August is the season for figs in Vancouver. I know this because on a bi-daily basis, my neighbour comes over with a huge bowl of figs for me to turn into something delicious. He has 5 trees that bare 2 kinds of figs of which I don’t know the name, but each one has green skin, one variety is large with sweet, mild white flesh that turns golden as it gets really ripe, and a smaller variety that has red flesh and is a bit tangier.
Two years ago I used the white-fleshed figs when they were really ripe to make fig ginger jam. I skinned every fig and just used the flesh for this jam with lots of texture from the seeds and chunks of candied ginger. It turned out so well that I saved and savoured the jars knowing they would have to last. One sad, sad day my last two jars hit the tile floor on the laundry room and smashed in a glassy figgy mess. As I was contemplating licking it off the floor (and picking the glass off my tongue from the splatter that hit my leg), I decided I better make some more to avoid this sort of desperate craziness.
In 2009, I used both kinds of figs together to make jam, again making Fig Ginger Jam , but this time I left on the skins. This changed the colour and texture of the jam as I needed to pulse the jam with an immersion blender to chop up the skins this time making it thicker. And because I had added the candied ginger in the jam before blending, there were no yummy candied ginger chunks. The colour was not nearly as nice as the 2008 jam (which was a rich, shiny, golden colour) but it tasted just as good.
I made a second Jam in 2009 as well, Fig, Brandy and Honey Mandarine. This had a lot more citrus and some richness from the brandy both of which went very well with the figs.
Then came August 2010:
I don’t know if it is a love for figs, the daily harvest delivery from my neighbour, or the squirrel in me but I made 7 recipes from the figs this year:
Oh, and I froze some halved figs too. Whew. I actually went out yesterday to see if the trees had any more ripe figs (um, crazy) and thankfully, that’s it for the year. I can put this figgy month to bed enjoying a pantry full of riches, of the fig persuasion.
Tags: fig, preserves, recipe
August 31 2010 | Baking and Canning and Gardening and Growing Food and Harvest and Projects | 22 Comments »
They other day I saw a giveaway for an Italian Soda Maker and I was immediately smitten. It was for the Penguin by SodaStream. With this soda maker, you add a glass bottle, some flat water, and a CO2 cartridge and voila – fizzy water.
I have been making syrups lately (like amaretto caramel and blackberry cordial) and I also see blueberry infused vodka and limoncello in my very near future. While I love making soda with these delightful syrups, I find the whole process of soda so wasteful – cans and bottles to recycle, and lots of flat soda poured down the sink.
I can definitely see myself loving a soda maker, but I do wonder how well they work and how economical they are. I’ve been hunting for the more traditional soda siphon or seltzer bottles as well but so far they are hard to find.
Does anyone out there have one? How do you like it and where can I get one?
Tags: soda
August 31 2010 | Projects | 9 Comments »
The other day I read about elderberry cordial, which is essentially a non-alcoholic fruit syrup that is delicious when added to sparkling water. Since there are tons of wild blackberries available around the area (as previously mentioned when I made my blackberry jam), I thought “Hey, I bet blackberry cordial would make great soda.”
It does.
Ingredients:
- 4 cups blackberries
- 2 cups sugar
- Water as needed
Directions:
In a large stock pot add berries one layer at a time and crush with a potato masher or whatever you have handy (I used a ladle but all the while I was imagining how much easier it would have been with a potato masher). Add the sugar once all berries are in and mashed, and set on high heat until mixture boils. If it’s not very soupy, then add some water. Reduce heat to low and simmer for a few hours until seeds start to separate from the fruit. Keep adding water if the mixture reduces and add sugar if you like it sweeter. When you have the flavour / consistency you desire, start straining it. Using a fine meshed sieve, strain out the seeds and discard. This will take a bit of time, but the end product is worth it.
Ladle finished cordial into canning jars and store in the fridge.
Tags: blackberry, cordial
August 28 2010 | Growing Food and Harvest and Recipes | 10 Comments »
While most of the crocosmia I have planted in my garden is nearly finished blooming, the smaller Emily Mckenzie crocosmia is in full bloom. I’m happy that she has a prominent spot in the front garden, and that she occasionally turns a bloom upwards letting is all see her decorative colours.
The rest of the crocosmia is ready to be divided. It’s easy this time of year, just grab a clump and pull to thin them out, or dig up the whole bunch and put back a quarter of them. I like to leave some adorning the garden as the seed knobs take on interesting shapes. In a few weeks the bulbs will turn orange and it’ll be like a second blooming.
Tags: crocosmia, Flora Friday
August 27 2010 | Flowers | 4 Comments »
Once again I have pulled out the Original Plum Torte Recipe and added a new fruit. I’ve tried strawberry coconut, blueberry lime, and now caramelized figs.
Follow the original torte recipe but top torte with quartered figs and brown sugar. To make this torte with whole wheat flour, start with 1/2 whole wheat and 1/2 regular and some add moisture (milk or caramel syrup will do very well) ensuring that the batter still pours into the pan like cake batter.
This recipe also seemed to call out for Amaretto caramel drizzled over it so I made some of that too.
Amaretto Caramel Syrup:
- 2 cups sugar
- 1/2 cup water
- 1 cup Amaretto
Directions:
In a small sauce pan, mix water and sugar until mixture feels like wet sand. Boil on high until it reaches a dark amber colour. Stir frequently and keep an eye on it to prevent burning. When colour is achieved, move pot to a deep stainless steel sink and very carefully but quickly pour in the amaretto. Wear long sleeves and get your arm out of there fast – the caramel will sputter and jump as soon as the liquid is added. Bring the pot back to the stove and whisk over medium heat until it reduces slightly. It’s ready when it feels sticky between your fingers.
