Hi , We love fall! The mornings have a little crispness to them and the leaves and acorns are falling. The days are getting shorter now and the herd thinks it's time to go to bed around 5pm. Well, to be fair, they would be willing to get locked up any time
since it involves food. We have 9 animals and put out nine food dishes for them, but it is like the Mad Hatters Tea Party (quoting my neighbor) as they go from dish to dish seeing which one has the better food. |
Wrapping Up Avocado Season-- This month, we are coming to the end of
our avocado season. We have only two more weeks in the market with our Lamb Hass avocados. It has been a light year for the avocado crop because the alternate bearing trees didn't give as much fruit as last year. Plus the heat wave burned a good portion of the Reed and Lamb Hass fruit and caused some baby fruit to drop. But the crop looks promising for next year. We hope to be back sometime in November
or December with our Mexicola Grande avocados. Stay posted! After that, we will have a long break from the market. In the meantime, we may still see you there when we shopping at the other great vendor stands at the market. |
Figs Galore-- Our fig trees are giving us a
great crop this year. We pruned down the trees to 4 feet last winter and now some of them are over 10 feet tall (wow!). We harvest the figs every day so that we can get them at the prefect ripeness. You can tell that they are at peak sweetness when they get little white splits in their skin and are a little soft to touch. Fun fig fact: Did you know that a fig is actually an inside-out flower? That’s right, and what a delicious flower it is! |
With so many figs on hand, we decided
to try a new recipe that showcases them beautifully. This fig and almond cake is inspired by a New York Times recipe. It is super easy to make and results in a soft, dense, and crumbly delicacy. - 4 Tbs butter,
melted - 1 cup raw almonds - 1/4 cup sugar, plus 2 Tbs for sprinkling - 1/4 cup
flour - 1/2 tsp baking powder - 1/8 tsp cinnamon - 1/8 tsp salt - 3 eggs,
beaten - 2 Tbs honey - 1/2 tsp almond extract - 6 ripe
figs |
1) Heat oven to 375º. Butter a 9-in tart pan or pie pan. Set aside. Put almonds and sugar in a food processor and grind to a coarse powder. Add flour, baking powder, cinnamon, and salt. Pulse to combine. 2) In a mixing bowl, whisk together eggs, melted butter, honey, and almond extract. Add almond mixture and beat for a minute until batter is just mixed. Pour batter into pan. 3)
Remove stem from each fig and cut in half. Arrange fig halves cut-side up over the batter. Sprinkle figs with sugar and bake for 30 min, until golden outside and dry at center when poked with a cake tester. Cool before serving. Enjoy! |
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