Food, Food Artisans

7 Things About Laurey Masterton

A Beekeeper’s Dinner Featuring Author Laurey Masterton

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Join us Wednesday, February 19, 7pm as we welcome Chef and spokesperson for The National Honey Board, Laurey Masterton, author of The Fresh Honey Cookbook, to Zingerman’s Roadhouse. We’ll be tasting different honey varietals, honey from different regions and of course, using honey to prepare many of Laurey’s vibrant recipes and delivering amazing dishes to the table.

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  1. She grew up in Vermont. Her parents were innkeepers and often cooked dinners for up to 45 people, including inn guests. Laurey attended her first such dinner at age 16 months. She wrote a memoir looking back at this time called Elsie’s Biscuits: Simple Stories of Me, My Mother, and Food. This is where she developed her love of good food.
  2. While in college, Laurey discovered the theater department and after graduation, she embarked on a 10-year career as a Theatrical Lighting Designer for various theater productions in New York City. She left New York to become an instructor for Outward Bound Asheville, NC.
  3. She quickly realized that Outward Bound was not her calling and, at the suggestion of her sister, started a catering business in 1987. The business soon expanded to include a cafe and in 1990, she moved Laurey’s Catering and Comfort Café into downtown Asheville as a part of a wave of city renewal.
  4. Faced with the frustrations of being a small-business owner, Laurey says she was on the verge of quitting when she decided to retool. She credits the Zingerman’s Experience seminar at ZingTrain with helping her develop a new vision for the business, and turning things around.
  5. Laurey is an avid bike-rider, and often participates in benefit rides for various non-profit organizations. She is s three-time cancer survivor and has trekked across the Continental US (3100 miles!) to raise research money and awareness for ovarian cancer. She works with the LiveStrong Foundation to help with support, counseling and assistance for cancer survivors.
  6. She became interested in honeybees while catering an event with Project Honey Bee. She went to beekeepers school, began raising bees, and even did a TED Talk on the subject of bees. A strong advocate for raising awareness of the integral part that bees play in our ecosystem, she has written a cookbook called, The Fresh Honey Cookbook, featuring a chapter each on 12 different honey varietals. The book is full of recipes, and interesting information about bees, pollination, and honey. She currently serves as spokesperson for the National Honey Board.
  7. Laurey likes to improve on recipes calling for sugar by using an interesting honey varietal. Her favorites are: avocado, sourwood, poplar, tupelo, and chestnut.