The males, called drones, serve only one function [to breed new bees] and pretty much hang around most of the time eating the honey the females make, so they’re pretty expendable. Often they’ll be kicked out of the hive in the fall, to save the honey for the working members of the community.

*BEEHIVE TRIVIA: Propolis is a resinous mixture that honey bees collect from tree buds, sap flows or other botanical sources. They use it as a sealant for unwanted open spaces in the hive—small gaps of a quarter-inch or smaller. Larger spaces are usually filled with beeswax.
 
Thanks, Greg!

But you do have time to read these 10 quick grilling tips from Smoke In Da Eye, an award-winning competitive grilling and barbecue team.

Take a look: Your fire will start faster and your grilled meats will be juicier, more tender and flavorful—and not overcooked.

Also check out Bobby Flay’s Grilling Tips.

What should you grill? Learn the different cuts of meat:

The new Lipton tea flavors, in 100% Natural
and Diet. Tray and place mat from PacificMerchants.com.

Today is National Iced Tea Day, an appropriate day to note the move to “100% natural” in bottled teas.

“Natural” in tea means no artificial colors, flavors, chemical preservatives* or fabricated products such as high fructose corn syrup (see details). Natural-ingredients foods have become increasingly popular with health-focused consumers.

There are natural food preservatives: alcohol, ascorbic acid, citric acid, salt, sugar and vinegar. Ascorbic acid is vitamin C, sourced primarily from lemons. It is found in varying amounts in citrus fruits and some vegetables. Citric acid is also found in citrus fruits and some vegetables, but it has less nutritional value than ascorbic acid. Citric acid, which does not contain vitamin C, is most famously used in sodas, in large enough quantities that it can erode the tooth structure of heavy soda drinkers (details). Ascorbic acid can do the same, but it is added to foods only in small amounts.

 
The teas retail for $.99 to $1.59 per bottle. The line is certified kosher by OU.

If so, you’re not enjoying the aroma, which needs to waft up to your nose from a glass.

Those who love their beer should emulate wine aficionados, and take the same steps to enhance the experience.

1. Look: Enjoy the color of the beer, and learn to recognize different styles of beer based on their color. Carbonation is also important. Beer is brewed for immediate consumption. Lack of sufficient bubbles can indicate flatness that comes with age.

2. Smell. Inhale the aromas from the glass. For example, are they floral, hoppy, malty, nutty, spicy, sweet?

3. Sip. Let the beer flow over your palate and focus on identifying the flavors: bitter (hoppy), fruity, malty, nutty, spicy, sweet, woody, yeasty (and a host of over terms)? What about the body (also called mouthfeel)? Is it full, medium or light?

Each beer drinker has his or her own preferences. Even if you think you know what you like, when you learn to properly taste beer, you’ll come to like even more styles and flavors. You can seek out beers that match them by reading reviews.

To get deeper into beer tasting, see this comprehensive page of beer tasting information from the Birmingham Beverage Company. Scroll towards the bottom to see the Beer Tasting Wheel: all of the flavors and aromas of beer, and where they come from. It’s a huge help in understanding the flavors and aromas of beer—both good and bad.

Don’t twist your neck trying to read the chart: The details are printed underneath it.

As you enjoy your beer, check out the different types of beer in our Beer Glossary.