A little dessert to celebrate

Thank you to everyone who has entered their favorite charities in this month’s giveaway. It warms my heart to see how passionate you all are for the causes you’ve listed. You’ve definitely inspired me to push myself even further in this effort… stay tuned for “Phase Two” of the giveaway (to be announced tomorrow afternoon!). In the mean time, let’s get to dessert, shall we?

Pictured above is the quartet of desserts from the girls’ fall luncheon featured in SCENE magazine:

Chocolate-covered drunken figs (John & Kira’s)
Dates with mascarpone, orange flower water, Sieber honey and pistachios
Asian pear slices with parmeggiano-reggiano and balsamic vinegar
Garden mint squares (John & Kira’s)

You may have heard me rave about John & Kira’s chocolates from time to time. Well, they were the perfect way to end our fall tour of the garden. The chocolate-filled/chocolate-covered figs were absolutely luscious*. There is no better word to describe the sweet, creamy, chewy sensation of these figs. And the Garden Patch mint squares are deliciously discordant. They provide the EXACT flavor of biting into a spearmint leaf, but the texture is perfectly smooth. I’ve never tasted anything like them and highly encourage you to sample them (especially now with all the free shipping offers at www.johnandkiras.com)!

The dates with mascarpone, etc. is a favorite recipe from our friend, Bruce (an insanely talented home chef). Find the plumpest Medjool dates (ours are from Milk Pail Market, in Los Altos) and pipe in a nice squiggle of mascarpone cheese (also Milk Pail). Shake a few drops of chilled orange flower water (available at Miette/SF or Middle Eastern markets) over each date, then drizzle a few bands of honey in a criss cross fashion and top with chopped pistachios. Our delightful honey is by the Sieber Family (brought by my dear friend, Judy; it is carried at Emily Joubert in Woodside); the pistachios are roasted/unsalted ones from C.J. Olson’s in Sunnyvale. This is one of my parents’ favorite desserts; it’s quick, easy and they love introducing it to all their friends.

The asian pear slices with parmeggiano-reggiano and balsamic vinegar (a thick, syrupy variety from Convivio in Florence, Italy) provided a nice contrast to all the sweetness on the plate. In case I haven’t mentioned it before, I will be putting downloadable versions of the three-course circle menus, the “Be Warm/Bee Luscious” etc. swag cards and the circle spice label artwork on the dirt & sunshine website soon!

Enjoy!

kathy

*From John & Kiras website:
Noted for their extremely thin skins and sweet, almost candy-like taste, our Spanish figs are filled by hand with a silky dark 64% Valrhona ganache flavored with Whiskey and enrobed in a thin layer of dark 54% chocolate. The Calabacita variety of fig is grown by a family owned company in “Los Llanillos” in the village of Almoharin located in the Extremadura region of Spain.