Grandma Club

Chicago Honey Co-Op Tour

Our first hot day finally hit Chicago on May 23rd, and wouldn't you know it, it was also the day the Grandmas had planned to tour the Chicago Honey Co-Op's apiary and urban farm. We all donned our sunscreen and bonnets for bee protection {or borrowed them} and had a fun time trying to find the right clothes in our wardrobe to render us bee-free for the tour. The Co-Op had recommended hats, light colors, and long pants and sleeves. None of us got it exactly right.

All of the original Grandma crew was in attendance plus some bonus Grandma action with Denise and Grandpa Jason! After becoming properly fortified by brunch at local favorite FEED, we scampered off the the North Lawndale neighborhood to the Chicago Honey Co-Op. 

Housed on land that was once the warehouse for the giant catalog operation of Sears Roebuck, the apiary and farm nestles neatly into its disheveled environment. There are no fancy signs, just a glimpse of bunches of white boxes and various crops behind some chain link fence. We drove past it at first, but a sighting of a woman in light clothing with a wicker basket promoted us to turn around. The Co-Op isn't about being fancy; it's about work and working. Besides, they know to put the "pretty" where it counts in their packaging. Plus, I know I found the trees growing up through the cracks in the asphalt and the rusting train tracks to be quite lovely in their own way. We took a whole bunch of pictures.

Our tour was led by two lovely ladies, Harmony and Shawnecee. Harmony showed us around the farm portion of the Co-Op and let us know a bit of the history of the site and the group. The Chicago Honey Co-Op was started in 2004 by three of Chicago's urban bee keepers. Their goal is to provide jobs to the under-employed and to have a small, sustainable agriculture business raising chemical free honey and related products. People from the community can come in and garden on the plots, the only rule is that you don't use any chemicals. There was even someone working on a plot while we were there. 

 

In addition to the field growth, the Co-Op is also experimenting with raised beds on the asphalt. Heaping mounds of stable cleanings and other compost materials are festooned with garlic, leeks and soon, sweet potatoes. The heat from the asphalt provides a prime growing environment for the potatoes.  While there are all kinds of plants growing on the Co-Op farm,Harmony said they don't really plant with the bees in mind. Part of what makes the Chicago Honey Co-Op honey so special and good is that the bees are able to forage on so many different flowers from peoples' gardens, from parks, from window boxes, and from the nearby Garfield Park Conservatory. But enough about plants, we came to see bees!

Shawnecee was our bee keeper for the day and we were amazingly lucky to be shown two different types of hives; the top bar hive and the langstroth hive. After prepping all the equipment and getting the smoke right, we started the tour at the top bar hive. A top bar hive sounds like what it is; a hive consisting of a box with all of wooden bars at the top. The bees then build their comb off of the bars. According to Shawnecee, this mimics what hives look like in the wild. 

Around this time, she also mentioned to us that she was, in fact, allergic to bees. Bravo, that woman! I was impressed before this, but that shot it out of the park. She then explained to us what the bees do with the different cells. Some store pollen, some nectar, some honey, and some hold brood, or bee pupae. You can tell if there is brood or honey because the cells are capped.

Then she took us to look at a Langstroth hive. Langstroth hives are so named for their inventor and are based around the concept of a proper "bee space" of 3/8th of an inch and also ease of honey collection for the bee keeper. Instead of having to trim bits off like you would with a top bar hive, the Langstroth has a frame which the keeper can remove in its entirety. Large bee keeping operations tend to use Langstroth hives because they can throw the whole thing into a centrifuge to extract the honey and still be able to reuse the frames.

Shawnecee and Harmony told us that we were the only group to get to see both types of hive at the apiary, and we were certainly happy about it. After that, and a few more random bee fact questions like "How many bees are in a pound?" {The answer is around 10,000}, we went over to the shade for a tasting. We then purchased all the honey they had as well as some candles. Sadly, they didn't have just straight bees wax for sale. Both Kathy and I were looking to buy some to make spoon oil.

We all learned a great deal and had an excellent time. Thanks to everyone at Chicago Honey Co-Op for the work they do and especially to our guides, Harmony and Shawnecee. If you're in Chicago, we definitely recommend the tour, and we recommend the honey if you're anywhere!

