fig berry jam

I went to the Minnesota State Fair this weekend and watched a presentation by Laurie of Golden Fig - one of the best local foods purveyors (and manufacturers, actually) in the area.  She was showing simple recipes for fun, fresh food on a stick.  But what got me was the beautiful fresh figs she had - and they were on sale at Whole Foods.  I drove straight from the fair to pick up 2 pints to play around with.  Then I set about finding a recipe for fig jam.  

Two days later, I saw Laurie again at the St. Paul Farmer's Market taste testing some of her mixes and flavored sugars.  The cherry cardamom sugar caught my attention and voila!  The flavor components of my Fig Berry Jam were born. Thanks for 2x the inspiration, Laurie!

1.5 lbs fresh mission figs
1/4 lb dried cherries
1/2 c honey (get good, sweet, local honey - I used wildflower)
1/4 t cardamom
1/4 t white pepper
1/2 t kosher salt
zest and juice of 2 small lemons
3/4 c St Croix Valley raspberry infusion wine (I just happened to have this,  if you don't, just use red wine)
6 cardamom pods, cracked with the flat side of your knife
1 T amaretto

Heat 1/2c of the wine and the cardamom pods over medium-high heat until liquid is reduced by half or more. Strain out the seeds and pods; set reduction aside.

Wash & stem figs and chop into rough 1/2" pieces.  In a large stock pot or saucepan, mix together all ingredients except for the last 1/4 c raspberry wine and amaretto.  Bring to boil and reduce heat to maintain a nice bubbling simmer.  Cook 30-40 minutes until cherries are well plumped and figs are cooked through. Add remaining wine and amaretto just at the end.  Taste and re-season, if necessary.

Turn off heat and let mixture sit for 10 minutes.  Pour into food processor and pulse until you get the desired texture.  (I like mine with a bit of body, but pretty well pureed).

You can just bottle this up, can using the boiling process, or freeze.  Makes about 25-27oz of jam.

Trixie's tips:

• Enjoy with a cheese plate with goat cheese, manchego, marcona almonds and a pool of honey to smear on flatbread, crackers or toasted baguette.
• We also rolled about a tablespoon each jam and goat cheese into a crepe for brunch. Yum and yum.
• This will also stand in beautifully for your normal breakfast jam on toast.
• Lastly, warm this jam with a tablespoon of balsamic vinegar and serve over super dark chocolate ice cream.  Alternatively, crush a few meringue cookies, layer with this warm jam mixture and just a bit of heavy cream (whipped or not, doesn't matter).

cooking away

While spring is my favorite season (blooming flowers, first signs of local produce, and the hope of warm sunny days after months of snow), fall is my favorite cooking season.  Flush with veggies and starting to crave jeans & sweatshirts, I can't think of anything I want to do more than cook.

Beyond that, cooking is also my way of decompressing and dealing with my over-active brain.  The mindless chopping and peeling and fussing are the perfect balm for my anxiety.  Plus, I'm not so bad at it so the results tend to be as enjoyable as the process.

This weekend, full of summer and the fair and weddings and otherwise over-committed days, I found myself longing for my kitchen.  So I've spent the better part of the past 24 hours in full-on cooking, baking and exercising my kitchen modes.  Thankfully my better half is an avid and enthusiastic cleaner upper and is the organized, recovery to my cook-and-destroy.  So he's been a great partner in my maniacal cooking fest.  Plus, he loves food and loves to cook himself so he's a truly willing participant.

Other benefits of my weekend onslaught included inspiration for our Christmas gift planning (we're doing all-homemade gifts this year - together) and making productive use of the abundant farmer's market. But mostly it tweaked the creative side of my brain which, quite frankly, feels as if it's been dormant for a few weeks.  Rushing through life headlong gives me that "just subsisting" vibe.  And that makes me even more anxious.  Riff on this recipe.  Tweak that spice mix.  Dream up a delicious cocktail.  And enjoy it all with the one I love.  Cooking is just good therapy all around.

