I am brought to reflection on various milestones this year, and this one adds to the list of sweet accomplishments added to my day-to-day. Yay for this anniversary!
I picked these figs from trees heavy with fruit one evening before going on set, with the fermented fragrance of more, too quickly ripening to all be plucked, heavy around me. So many different types of fig trees to wander through. It was my quiet weeknight rendez-vous as I prepped this story, at the urban teaching farm known here as the Jones Valley Teaching Farm. It's only 10 or so blocks away from my home, and what a beautiful series of gardens they have.
To mark the occasion of this anniversary, I've made a delectable fig-bourbon vanilla-almond brittle-pistachio honey-gingersnap ice cream cake. Perfect for the still-hot weather here, and a fun bite worthy of most any celebration. I hope you love it. Full story and recipe now at Anthology.
Pennants to add to the celebratory note….
The cake melts, but that's part of the fun! The mess of those delicious layers….This simply means you have to invite friends over to gorge with you, or get savvy at parceling out and freezing the leftovers.
To revisit the last twelve months of Anthology stories, here are some of my favorite images and their respective recipes….
The gorgeous - and still very relevant - panzanella salad.
One of the three salads for summer staples I created, from this story.
The extraordinarily satisfying strawberry-rhubarb crostadas to herald in spring.
Simple and colorful: my kind of daily eating. This crunchy and flavorsome slaw is where it's at.
A ridiculously easy and delicious apple flognarde. What else matters when you have this?
That amazing layer cake I did because people like layer cakes. And because this was basically my wedding cake and I wanted more of it.
The savory meat pies to keep you comfy. Warm buttery crust and herby meat filling. What better way to bear down and cope with winter?
A favorite of mine: savory slow-cooked lamb shanks and melted onions. I get hungry just reading those words aloud….
Classic apple tarts tatin. Half the work of pie and just as pleasing as if all the effort was exerted. Dig in.
Best-ever cheesecake, made with muscadines. Newly to the south, I discovered an easy way to make a mark with these brightly sweet southern orbs.
And for my first post, this as-awesome-as-ever pesto-not-pesto. Nutty, savory, addictive. You'll pretty much want to put this on everything.
Do you have a favorite? Please let me know! As I breathe life into the second year of posts, I want to hear from you which recipes and stories have really stood out, and why. Thank you.
And thank you all for following these adventures. I couldn't do it without your enthusiasm, your hunger for details, the back-stories, and wanting to see a peek into the what's next. And as to what is next, there are a bunch of beautiful things getting cooked up....
If you haven't seen the new Anthology Journal, here is an excerpt with my grandmother's heirloom recipe story. You can find a copy for yourself by clicking here.
Happy eating. Make something delicious for yourselves! xxx