B • I • N • G • O

The grannies finally did the ultimate grandma thing and went out to play Bingo! Denise, Stacy, Noel and I went to Friday night bingo at the St. Helen School in the Ukrainian Village. We realized very quickly that Bingo is SERIOUS business. I especially enjoy Noel's take on us entering the church's auditorium:

"Amateur was written across our foreheads as we stumbled in late, showed up with no good luck trolls, no ink dobber, and not nearly enough cash to keep us afloat for the whole night. Luckily, the head bingo man (his name escapes me now) was super welcoming to us. He went over the basic rules (um, laugh if you want, but it can be more complex than you think!) and he also gave us a free ink dobber."

   

Even though we strolled in late and only got a half board  it was loads of fun. None of us won, but Denise was very close to taking home the $500 prize on the coverall game (the very last one of the night).That one evening got us all hooked and we are already making plans to go back for more!

We were lucky enough to have a really nice lady sitting in front of us that was more than happy to help us as we bumbled our way through the games. Here is what we learned:

• Only one person per game sheet. They see it as cheating if you have more than one person marking a board. It is all about speed, so having more than one set of eyes gives you an advantage.

• It's not just B-I-N-G-O anymore. Bingo nights consist of a series of games and to keep it interesting, they don't just have you get BINGO in a row. The place we went to had a light -up board that kept track of the numbers called on one side and showed you the pattern you had to keep track of on the other. So, for example, the game we walked in on had you matching the shape of a "7," with the top row filled and a diagonal from right to left. There is also four corners where you try to cover the corners, leaving the center "+" blank. The last game we played was a cover all, where you...well, cover the whole BINGO board.

• Wild numbers. For one of the games the caller started spewing out a series of numbers, leaving us confused. Turns out he pulled one ball before the start of the game that gave you a series of wild numbers. For our game he pulled a "13," so all numbers ending in "3" were wild. They give you a few minutes to mark all of these on your boards - you get these numbers for "free."

• Pay attention to when doors open. The place we went to said doors open at 4, game starts at 7. We thought this meant we had to be there at 7 or a little after. Not at all. People get there early to get a good seat and chat before hand. The game starts promptly at 7 and you are really busy concentrating on your game to chit chat during. We were really lucky that a woman was saving primo seats for some friends that never showed-up, so we were able to nab them.

• No trolls required. If you don't have a dobber or trolls or any of that, don't worry. These places sell the dobbers, which are necessary to play the game and keep up with the rate the numbers are called. We didn't see one troll during our games, so don't be concerned about that type of crowd.

• Bring cash. It depends where you go and how big of a board you buy, but the game can range you from $13- $35. Keep that in mind before going and stop at the bank before you get there. There are also refreshments to be had and a side game that goes on called "pull-tab," which normally sells for a $1 a piece. You have a small chance at winning with these pull-tab things, but the place we went to called out serial numbers toward the end of the game and gave out money with that. So it seemed that many were buying them for that way of winning.

So with that, I will say that you should definitely check out any local Bingo games happening in your neighborhood and bring a group. Just make sure to show-up early to get a good seat!

Afternoon Tea

You may have noticed it has been a wee quite here. Well, we grannies have been so busy with traveling and enjoying summer that we just couldn't figure out a time when the three of us could meet-up. We finally figured out a day in September, but that is far off and I had friends visiting me from Miami that wanted to do something grandma-ish. With that, Donovan, my two friends and I went off to fancy afternoon tea.

After much searching online I decided on The Lobby at Peninsula Hotel. It was very fancy, as you can tell from the plates and silverware, but they were not uptight nor did we have to go there dressed in ballgowns or something equally silly. The price per person was about $48 with tax and tip and it was worth every penny. The atmosphere was great; the area was filled with sunlight and they had live music (two men on string instruments - I believe one was a violin and the other was a cello). To top it off, the food was very good.

