A shout out to Shauna

Shauna, over at Gluten-Free girl, has this incredible way of reaching out from the computer with her writing, grabbing you by the hand, and taking you on an adventure through her kitchen, her cooking, and her mind. Reading her posts, you can't help but feel as though you're sitting in the kitchen with an old friend, chatting away about the intricacies of life and the interwining role that food, family, and friends play in it. You swiftly find yourself reflecting on your own life, and feel her positive attitude start to rub off on you. By the time you're finished reading, you feel like you've just been encircled by the arms of a friend and sent off with a great big hug. If you haven't checked her out yet, you should...especially her entry from Friday, Sept. 16.

Being a teacher, she gave us some homework yesterday: indulge in figs. 'Tis the season, after all. I have to admit, I don't know if I've ever been more excited for homework. Lucky for me, the classes that require that boring drudgery of after-school brainwork are long gone. Now I'm the one requiring my own students to take their work home with them (it really is necessary) and spending long hours in a lab for my own graduate school version of homework. But food homework? Now, that's something to enjoy taking home with you!

So, here's my shout-out to Shauna...this is a picture of my very first fig this year from the Brown Turkey Fig tree I bought 2 years ago. Produce has been slow-going this year; the deer eating the garden as soon as anything flowered, the squirrels eating all the hazelnuts from the tree before they were ripe enough to take (this happens every year), rain until July, and the sad realization that there will be no plums on our two plum trees this year for some unknown reason. And unfortunately, most of the figs on my tree don't seem like they're going to be ripe anytime soon...except for this one, and even if one is all I get, it's all I needed to be happy. So I plan on doing my homework and savoring every last bite...and I may even head to the store to pick up another pint. A recipe for rum-soaked figs has been calling my name. Keep your eye out for that one to come. And thank you, Shauna, for sharing a bit of you, with us.