Sunday, August 11, 2019

Home Made Fig Bars

When I planted a fig tree a few years back, it was mostly a novelty.  I thought it would be fun to see if I could grow a fig or two, and it was always fun to point out the big fig tree in my orchard.  Two years ago, it actually produced 3 figs!  Then last year, I had about 10 figs.  Still not too many for me to personally eat them all. (Ron won't even try them.)
But I never expected to have a CROP! This year the tree is covered with figs that are beginning to ripen and I began scrambling for recipes!
Since I love fig newtons and cookies work better for me than a struessel or full baking dish full of a dessert, I concentrated on cookie recipes.
16 fresh figs, washed, stems removed and quartered.
Add 1/2 cup brown sugar, 1 Tablespoon lemon zest (I used 5 drops of Young Living lemon essential oil as I didn't have a fresh lemon.)
1/4 tsp coarse salt and 1 tsp vanilla.  Cook over low heat for about 45 minutes until it is nice and thick and consistency of jam.
Since I'm a multi-tasker, while I stirred the figs, I prepared the crust:
2 1/2 cups flour
1 tsp baking powder
1/2 tsp salt
3/4 cup soft butter (I had sour cream I wanted to use, so I used one cube of butter and about a half cup of sour cream)
1 1/2 cups brown sugar (I used one cup)
1 Tbsp lemon zest (I used 5 drops of Lemon essential oil)
2 eggs
4 tsp vanilla
It made a soft cookie dough - One half I pressed into a 9x13 baking dish and baked for 20 minutes at 350 degrees.

The other half of the dough I pressed into roughly a 9/13 shape between two greased pieces of parchment paper and put in the freezer to cool.
Last step:  Spread the cooled figs over the baked crust, put the cooled other dough half on top and bake another 25 minutes at 350 degrees. Cool (well, we didn't do too well on that part) and eat.
Delicious and nearly health food!

Saturday, August 3, 2019

Class of '62 Annual Party

This week, some members of the Class of '62, Granite Falls High School,  stopped everything else we were doing and met at River Meadows County Park on the Jordan Road for our annual get together.  
Jackie has been the glue that held us together for all these years.  She knows where we are all, what we're doing, health issues, and how to contact us.  Without her, we probably would have lost touch with each other years ago.
Elsie, always there, always helpful, even after moving to Arizona she has made it to the gathering every year.
John, a fixture in both the class and the town.  His sense of humor is always fun.
Harold
Diane
Mary
Michael
Sandy
Elsie, me, Diane, John, Michael, Jackie, and in front
Mary and Sandy
Our group is getting smaller  
This year we said goodbye to Bobby, one of my favorite people ever.

Thursday, August 1, 2019

August News Letter

Well, who knew going back into real estate would consume every spare moment of my time?  With the dry weather, I barely keep ahead of the most essential watering.  I'm still making time to swim every day, but between doing blower door tests, selling and listing real estate, and gardening, I meet myself coming and going. On the plus side, it's forced me to be more organized, tune up my memory skills, and meet more people.  Life is good!