hydromel5

ok, so a day later i'm still writing this at work and so i will write with that fig paste recipe later . . . but what is this about the fig and the fig wasp? interesting!

oh fresh figs! if i had to choose only one fruit to live with for the rest of my life, figs would be it. here's my favoite ways: 1. oh boy - just sitting there (with your favorite person) and eating them, really slow. there is something about this fruit that makes me want to slow down and savor it. 2. make a compote with fresh raspberries (lemon and sugar), puree it then add more fruit and bake it into a tart - yum yum! 3. oh, oh! - so take the fresh fig, destem it and make an "x" in the top. make a fine paste of roasted almonds (believe or not, tamari roasted almonds tastes the best) rich dark chocolate and the tiniest bit of rum (to make it come together) - here's the good part - stuff it inside - then kind of squeeze it back together to its orginal shape. this one almost beats #1. 4. drizzled with honey and goat cheese (always a delicious one) 5. i will write later (i am at work) but with dried figs, i once made a mistake while making fig bars and came up with this delicious fig paste that now we use for everything from a galette filling to making little toasts with gorgonzola - delicious! also a note to the fig tree keepers: having a fig tree must be great . . . i am so envious! my husband and i have a patio garden (we grow all kinds of things from pumpkins to raspberries in pots) and i'm trying to figure out if i could start a fig tree (and a miniature lemon tree) there. someday we will have a house and a fig tree will be the first thing i plant - enjoy them while you can! (my food store only has them for one month!)

the best im-dying-of-some-kind-of-cold-and-sniffling-and coughing-and-feeling-oh-so-sick rememdy: boil 2 pounds of organic kale in 2 qts h2o until the water turns a nutrient-rich dark green. (take out the greens and save them for some texture in your chicken soup.) drink that broth ALL DAY (add a little squeeze of fresh lemon juice - yum!) and you'll feel so much better - a true green tonic CURE!

serious meeting + serious co.workers = serious stiff drinks (gin and tonics with snazzy gin and fresh lime juice and other "classic" refreshing summer drinks (make a fresh juice lime.aid for a non-alcoholic alternative) not.so.serious meeting + adventuous co.workers (with the added benefit of an outdoor patio herb and vegetable garden) = more exciting herb infused drinks (lemon verbena/mint infused ice tea or lemon verbena/mint infused simple syrup into a lemonade - oh boy!) not.at.all serious meeting + any kind of co.worker + a chance to get everybody giddy (added benefit: ice cream machine) i could go on and on here but the "float" can make refreshments turn into an affair all it s own! traditional: oh yum, the micro-brewed rootbeer and homemade vanilla bean . . . the off beat? homemade cardamom ice cream in cassis lambic beer. . . . the refreshing? a fruit sorbet in micro brewed ginger beer . . . oh i could go on and on! good luck!