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.

8 cups homemade turkey stock*
2 tbsp olive oil
1 tbsp butter
2 large celery stalks, finely minced
1 medium onion, finely minced
1 tsp fresh sage, finely minced, plus extra whole leaves for garnish
1 tbsp chopped turkey
roasted pieces from one large and one medium butternut squash**

Melt butter and oil in a large stockpot. Add celery, onion and fresh sage. Saute over medium high heat until onion turns translucent; about 10 minutes. Add squash pieces and chopped turkey, mixing to thoroughly coat with onion/celery/sage mixture. Add stock and bring to a gentle boil, then simmer about 30-45 minutes. In batches, puree everything in the blender to make a smooth, creamy-looking soup. Return to pot and let rest for several hours, if possible (the flavors blend best this way). Reheat when ready to serve.

Garnish with homemade croutons and deep fried sage (you can throw whole leaves into some oil, preferably an olive oil/sunflower oil combination). Remove each leaf after about a minute and drain on waxed paper.

*(see http://dirtandsunshine.posterous.com/it-all-starts-with-homemade-stock)

** cut each squash into eighths, brush with olive oil and roast at 400 degrees for about 45 minutes

Pomegranate/Apple Spritzers:

1 bottle chilled San Pellegrino sparking water (or your favorite brand)
1/4 to 1/2 cup pomegranate syrup (available at Middle Eastern markets)
1 cup chilled apple cider (or apple juice)
fresh pomegranate seeds for garnish

Add apple cider and 1/4 cup pomegranate syrup to sparking water and stir well. Check for color (I like a deep red tone) and add more syrup if necessary (I can’t remember the exact amount I ended up adding for the spritzer shown above; I was going for color as well as taste. If you like it a bit sweeter, increase the amount of apple cider). Add the pomegranate seeds to individual glasses. Serve well chilled.

This drink is lovely, healthy and, above all, tasty!

Salut!

Since I’m a ‘wanna-be’ Italian housewife, I knew I would do something with the thigh and leg meat of the turkey. The only question was what? Italians are very creative when it comes to leftovers and extra parts. I decided to do a fall-inspired version of turkey salad.

Open-faced turkey salad sandwiches:

2 cups chopped turkey, mostly from the thigh (for aesthetic purposes)
1/4 cup mayonnaise (a little extra if you think it needs it)
1 small gala apple, finely chopped
a handful of red grapes, cut in half
1/4 cup chopped walnut pieces
fresh tarragon (to taste)
salt and pepper (to taste)

Combine all ingredients and then let it rest in the fridge for several hours. Remove from refrigerator about 30-45 minutes before serving to bring it to slightly above room temperature. Pile a tablespoonful of turkey salad onto a thin baguette slice then top with your favorite variety of fig jam (Whole Foods has several options).

Please keep your Giveaway submissions coming… it would be great to get to at least 100 (you’ll see why on December 9th!).

Thank you to all who have stunned me with your passionate advocacy for so many causes!

Love,
kathy

*Biba’s recipe may be found here: http://books.google.com/books?id=yIdxwMNBm3QC&pg=PA23&lpg=PA23&dq=brodo+di+gallina+biba+caggiano&source=bl&ots=7gS2gbRFY6&sig=MSC05mPSc_yIduxbMfOqByn_pBA&hl=en&ei=V4oZS-3dCJD8tAOnq838BA&sa=X&oi=book_result&ct=result&resnum=1&ved=0CA0Q6AEwAA#v=onepage&q=&f=false

Here are two of the three appetizers. The more involved open-faced turkey salad sandwich recipe will be posted tomorrow. Before I begin, I want to give credit where it belongs. The fig appetizer was introduced to me by my dear friend, Debbie, (the leftmost blonde in the photos). I always wanted to love figs (because they are so beautiful and exotic) but I never really cared for them until Debbie made these delicious fig halves at a dinner party we attended. This appetizer couldn’t be easier: just 3 ingredients.

Black Mission figs with chevre and basil leaves:

Cut the ripest figs you can find in half, spread* with your favorite creamy goat cheese and top with a basil leaf straight from the garden. The three flavors come together so perfectly and the presentation is really simple and elegant. As my husband would say… “Voila!”

*I actually piped these from a plastic bag with a hole cut in the corner so the presentation would be as clean as possible.

Feta squares with kalamata spread and preserved lemon:

Cut flat squares of feta**, top with kalamata spread (available at Whole Foods) and a quarter slice of preserved lemon (available at Whole Foods and Middle Eastern markets). Again, the flavor combination is lovely and the white/black/yellow starkness is pure visual poetry.

**After sampling almost every feta available in our immediate area, we have concluded the best may be found at Rose Market in Mountain View (thank you Sharon Lesec for bringing us those delicious pounds of feta a few months ago – we’re now officially addicted to the Greek and French varieties!). We visited Greece this summer and marveled at the quality and diversity we found all over the mainland and islands. Our boys even became mini connoisseurs, which was pretty funny. After returning, we didn’t think we’d find something as nice as what we’d encountered overseas. I am very pleased to be wrong about that!

Before I close for today, I want to say thank you to all the December Giveaway posters to date. I am blown away by your passion for the causes you’ve listed! Thankfully I do not have to choose from my heart because I could never pick just one. They are all so worthwhile. Thank you for sharing so much information about them. I am inspired to check into every one to see what we can do to help. Please remember that you have 6 more days to enter! But be sure to go back to the original post because that is where the winning entry will be selected (no other date’s postings!). Happy Holiday Season!

Kathy

Let the season of giving begin!

kathy

P.S. If you want to view the article, please visit http://dirtandsunshine.com/about-the-author.html and click on the link to the SCENE article; FYI, the PDF file is BIG so it might take a minute or two to load!

Judy and I met in the funniest way. About a year and a half ago, I was planning our 2008 Sangria party. We had just put in a new arbor but had not yet invested in outdoor lighting. I had a bunch of candles from Seaglow and was wondering how to use them to decorate AND light the backyard (see my post on Seaglow below re: my extreme love of these candles). I had read about Emily Joubert in a local magazine and decided to ask if they could help me with flower/candle arrangements for the party. I was chatting with the floral designer and happened to mention that flower arranging was not my forte as I was a graphic designer/web designer. Judy, who was sitting about 10 feet away, jumped up and came over immediately. She said, “You’re a web designer? I need a website!”. Our partnership was born in that creative moment and it continues to this day to be a source of joy, both personally and professionally. I am happy to have helped Judy bring her artistic vision for the Emily Joubert website to life and our “business meetings” resemble nothing so much as two good friends hanging out and playing with ideas, beautiful objects, and gorgeous photos. I am blessed with the most amazing clients… thank you all for making my job so much fun.

I’ll have more to come from our fabulous luncheon (captured in the just released SCENE magazine). Meanwhile, love to Debbie, Judy, Julia and Pat for making that day so special. I will never forget how incredible these flowers were; they elevated a sweet little event to something extraordinary!

And that reminds me… time to order a Thanksgiving arrangement to surprise my mother. I love to say “I love you” with flowers!

kathy

[Photo by Kathryn Besser]