Time to talk of other things ...

 Old fashioned Fig Preserve  Shout out to my friend and gardener nonpareil Rajiv who has a Nagronne Fig ( Ficus carica 'Negronne' ) tree that had a bountiful harvest.  Unsurprisingly fig recipes were the highlight this summer, allowing us to relive many favourite recipes we first encountered in the late 80s when we lived on the Island of Cyprus. This old fashioned fig preserve containing chunks of tree-ripened Nagronne figs.  Figs have a natural, honey-like sweetness, so lemon adds a nice bit of acidity and brightness.  Truly a h eavenly treat, no fig-ure of speech!! Pull up a chair. Take a taste. Come join us. Life is so endlessly delicious. ~ Ruth Reichl This fig preserve is very versatile - limited only by your imagination. I found this blog that lists 15 ways to use fig preserves.  Ingredients: 3 pounds tree ripened figs (approximately 9 cups) 3 pounds sugar (approximately 6 and 1/2 cups) 2 lemons, sliced, remove seeds Method: 1. Wash the tree ripened figs in cold water,

  Palouzes - Dessert made from Red Grape Juice Cypriot Palouzes, called Moustalevria in Greece, is made from the juice of freshly pressed tree-ripened red grapes. Eating is so intimate. It’s very sensual. When you invite someone to sit at your table and you want to cook for them, you’re inviting a person into your life. ~ Maya Angelou I have reproduced a recipe I found on this website Ingredients: 10 cups of Grape Juice ( mousto ) 10 tbsp of whole wheat flour or cornstarch 4-5 leaves of kiouli (arbaroriza aka Pelargonium or 'Citronella'  or Scented Geranium) for the aroma 1 branch of basil 1/5 tsp of mastic crushed powder 2 tbsp of rose water Roughly crushed almonds or walnuts as garnish Method: In three cups of mousto, dilute the flour and pour it through a fine strainer to collect whatever is not diluted. In a large pot pour the remaining mousto. Wash the basil and kiouli leaves well under running water. Add the kiouli leaves and the basil. Place it on the stove to heat up. W

  Home-brew American Ale A rite of passage when one retires it to dabble in hobbies. What better way to take a plunge in the deep end than home brewed Ale, especially when one has delightful friends who grow their own Cascade Hops (talking about you, Bill Z), have the brewing kit and caboodle (shout out to Rajiv S) and are generous with advice (take a bow, Jarl N). Without question, the greatest invention in the history of mankind is beer. Oh, I grant you the wheel was also a fine invention, but the wheel does not go nearly as well with pizza.  ~ Dave Berry Ingredients for ~5 gallon (19L) American Ale Source: https://www.seriouseats.com/homebrewing-pale-ale-for-beginners-extract   6 gallons of reverse osmosis water.  6 pounds Briess Golden Light GBW dry malt extract (DME) 1/2 pound Viking Malt Caramel 50 (20L), crushed 1/2 pound Carapils Malt, crushed 1 ounce Cascade hops after 30 minutes 3 ounce Cascade hops after flame out for dry hopping 11.5 gram package Safale US-05 dry ale yeast