Serendipity

I love when good things happen that you could never have predicted. Big crazy things like falling in love, yes, but also little things that make your day or your week a little sillier, a little happier. One of the things I get to do is answer a statewide food preservation and safety hotline, along with LOTS of other volunteers. We all took a class through our state extension service and this is a way to serve others using the knowledge we gained. That class was a blast and I learned lots. But the people I continue to meet as a result of it - that is the bonus no one tells you about! I meet all sorts of fun people who are a part of the program (that is how I got to can tuna last week). But it also opens other surprising doors. Usually time on the hotline is spent sharing recipes, techniques, etc. Sometimes it is a matter of life or death (no you shouldn't eat food that has other lifeforms growing on it - I don't care if you did put it up yourself!) This week I answered a call from someone who wanted ideas about how to preserve and/or cook with figs. Seems she bought her daughter-in-law a fig tree some years back and it has a bumper crop this year. So they have presented her with several pounds of these little gems. We talked about drying them, making jam, etc. and I also said (being the cheeky gal I am), "Well, I'd be happy to eat some of them for you!"

Honestly, I was just kidding. But before I knew it she was getting my name and calling her daughter-in-law and when my shift on the hotline was done, I had an appointment to pick some figs. Now, you need to know I love figs. My grandmother had a big old fig tree and we used to have access to figs or fig jam year round. It wasn't until I was an adult and went looking for them in the store that I realized what an expensive little habit they can be! They are usually more than $1 apiece! Ouch! So I sometimes treat myself to one little box of them each year. I savor them and wish for a fig tree.

Well not this year! I hauled myself to the arranged meeting place, introduced myself to the lady of the house and she encouraged me to take as many as I could carry home in the boxes I had in the car.

I picked more than 20 pounds in about 15 minutes. There were SOOOOOO many of them that I hardly made a dent in the crop!

I had figs to snack on aplenty, and enough to do some fun things, too! I did share some with friends, but I also made some jam . . .

So now I have a dozen amber jars of yumminess to enjoy.

I am drying some even as we speak s

o that I can put

them in my oatmeal, or a port wine sauce for pork this winter . . . .

And at the recommendation of a friend I took some figs, stuffed them with blue cheese (Oregonzola from the Rogue creamery), wrapped them in pancetta, put a few drops of olive oil on top of the whole thing and roasted them. WOW! They were amazing. I served them with a salad of fresh greens and grated beets from my CSA along with a fig balsamic vinaigrette and some toasted pine nuts. What a feast!

When I left to answer the phone that afternoon, I never guessed I'd be remembering picking figs at my grandmothers, or enjoying a meal fit for a queen that night! Plus I met a really nice lady and her daughter in law - days like that just make me smile!

Fishin"

There was a time in my life when I really thought I didn't like fish. Mostly because the only fish usually available to a kid growing up in Texas was fried catfish - which, to my family's dismay, I still don't enjoy. But then I discovered all sorts of other kinds of fish - salmon, swordfish, tuna - and other ways to eat it - sushi, grilled, fish tacos! A whole world of seafood opened up to me. And just when I thought I couldn't appreciate it anymore I moved to the Pacific Northwest where fresh seafood abounds and where people do all sorts of cool stuff. Who knew you could smoke or can your own fish?!? Home-canned tuna is amazing. It is quite a process, but a friend of mine from the master food preserver class I took through our home extension office kindly hosts tuna canning days at her home each summer. This was the first year I could make it - and what a day! I am so excited to have all those little jars of yummy fish in my pantry to enjoy all winter long! Plus, we got to spend a day learning not only about canning fish, but about one another. I will remember those folks each time I open one of these precious little cans and enjoy locally caught, low mercury, super-yummy tuna!

happily ever after . . .

One of the things I get to do as a minister is walk with couples as they make the journey to a wedding. It is a privilege to be able to hear their stories about how they met and fell in love, their hopes, fears and dreams. I got to preside at a wedding last week and it was a joy. The young couple worked hard to make sure the day was truly about celebrating their relationship and their families and friends, not just a big show. It was held at a botanical garden and we were surrounded by flowers and trees. A friend of the bride serenaded us with lovely medieval music and we feasted on fresh local blueberries and cherries - yum! Shoes were optional for those in attendance, as they stepped upon holy ground and made promises together about love. What a gift in a time when we hear so much about sorrow, when weddings are often portrayed as another opportunity to spend money and impress others to be a part of a celebration that was about taking seriously the intentions of those involved; a day that honored the love of these two people and was honest about asking for the love and support of others as they begin their life together; a day that included both serious vows and crying friends as well as laughter and high-fives all around! I am so grateful to have been there to witness the beginning, and I hope their new life together is joy-filled!

Food for Thought . . .

I went to see the movie "Food, Inc." last week. I encourage you to see it if you have the chance,. In my opinion it is well done and shines a light on many of the problems in our modern food "industry". Unfortunately, I wasn't shocked by the content of the film. I have read several books about our how our food is grown, raised, processed, etc. these days - so the movie just added pictures and personal testimony to what I already know. While I don't think I can go totally vegetarian (like the folks pictured above, who I saw at a "veggie pride" march this spring in NYC) I do try to make choices that are healthy for me and the planet when it comes to meat. Really, I try to do that with all my food, but having access to veggies from a farmer's market, CSA, or your own backyard is easier in most parts of the country than acquiring what I think of as "happy meat."

I was spoiled as a child. I grew up eating beef from my grandfather's ranch. He fed the cows grass and hay . . .because that is what cows are designed to eat and it makes good sense. I always thought other meat tasted funny to me just because I was used to my grandpa's. It wasn't until I was older that I realized most beef in America is fed with corn that we have in abundance to due government subsidies. Even though cattle aren't supposed to eat grains. I am grateful to live in a place where I can get my hands on locally raised beef, pork, poultry and wild fish. It sometimes costs a little bit more, but I know where my food is coming from and what is (or more importantly is not) fed to the animals. The work of local farmers and ranchers is such a gift. A gift for which I am deeply grateful. I don't eat meat that often, but when I do I know I have a choice. Not everyone does.