Figs exist outside the Newton

Fig and Plum Compote with Honey Whipped Cream:

A succulent desert with heavy sweetness, and fluffy fairytale cream. Serve hot or cold. Give the fresh figs a try too.

Hello world! The migration from farm to city is complete. Been too busy to blog or cook anything but sprouted whole grain spaghetti. One exception was a dinner made with a cornucopia of backyard farm fresh peppers and tomatoes and such, but haven't gotten the pictures yet.

However! I did find some pretty cute small purple things at Whole Fodder for Hippies. (aka Whole Foods) First, figs. To my understanding, pretty much everyone's relationship with figs starts at age 5 and ends with 'TON'. After that, you may get kinda nostalgic and pick up a pack. They're pretty delicious, but a leave something to be desired. Those little bars just aren't as big as they used to be. (Check out this old school package! "Hi! I'm Big Fun!" Hilarious.)

My relationship with figs went a little further in college, I think-due to my good friend Julia. I really can thank her for her sensual relationship with food, because she brought so many things to my pallet. Whole, plain yogurt, figs, and organic rice cakes with peanut butter and Nutella come to mind. (REALLY, try the rice cakes thing... it's amazing.)

ANYWAY, I started to eat figs. But they were mostly dried figs. I mean, it's pretty rare that you find a fig in any other form. So when little cartons of fresh figs were sitting quietly amongst the mangoes and other common place exotic

fruit, I 'oooooh'd' and bought them without even thinking about it. They look like this on a tree (not my picture)

The other small, purple, curious find is small plums. I first discovered small plums at the farmer's market in Ardmore. I'm not talking about 'The Whackme-is-still-trying-to-sell-plums-out-of-season-and-they're-puny, small. These were to plums as banaitos are to bananas. But the flavor packed in these tiny fruits was equivalent to the intensity of a gusher. Remember gushers? So, I found them again at WFH. Evidently they're from Tioga Farms, 140 miles from the store, as advertised. A little out of season and still a victim of the grocery store, they were a little less red, sweet, and juicy as the farmer market plums. But they were still superior to normal plums.

Long story short, I mixed the two, ate them both fresh and cooked, and served them up for desert. Here's what happened.

• Sliced 5 figs
• Sliced 5 plums
• Put some water in a pan to cover the bottom
• Put a handful of brown sugar into the water, mixed on low heat
• Dropped about 1 tsp of molasses into the pan
• Heated on low to mix
• Added plums, figs, and a pinch of salt
• Heated on medium and stirred until that ish started to bubble
• Kept it bubbling for a good 5 -7, or until the sugar mix was congealing, the color of the mix darkened, and the figs and plums started to break apart a bit
• Let it cool for about 5 minutes, put on a plate

I ended up eating this with some handmade honey whipped cream I made for a cake the weekend before. Get this: YOU CAN MAKE WHIPPED CREAM WITHOUT AN ELECTRIC MIXER. I never knew!

• Buy a carton of heavy whipping cream
• Put into a perfectly clean bowl
• Using a perfectly clean whisk... whisk it as fast as it's humanely possible
• Apply a healthy amount of patience
• Wow! It actually starts to whip up into a whipped cream!
• Keep whipping!
• Once the mixture starts to form peaks and becomes a little stiff, STOP. You don't want to over beat the cream and have it break down again.
• Drizzle about 1 1/2 Tbs (or add and taste to your liking) of your choice of honey into the mixture and stir to blend. Honey has a very powerful flavor, and it won't take much to affect your whipped cream.

Again, I apologize for the crappy pictures. I'm still trying to figure out how to maximize the quality of a camera phone. Oie!