I'll be posting recipes as I get a few moments here (I actually wrote them down for a change!) and taking a break here and there to, well, eat.  Therapy you can devour.  Delicious.

Sigh

Way too many conversations going on in the comments section of this blog. While that would normally be a fantastic thing, in this case it's a bizarre collection of Chinese-looking characters that are clearly not intended for me. On. Every. Post. So alas, I've put comments on lockdown until further notice.

a giant leap forward

The past few weeks have been a jumble.  Summer, a little travel, an illness requiring medication, lots of sleep and gallons of water to try to reinflate me to my usual form, some events, a ton of board work and some still-developing shaping and reshaping of my work life.  It's been nuts.  Part of me knows that when I get too crazy and have too many plates spinning, the inevitability of some sort of unintended slowdown lurks just behind me ready to whack me over the head with one of those precious plates.  It's been this way my entire life, and especially in the past 10 years or so.  I have learned to be better in tune with myself and my limitations, but let's face it, I still go too fast, in too many directions, all at once.  It's just how I'm wired.

I've been working on refining my existence as a consultant and what that means for how I work. And part of this process has made me sit myself down and figure out all this running around.  It's too much.  I love my Segnavia Creative clients and spending time with them is one of the most beneficial parts of how I engage.  But I'm doing it too much - I am simply not funded to travel all over town and sit with whomsoever I'd like, as much as I'd like to believe that I am.  I have recently engaged with my first (as yet, potential) client out of state.  Which begs the question: If I can do that, can't I do this other stuff differently?  Better?  Do I really need to meet with everyone, so often, all the time, all over the place?  Do I need to be one more car on the road?

Which brings me back full circle to a dream that I started poking around last summer - could I live without a car?  There are lots of reasons why this is a crazy thought.  A car is mobility!  Flexibility!  Freedom!  Heck, a car is pretty much expected, is it not?  A car is one of the first noticeable outward signs of success - is it a nice car?  A clean car?  A cared for car?  A car is one of the most obvious external indications of who we are, what our personalities are, what our style is.  We're weird Americans, aren't we?  A car is an indicator of my personal worth or success?  Who the hell decided that?

As I continue on my own personal journey toward building and living this best life (for me), I have come to realize that I don't want a car.  I don't want the entanglement, I don't want the expense and I don't want the parking hassles.  (This summer construction season is grating on me, without doubt...let's see how I feel at 10 degrees and no seat heaters, eh?)  Because while cars are all of the things noted above, they're also many not-so-good things.  A car is expensive!  A car requires maintenance!  A car bears a heavy "green" load!  And let's face it, my bike is way cuter.

I've done a lot of research.  I've crunched the numbers.  I've played with the bus schedule - mapping things and timing things, to and fro.  I've thought about running errands and hauling stuff.  But the reality for me is that I'm ubermobile without a car.  I live and work in my downtown loft and can easily access all the bus lines (2-3 blocks), several HourCars (3-4 blocks), there's a Budget rental on the corner, I have my bike (which can go on the bus too!) and for that matter, I am perfectly capable of calling a cab in an emergency.  I listed out all the pros and cons of the car-free lifestyle I was considering.  And the end result was that I was happier with the list of pros.  I'm pro bike, pro public transportation, pro eco, pro shoe leather, pro car share.  I'm also pro being better organized, focused and thoughtful about where I'm going and how.  And I'm pro $700 each month to do other, more interesting things with.  Yea, I'm definitely pro that.

So I've done it.  As of noon yesterday, I am no longer a car owner.  I am car-free.  I am free.

And I'm exhilarated by possibility.  I fully recognize that there's a fair amount of test driving and trial and error that are going to happen here.  I know that some days taking the bus or arranging a car are going to feel like a pain in the ass.  But having the ability to choose,and the flexibility that comes with not having that car payment?  That's pretty fantastic.  And it's one more step towards creating the life that I want for myself.  One big step, actually...in very comfortable shoes.