Growing at the edge of the yard I played in as a child was an old fig tree. Up until the time we moved to the farm the only thing I really knew about fig trees was the story of Adam and Eve, the snake, the apple and the fig leaf. I am not for sure I really knew there was a fruit, or if I cared. I was pretty much an apple and banana girl. I had never tasted a fig until that time. I remember the first time Mother reached into the tree, picked a sun warmed fig and offered it to me to taste. The sweet mushiness was divine.
As years passed the tree grew enormous and the fruit was so plentiful Daddy would wedge long pieces of lumber under the fruit ladened branches to keep them from breaking. Each summer the birds and I would fight over the ripened figs. Mother soon began picking the figs and making the best fig preserves ever. The birds and I fought over the leftovers. She did little more that half the fruit and make a sugar syrup to pour over them. Unfortunately, she didn't know she would leave us so early and didn't bother to write her recipe down. The best fig preserve ever recipe was lost forever.
Several years ago Roger and I bought a teeny tiny fig tree; really just a stick. This past spring I counted 26 figs on our little tree with four branches; the birds and squirrels feasted and I cried. Through the summer I watched figs appear and disappear. I have yet to enjoy one of my own homegrown figs.
Last week Whole Foods had figs on sale; I brought home two containers of Mission figs and made my first preserves. It is not my mother's recipe. It is mine.
And all the lids popped!
This past weekend I brought home four pounds of French Butter pears. They are my very favorite.
It was so difficult resisting the urge to cut one up as a yummy snack, but I had a plan for these beauties.
Today I peeled, cored and quartered. I cooked the pears down with sugar, nutmeg, cinnamon and orange zest. My finished product? Three pints of pear butter.
They all popped, and
I am so pleased!
I am loving my Monday afternoons in the kitchen!
I wish my Mother could be here with me...
And, I know she is.
