the name of my new cookbook. i was taken with the cover alone. i love those little red shoes. tommy and prairie both used to wear little red or navy t-bars and the cover took me back there. the photography is beautiful, the recipes simple and organised under colour. tessa writes beautifully, there are life observations which are worth reading by themselves let alone the recipes themselves. both michael and i have been cooking out of it and the book seems to make its way around the house with one of us as we plan what to cook next.
this was the honey cake. it had an unusual flovour as it had chopped rosemary through it making it taste almost as if there was ginger in it. it was iced with lemon frosting and covered with little rosemary flowers. the big people liked it but the smaller ones would have been better having it just with the honey and cinnamon. i so strongly associate rosemary with savoury that i was unsure about putting it through but good to try new things.
not out of apples for jam was some fig jam with the name for the jam inspired by this book. it is a favourite book of prairie's about a silly little fox called figgy twosocks. i used to love reading it to her as i had to use a really high voice for figgy and a low drawl for her big cruisy friend, jefferson bear.
i bought a tray of fresh figs which were right on the turn so googled a recipe and made a big pot of jam. it has little chunks of lemon rind which have gone all chewy. i think they are my favourite part. might just have to go and toast a nice seedy piece of sourdough right now!
The fig jam looks so yummy... if only blogs had a taste-o-vision of some sort. And I love the name "figgy two socks jam"!
Posted by: Happy Zombie | May 16, 2007 at 02:20 PM
I've had the Apples for Jam book for quite some time now. It has become my very favourite cookbook. I have fallen in love with every single recipe I have made from it. Tessa Kiros is a beautiful writer as well as a wonderful cook. I have her other two books as well, Twelve and Falling Cloudberries. They are all wonderful!
Posted by: Marie | May 18, 2007 at 06:28 AM
I love Apples for Jam too - the writing and the recipes are simply gorgeous. Some of her descriptions of life with her two mice have moved me almost to tears ...
Love the look of that jam. We're coming towards jam making season for me - greengages and plums will be coming soon and the first English strawberries are already here!
Posted by: dottycookie | May 19, 2007 at 10:36 AM