It's the middle of July and our Celeste Fig Tree is producing like crazy! We gave away about 6 dozen figs to friends on Wednesday and DH just picked 8 dozen more. We love fresh figs (as do the birds and the squirrels), but this tree is an over-achiever. We can't eat them fast enough (and I only like them fresh - not canned or preserved, etc.) But we have some friends that use them in various ways - so we try to give them away in bulk.
This is the second batch DH just picked. We really like the Celeste Figs. They are sweet. We do have a Turkey Fig in backyard, but it produces very large (not as sweet) fruit. We let the birds and squirrels have those.
BTW, are any of you familiar with *purple* Bell Peppers? Not red - purple! They also had the (what I call normal) red, yellow, orange, and green peppers - as well as these *purple* and even some *white* ones. This was at Central Market this morning.
I've been baking a bit too. Made a fresh peach torte Wednesday and a peach bread pudding with amaretto sauce yesterday. Why? Because my peaches were about to go bad if I didn't use them... as well as 3/4 of a loaf of egg bread with raisins! We had company Wednesday so the torte was eaten, but we may be having bread pudding for breakfast for a while....
On a different note, do any of you watch "Doc Martin" on PBS? I've watched PBS shows for ages, but Doc Martin is fairly new to me. I love the little English coastal town where the show is produced... so quaint!
A few pics:
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| my chick and his hatch-mate |
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| squirrel outside front window doing acrobats to get birdseed |
Bread pudding? You made bread pudding? And you didn't invite me for any? OMC, I'd almost kill (figuratively speaking) for bread pudding, I LOVE, LOVE, LOVE bread pudding. I'd take the peach torte too! But the bread pudding....Sigh.
ReplyDeleteThere used be a steak house in Halifax, NS (I lived there for 16 years) that we'd sometimes go to. They made the best Cesar salads and I'd usually have that, then order their "Louisiana bread pudding with homemade whisky sauce." Oh, man...that was to die for. It's been decades....And the restaurant went out of business a long time ago.
As for your figs...I don't even think I've seen an undried fig before. Dried figs and dates in the stores are the norm, certainly not fresh ones. Haven't seen a purple pepper, either!
The chicks are adorable and so is the squirrel. :-)
Oh, and I've seen the occasional episode of Doc Martin, but they've made the character so surly now that I find it unappealing. I remember seeing the pilot where he was more a "fish out of water" in the small community, but now he's just a grump. LOL. I HAVE seen the actor in various documentaries, though, and have enjoyed those very much (one on horses -- he and his wife have at least two) and I believe one on dogs too (think it was the same actor).
I too love bread pudding! My mother-in-law in Louisiana made the best I've ever tasted (She's almost 97 now and doesn't cook much anymore). And whiskey sauce is fabulous! (We didn't have any whiskey in the house last week, so that's why I did the Amaretto instead - really doesn't cut it, but better than nothing). Most restaurants make the pudding too sweet. Home-made is much better.
ReplyDeleteAnd fresh sweet figs are really good. I've never cared for things cooked with figs (not even fig newtons), but fresh... ahh!
Doc Martin is kind of *growing on me*. He is a surly sod, but the coastal town is so adorable and the other characters are interesting. I like his Aunt Joan...
I like Doc Martin a lot but I've yet to figure out why.
ReplyDeleteThat's funny as I feel the same. But I think it's that cute little town.
DeleteIt always amazes me at how squirels manage to get what they want, no matter how impossible it may seem. Those are great pictures.
ReplyDeleteGinnie, that little squirrel was as brazen as can be. He let me stand right at that window (which is not very far from where he was) and flipped his little tail at me as I took pics.
DeleteI'm trying to think less about food, not more! You made it difficult with this post, but I'll manage to stay away from any bread pudding right now. I love fresh figs, too. They are only in the stores for a short period, like right now, so I'll get some next Farmers' Market. I also like Doc Martin but am trying to limit my TV consumption. I am watching Last Tango in Halifax right now, though, and enjoying it thoroughly.
ReplyDeleteDJan, I'm sorry about mentioning all the food, but I hate to waste... so I feel that I must make something with it. And I have to admit that the egg bread with raisins made a really great bread pudding.
DeleteI too watch Last Tango in Halifax and enjoy it. Actually Sunday night here has several shows I like; Last Tango, Masterpiece Mystery,Unforgettable (same time as Masterpiece - have to record one), and As Time goes by.
Oh Doc Martin grows on you, we love him and still watch even though we are getting repeats some of the time now.
ReplyDeleteI've never had fresh figs, I love dried ones, only discovered them in the last couple of years when my grandson brought some home for us one day.Your snaps of the squirrel are fun, he's very acrobatic :)
Diana
You know, Diana, we put the bird feeder where it is outside the front window so that our cats who like to lie in that window could watch the birds. Well, the squirrel seems to have become the main source of entertainment - not the birds.
DeleteThere is nothing like the fresh produce of summer. I was distressed this morning when I was watering my garden to realize that I never planted peppers. I will have plenty of tomatoes though--as long as they don't get the dreaded late-season blight that has plagued this area for the last 3 or 4 years.
ReplyDeleteOlga, green peppers were one of the few plants that did well in our garden... those and tomatoes. But the mockingbirds really liked the tomatoes! Now I only do the hanging herb basket thing... and of course the fig trees.
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