Delicious Cretan Thyme Honey

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Happy weekend to you all from California! Mother’s day is coming up this weekend and here is a super easy and tasty dessert to make for your special loved ones.

First off I would like to welcome an amazing Greek company that I met on Instagram. Not only do they offer one of the BEST honey’s out there, but they work hard to ensure that their products are top quality.

Saviolakis Family Cretan Thyme Honey.#1 (2)

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The Saviolakis family sent me a huge package of beautiful Cretan products including a wonderful honey Greek Delight, in other words Loukoumi. I am not a huge fan of loukoumi, BUT this is the best I have had. The reason for this, is the Cretan thyme honey adds such a lovely flavor to these candies. The loukoumi literally melts in your mouth. Their packaging is really neat too, which would make such a lovely gift. (Did I mention that I received this package within a few days!! Very fast shipping, which I was impressed.)

Please meet the Saviolakis family proud owners of Cretan Honey USA. Let’s see how they started.

Saviolakis~ The Beginnings

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We are a family-owned and operated business with 250 years of experience making honey. We are farmers and beekeepers first and foremost! Our honey is one of the rarest and most natural in all of Greece because 1) we make it in a protected NATURA natural park in Sfakia Crete Greece which has many protected and indigenous flora and fauna species including the flowers our bees feast on including our main product Thyme Honey 2) we collect the honey at an altitude of 4000-6000 feet one of the highest collected honey in Greece. At this height the air is much cleaner, the Thyme flower is unlike any found anywhere else, and the soil is better as well.
We take great pride in our honey and truly respect the entire art from maintaining a healthy and strong bee colony to collecting it carefully throughout the summer and finally bringing it to you. We avoid giving any medicines and chemicals to our bees which may make them temporarily stronger but harm the long-term viability of the entire colony.
Our small village, Anopoli, is located in the province SFAKIA of the southwest corner of the island of Crete. Anopoli is situated on a plateau at the base of the White Mountains (Lefka Ori in Greek) in the National Park of Samaria, a UNESCO biosphere reserve protected area with many indigenous and rare animal and plant species (including some of the flowers our bees feast on like the thyme flower!).
http://whc.unesco.org/en/tentativelists/5865/The locals have relied on the land for 1000s of years and now have taken to very light touristic activities in addition to agriculture. I truly haven’t been to an area as spectacular where you can find 8,000-foot mountains (which get a lot of snow in the winter) descend abruptly and end at some of the most stunning and clean beaches with crystal clear blue and green waters. A large amount of the area, even where you will find some villages such as Loutro and Agia Roumeli, is only accessible by boat or foot on the E4 Hiking Path.
Of all the Greek honey, Thyme is considered the best and rarest because the collecting season is only a few weeks in the summer from late June to August (elevation-dependent) and thus the amount of honey the bees produce is a lot less than other honeys .  When the thyme flower blooms it makes the entire landscape a beautiful bright purple color.   A prominent research study of honey in Greece showed that the thyme honey from our area of Sfakia had the highest anti-bacterial and anti-fungal properties by far.  Some NIH research papers also mention the possible anti-oxidant and cancer preventative effects of Cretan Thyme Honey and its superiority to even Manuka honey.
We were also just awarded 3 stars from http://www.itqi.com/en/ the highest rated honey in 2016.
 If you are looking for this delicious Cretan Thyme Honey, please click on the link here. BUY NOW
Saviolakis Family Cretan Thyme Honey. #2 (1)
Honey Shot- Saviolakis Family Cretan Thyme Honey. Category Crete #5

Find Cretan Thyme Honey On Social Media

www.cretanhoney.net (US)

www.cretanhoney.eu (Europe Market)

http://sfakiano.com (Greek Label)

https://www.instagram.com/cretanhoney_usa/ (Instagram) 

Buy Now!! (US)

Buy Now!! (UK/ Europe)

 

 

Kouzounas Kitchen Loukoumades Recipe

**Shop now for the delicious Cretan Thyme Honey by the Saviolakis family!

Loukoumades Pic (desserts) (3)

Ingredients:

  • 4 Cups All-purpose flour
  • 2 Tablespoons active dry yeast
  • 1/2 teaspoon kosher salt
  • 1 Teaspoon vanilla powder
  • 2 Cups lukewarm milk- water (mixed)
  • 1 Cup Cretan Thyme Honey
  • Vegetable oil for frying
  • Cinnamon for dusting
  • 1 Cup chopped walnuts

Method:

  1. In a large mixing bowl, dissolve the yeast with 1 cup warm milk- water mixture.
  2. Cover bowl with a towel and let sit for 10 minutes until the yeast bubbles on the top.
  3. In a bowl mix the flour, salt, and vanilla together.
  4. Add the flour to the yeast in three stages, and add the remaining liquid to the mixture until you get a sticky dough to form.
  5. Cover the bowl and let rise until doubled.
  6. When the dough has double, heat the oil in a fryer.
  7. This is the tricky part of the recipe. Make sure you have a glass of water, and a spoon handy.
  8. Dip your spoon into the water, then dip the spoon in the dough, and gather a ball on the spoon, drop the dough into the fryer one at a time. Make sure you always dip your spoon into the water so you prevent the dough from sticking to your spoon. (PLEASE BE VERY CAREFUL NOT TO GET HOT OIL ON YOU!!)
  9. I like to dip my fingers into the water as well, so I don’t have sticky fingers.
  10. I fry about 5 large loukoumades at a time, as my fryer isn’t very big. Once each side puffs up and turns a golden brown they are ready. Drain the oil from the loukoumades, and set on a lined baking sheet. ( I line my baking sheet with paper towels so the oil can drain.) Place doughnuts on a large platter, and once all of the dough is gone, time to drizzle them with sweetness.
  11. Drizzle honey over the top of the doughnuts and add walnuts over the top. I add a dust of cinnamon powder over the top to serve.

~Kali Orexi~

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**Tomorrow come join us for a LIVE STREAM with Andreas Saviolakis from Cretan Thyme Honey business. We will talk about his family farm in Sfakia, and discuss his products, and we will open to a fun Q & A.

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Link: https://www.instagram.com/kouzounaskitchen/?hl=en

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17 Comments »

  2. M. will love this! He’s an avid salmon fan and I’m always on the hunt for new recipes! (note to self: add tamari sauce on shopping list).

  5. Oh WOW, my husband would be in love with this product and the salmon for Father’s Day! He’s both a honey and salmon lover. However, he’s already requested my Tetrazzini crepes for tonight. 🙂

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