Let us talk of the little nibbles we received, shall we? Put before us was a plate of three varieties of sandwiches, mini quiches, two different scones and about four or five different mini-cakes. And what was best is that they had enough so each one of us could have one of everything. I've gone to many tea services in my life and I do very much dislike it when they don't give you enough for everyone to try. Luckily, no splitting of mini-cheesecakes had to happen here, in fact, we had too much food and took some of it home.

Everyone had their favorite food bit, but mine was the tomato basil sandwich and the anise scone. For the first time in a tea service I had not only clotted cream and jam served with scones, but also a lemon custard. It was divine. Has anyone else had a custard served with scones before?

All in all, it was a very lovely, girly, grandma thing and the four of us had a lot of fun. I will definitely be going back to The Lobby for tea the next time I have a lady guest in town. For those who want to do their own tea party at home, I did a post about a tea party I did years ago on my old blog. There is a recipe for thumbprint cookies as well as some pictures of the table layout. If any of you would like a more in-depth post on hosting your own tea party, just let me know and I will make it happen.

The next grandma club is going to be our more traditional type with recipes and all that, but it is also going to be a little party. We have it planned for late September, so keep you eyes peeled.

PS- If you want to have tea at The Lobby, reservations are needed in advance. A little tip: ask to be sat near the windows, it is the best area there.

Fruit Picking

On the last Sunday in June, Grandmas Noel, Kathy and Donovan took a little trip along with a guest appearance by Grandma Denise. We picked up a Zip Car and traveled a little bit south of the big-shouldered city to the Garden Patch Farm and Orchard in Homer Glen, IL. Truthfully, Denise and Noel got the car and picked up Kathy and Donovan. Denise was the driver for which we were all most grateful. [We don't drive- We're Grandmas.]

It only took about an hour to get to the farm, and we were all surprised by that because the area is so much different from the city and only a short distance away. It was a gorgeous day, not a cloud in the oh-so-blue sky. The super bright sunshine could have baked us alive, but there was a strong breeze that kept us cool. Plus, every grandma remembered her sunblock and/or floppy hat. 

When we got there, we were greeted by chickens! [All the grandmas want their own chickens.] There is a cheery red barn where the farm sells it's produce and where you can pay your $5.00 to do your own picking. We paid up, got our lady bug hand-stamps, collected our berry buckets and listened carefully to the directions on where to go on the farm to pick the ripe stuff. Then we set out.

Raspberries, strawberries, gooseberries, currants, and sour cherries were all ready for picking. We found the raspberries first. The key to raspberry picking is to go to the middle of the bush where the berries are protected from the sun and birds and other pickers. You know a raspberry is ripe when it pulls easily off of the white core that attaches it to the bush. 

From the raspberries, we wandered up to the cherries. I hadn't planned on picking any cherries, but when I saw them, bobbing like Christmas ornaments bright and shiny red, I had to taste one. They were amazing. I was thinking sour cherries would be inedible without cooking, but turns out sour cherries are traditional jam and pie cherries. They tasted just like pie filling without sugar; also known as awesome. I would go back just to pick more of these cherries.

 

Lastly, we went hunting the strawberry. I probably ate as many as I put in my box. There is something magical in having a strawberry-scented breeze blow over you as you bite into a sun-warmed berry. That's worth my $5.00 picking fee any day. Despite tales from the farm staff of there not being a lot of berries, we found plenty without having to look too hard.

We spent about two and half hours picking and we each went home with strawberries, cherries and raspberries. More than we could use immediately, but the plan is to freeze them and post our creations with them later. Noel bought some super fresh [as in laid that morning] eggs from our chicken friends which she said were amazing. It's definitely not a money saving venture- raspberries and cherries were $6.00 a pound and strawberries were $3.00 a pound. Add in the picking fee and our car rental and we certainly could have purchased our berries at the store for much less. However, you don't get to eat berries off the bush in the store. We all agreed that our fun was worth every penny.

With what Kathy didn't freeze, she made strawberry vinegar, strawberry buttermilk cake and is in the process of "fermenting" a sour-cherry liquor. Donovan washed and pitted or sliced or cleaned up all her berries and put them into frezzer bags for later.

Instructions on the various ways to freeze strawberries.