With great delight we welcomed the cooler temperatures of Autumn this weekend. I can’t tell you how lovely it is to not need a fan blowing on me all day just to keep going. I’m a happy camper.
With the decrease in temperature came an increase of energy, and I’ve been working hard putting up all sorts of fruits and veggies for the cold winter months.
Our markets are currently full to bursting with inexpensive boxes of ripe tomatoes, fat apples, and oh-so-juicy pears, and Bear and I happily load them into our car each week to be turned into delicious things.
This weekend I made trays of roasted tomatoes and pureed them into scrumptious tomato sauce that is now frozen and ready for winter pasta dishes and hearty soups.
I hauled out all three dehydrators and have kept them humming as they dry stacks of tomatoes, apples, and pears. The dried tomatoes will be packed in jars with capers and garlic then covered with olive oil. The apples and pears are for snacking now and to be used in dried fruit pies and puddings down the road.
I also did a lot of baking, two dozen whole grain sunflower seed flat bread rolls and a loaf of sunflower seed bread.
Mmm, it smells so good in here.
I ended the baking, cooking, preserving frenzy by making a quick and easy Maple Fig Cobbler using up the last of the figs I picked with my friend Katy a couple of months ago. They’ve been waiting in the freezer for a just right recipe, and this was it. The hearty whole grain cobbled crust was a wonderful accompaniment to the melt in your mouth fig filling. It was a delicious way to end a busy day.
What is your favorite part about the season you are in? xo
Maple Fig Cobbler
Ingredients:
10-12 fresh figs, washed and quartered
2 Tbsp butter
2 Tbsp real maple syrup
1.5 cups whole wheat flour
1/3 cup brown sugar
1 tsp baking powder
1/2 tsp baking soda
1/2 tsp sea salt
1/3 cup butter
1/2 cup milk
1 tsp maple extract
Directions:
1. Preheat oven to 375 F (200 C).
2. In large saucepan over medium-high heat, melt 2 Tbsp butter and add fresh figs. Drizzle with maple syrup and simmer until sauce forms from the butter, syrup, and fig juices. Pour into pie plate.
3. In medium bowl stir together flour, brown sugar, baking powder, baking soda, and salt. Using fingers, work in butter until mixture resembles coarse crumbs.
4. Add milk and maple extract, stir with fork until soft dough forms. Will be quite wet.
5. Using a tsp or your fingers, cover fig mixture with dollops of dough to create cobbled surface.
6. Bake for 20-25 minutes until crust is golden and fig mixture bubbling.
7. Serve warm or chilled.
That cobbler looks so perfectly done! Would love to be at your markets with those freshest of produce!
Julie & Alesah
Gourmet Getaways xx
They are lovely markets, @GourmetGetaway:disqus 🙂 And it feels good knowing I’m buying from and supporting local farmers. 🙂
We still seem to be stuck in Summer up here. At Lucinda, where we are at the moment, I love that we can sit outside on the verandah and catch the cooling ocean breezes. It is so addictive! Oh and snorkelling too!
Cool ocean breezes sounds absolutely heavenly, @budgetjan:disqus 🙂
Oh the fruits of your labors are works of art. You always bring a smile to my face – a lovely way to start a week. Many thanks!
Thank you so much, @disqus_WseMqaTPwi:disqus XO That means a great deal to me. 🙂
impressive list of autumn achievements! xo!
http://mlleparadis.blogspot.com
So far, so good, paradis! 🙂 It’s lovely to have energy again. 🙂
What a great way to use up figs. You do sound very organised and well prepared for the cooler months. It’s all of a sudden become very cool in Sydney. I wouldn’t have minded a few more weeks a summer! xx
Organized and prepared, well, Charlie, I think I am in the food department, but let’s not talk about the laundry. 😉
Oh, how very beautiful!
Thank you, @liz_posmyk:disqus xo
Autumn is a beautiful time of year. I just put my tomatoes in the ground and I am hoping to try my hand at drying tomatoes and packing them in olive oil and garlic-Love the idea. Love your pie. You seem to have settled into a beautiful life.
How exciting to be in Spring time and dreaming of all the things you’ll make, Velva. 🙂 It is a good life, not easy, but good. 🙂
I love a good cobbler, especially at this time of year. Looks great!
that cobbler looks amazing! I might just follow your example and freeze some figs this summer 🙂
Sounds delicious Krista, love figs and of course maple syrup!
Gosh Krista you have been busy. You are making me feel exhausted just thinking about it 🙂
Oh delicious. Maple fig …. What a beautiful combination. Although, figs are done & done down here in the Berra.
Hmmm…. Fave part of this season, truthfully, not a lot. But I love wearing my onesie, and snuggling down with a good TV series. 🙂 Speaking of, have you started Gilmore Girls?