Falling

On my walk to the "friendliest store in town" I beheld glorious fall.

Dragging my feet along the way.....just to savor it.

Getting figgy with it.

Recently, a dear friend of mine (after eating about 75 figs all to himself mind you) shared with me the location of a neighborhood fig tree, heavily laden and cascading over the public sidewalk.   After knocking on the door to inform the residents of the house, we began to fill our basket with the  most perfectly delectable figs.  I had visions of  fig sauce on pork chops in mid-winter and immediately began pouring over the Complete Book of Home Preserving, where I was happy to find an easy fig preserve recipe and great information about canning in general.

My basket held about 30 figs and I added these to 8 cups of boiling water.  I turned the heat off, covered the pot and left the figs to sit for about 15 minutes.

In a different pot, I combined 2 Cups of sugar and one sliced lemon and boiled them over high heat with 4 cups of water to dissolve the sugar.

I removed the lemon slices and added 2 cups of figs at a time to the pot. I boiled them in the syrup until the skins became brown and transparent.  I set these ones aside and added more green figs until they were all brown and the syrup was thick and dark.  I combined the figs and syrup and left it to cool overnight.

The next morning I decided to chop up the figs before reheating them.

 I brought the figs and syrup back to a boil and prepared my jars and lids.  I filled my hot jars, making sure to leave 1/4" headspace and processed the jars in a boiling water canner for 10 minutes.

And here's the new addition to my winter stash.  I made four half pint jars of Fig Preserves.  That should last me until my dear friend tips me off to the location of another heavily laden and ambiguously owned fig tree.

Acknowledgments

"I thank the animal tenders and beekeepers, and the  ones with courage to slaughter.  I thank the bakers, brewers, cheesemakers, miso makers, and sauerkraut makers.  I thank the urban gardeners and the forest homesteaders.  I thank the seed savers and skill sharers.  I thank the dumpster divers, gleaners, and foragers.  I thank the co-ops, farmers' markets, and CSA farms.  I thank the crusaders, protestors, and watchdogs.  I thank the cooks, chefs, and kitchen magicians everywhere who find creative expression in keeping people well fed.  I also thank the dishwashers and those who do the grimy tasks that keep kitchens safe and clean. "  
The Revolution Will Not Be Microwaved  
Sandor Ellix Katz

Red wigs on bikes

Late last week my dear friend Der Lovett invited me to join him and a bunch of folks on a bike ride.  The bike ride being a fundraiser for his friends Amie and Harper and an act of love and support that brought me to my knees and has stayed with me in my thoughts.

Recently after being blessed with a new baby into their lives,  Harper was diagnosed with ALS or Lou Gehrig's disease.  ALS is a disease that hits people between the ages of 40-70, in which the person slowly looses muscle movement and control, leading to inevitable paralysis.  Meanwhile the mind is left completely unaffected.  The bike ride was organized to raise money to help support Amie and Harper, as time progresses and the family's challenges become greater.  The idea was that each person would donate $10.00 and join in this long meandering bike ride around NE Portland.. oh yeah.. and everyone wore RED wigs.  Lovett Deconstruction matched our "teams" donations to make a pretty substantial overall donation. The organizers were expecting about 300 people to show up and it was such a beautiful sight to see.  Amie, Harper, and their little baby joined us on the ride via pedicab.

I was deeply moved by being a part of this bike ride.  It was an incredibly creative and deeply heartfelt act by a community of friends and supporters.  It reminded me that by gathering together in large numbers we could raise a lot of money and provide  a tangible show of love.  There was a sweetness in the air, though I knew the seriousness of Amie and Harper's future, I also felt comforted by this simple act of human helping human.  It was humbling to realize that all  of us are always just a step away from loosing a loved one.  How precious all this is.....all the more reason to don a red wig and celebrate one radiant evening together.

Two ways....

"There are only two ways to live your life.  One is as though nothing is a miracle.  The other is as if everything is."  Albert Einstein