9/2 In a Jam With the Figs
I love figs. I love fresh figs, dried figs and Newtoned figs. I adore how sensual they look and how subtle they taste. The are sweet, sultry and the most grown up food I know.
Monday was our day to create the much anticipated Fig Jam. I have never made it before. It always seemed too difficult, mysterious or too expensive to make at home. It was too something in the past, but here it was…Fig Jam day.
Photo By: S. Duquet
We went to a local market that specializes in out of the ordinary fruits and veggies at rock bottom prices. Either they have what you are looking for or they do not. If you are looking for a fig or a cactus leaf…go there. A strawberry or an apple, not so much.
As we walked through the door, I scanned the market for my beloved figs.
There they were, both green and black, waiting for me to arrive. I cradled them through the store and on the drive home…just to be safe.
Photo By: S. Duquet
Sandy lovingly cut five pounds of figs in to bite sized pieces (as I ate them from the bowl). We measured the sugar and juiced our lemons by hand.
As we worked through the night, I visualized how civilized it would be to have Fig Jam on our English Muffins and biscuits. How thrilled our friends and family would be to receive Figgy Jam as gifts. We cooked it and cooked it some more. Then, we cooked it even longer until I thought we might pull an all- nighter. It was at this point that I tasted it for the first time. It had been cooking for what felt like 15 hours and was the closest to its finished state as it had been all night. The minute I put it in my mouth, I knew it wasn’t right. It was too sweet….way too sweet. Canning is an exact science, you do not ad lib…you follow a recipe that was most likely published in the eighteen hundreds or before. So, evidently, the recipe I found was for a fig jam that may have been consumed by kings and queens with a voracious appetite for sugar.
Photo By: S. Duquet
Making jam requires sugar so it didn’t seem out of the ordinary. Plus, as I mentioned…We had never made it before.
I am sharing this canning debacle because these are exactly the types of situations that happen in the midst of a major life overhaul. This is a learning experience and journey. A journey that will include many new things that we will want to replicate and perhaps as many that we will not. Creating change, great or small is easier and more fun when you can be flexible with yourself and your expectations. Some things work and others may not. Just keep moving and be imaginative.
Sandy has decided the the Fig Jam is now a Gourmet Fig Topping because the flavor is exquisite and has a caramel like feel. Or, by adding some pecans to it, it could double for pecan pie or tart filling. Maybe our friends and family will love their new Fig Topping so much that they will wonder where we found such a hip recipe.
Have a delicious day.
Tags: canning, compassionate eating, dairy free, Fig Jam, Fig topping, going veg, trying vegan, vegan, vegan challenge, vegan experience, vegan wannabe