Mmmm – plate lickin’ good!
Tags: Baking, fig, torte
August 26 2010 | Baking and Growing Food and Harvest and Recipes | 9 Comments »
The following is an excerpt from my article in the Spring / Summer 2010 issue of Delish magazine. Delish is a free-to-the-reader online publication for women with an cutting edge format. It is not just a website or blog, it is an online magazine that allows you to flip page by page just as you would a hard copy. The writers and editors live all over the world and in many cases were brought together by the internet. While I’ve never met any of the lovely ladies, I so much enjoyed working with them for this first issue that I wrote two more for the upcoming fall issue. To look through Delish, click on the thumbnail:
Finding Your Inner Farmer: A Guide To Getting Your Own Green Thumb
I adore beautiful plants. My garden is chock-full of them, looking like little gems, all gleaming aubergine and cherry and tangerine at different times of the year. So when I happened by a photo of a beautiful backyard potager boasting ornamental vegetables, fruit trees and herbs all intermixed with gorgeous dahlia blooms, coneflowers and wisteria vines, it was love at first sight. My image of an ordered country vegetable plot tended to by an overall-clad farmer was immediately replaced by one of a chic urbanite showing off her bounty of freshly-picked produce.
With a little research (browsing through local garden centres and seed catalogs), I quickly realized that rainbow chard and beetroot don’t only look good together on the dinner plate. I dug up the perennial beds surrounding my back patio and replaced half of the showy blooms with gorgeous veggie plants like Dragon Tongue beans and Pizza My Heart peppers. That summer, the patio looked just as beautiful as the previous year, required no extra tending to, and as a bonus, gave me a gourmet produce section right in my backyard.
It’s been a few years now since edibles have joined my small urban garden. The whole things is incredibly addicting. While the garden is still filled with flowers and ornamental trees, I’ve found it’s more rewarding to plant a trellis with Purple Peacock pole beans than a flowing vine. Hanging baskets overflow with Tumbling Tom tomatoes and yellow alpine strawberry plants can be seen in many a nook and cranny. I take great pleasure when a neighbour asks, “Is that a cabbage?” with both awe and delight at the interesting, leafy, red globe nestled in the front border of a garden that still looks unabashedly ornamental.
continue reading »
Tags: Delish
August 21 2010 | Gardening and Growing Food | 8 Comments »
If it’s sunny and you have a bunch of extra herbs, why not make sun tea? Simply snip and wash mint, lemon balm, or chamomile and pack loosely in a jar. Fill with water and leave in the sun for the day. I also use some of the yummy teas I usually sip in the winter like white tea with mint, fennel, ginger, and my all time fav chocolate mint!
Tags: chamomile, lemon balm, mint, sun tea
August 19 2010 | Growing Food and Photography and Recipes | 4 Comments »
Here are the lovlies blooming in my garden this month. Hover over the thumbnail to see the name or click on the thumbnail for a larger picture. Anyone able to help me name the hydrangeas? Extra points for identifying the bright red bloom.
Tags: Garden Bloggers Bloom Day
August 15 2010 | Flowers and Gardening and Photography | 13 Comments »
When I went to de-blight the tomatoes at the community garden plot this morning, I noticed a carrot top & greens of what was most likely one of my prized multicoloured carrots (pulled and eaten by a yet another vegetable thief) which made me think, “Hey, my carrots are ready!” While the greens sure didn’t look like much, I decided to pull them anyway and to my delight, beautiful red, purple, white, and orange carrot with no sign of carrot rust fly damage. Booya!
Back in April I pulled up my winter carrots and sadly, I lost the battle to that wily carrot rust fly. This year I planted a summer crop, planted each seed individually spaced (painstakingly), mixed lots of sand in the soil and watered well. Oh, and the most important thing: full sun. My home garden is so crowded and lush that there just isn’t the sun there is at my new garden plot. This, I’ve noticed, had made all the difference in the world to my vegetable gardening. 6-8 hours of direct sun just isn’t enough.
So here they are, some lovely purple carrot sticks, without a rusty track to be seen. Take that, carrot rust fly.
Me: 1 ; Carrot Rust Fly: 1
Tags: carrot, carrot rust fly, community garden
August 14 2010 | Community Garden and Growing Food and Harvest | 12 Comments »
I’ve cleaned off my blueberry bushes at home and like a shark with the taste of blood I needed MORE. Blueberries are best in season (what isn’t?) but they also freeze really well. They thaw a bit mushy, but are still perfect for smoothies, baking, compote or simply on plain yogurt. I found an organic farm in Richmond that had the big, sweet, Blue Crop variety for a mere $1.50/lb. It was near the river where I went blackberry picking and they had a cool old homemade machine they used to pick through the berries (which I found strangely endearing).
While most of the 40 lbs of berries I bought were simply washed and zipped up in freezer bags for the rest of the year, I did find time to convert my old fav, the Plum Torte, into a Blueberry Lime Torte.
To make, follow the recipe instructions for the Plum Torte here and simply swap blueberries for plums and add the juice and zest of one lime.
Tags: Baking, blueberry, torte
August 12 2010 | Growing Food and Recipes | 15 Comments »
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