A Tangle with a Fig Tree

    Wednesdays are my days at our county's master gardens. Though my required hours for completing the program are well met, I still spend the day working and learning alongside seasoned growers. Arriving today, the question was posed- could I help pick figs. Why not. I'm always up for something new.
     Figs are something I have absolutely no experience with. While a fig tree is planted on my property, it generally suffers abuse and devastation from my donkey and his goat minions. Several years of returning from straggly nubs, the poor thing is short and rather puny. As soon as little green figs make an appearance something always swipes them before they ripen.
     The figs in the master gardens stand quite a bit taller than I and span the same distance around. After an hour of wiggling around the branches pinching plump, ripe fruits I ran into a nasty problem. Hives. It seems figs and I are not compatible..fig trees anyway.
     Once the nasty itch and raised rash subsided a few suspects came to light. It seems fig leaves secrete a sap that can be volatile to the skin and eyes. Another possible culprit is sprays. Our orchard department has new management that holds to a more natural growing plan, however, it is unclear what may have been used prior to this summer. Organic or not, sprays can be a volatile contact as well.
     While my first real interaction with fig trees was less than favorable, it wasn't all bad. I found the fruits themselves to be tender and very sweet especially when eaten right after picking. Then, some amazing preserve recipes were shared while we washed and put up the fruits; mock strawberry seems to be a common favorite among my garden friends.
      How about you? Ever tangled with a fig tree on a hot summer day?  

Oh Yes I Did...

   It started with a comment, continued with a strange notion, and became a full blown challenge when I saw it on Pinterest. Who in their right mind attempts to combine the rich glory of creamy banana pudding with moist, tender cake? At least two crazy people in this world have attempted it and let me say, the results are shameful... deliciously shameful.

   

    In my quest to conquer this challenge I traveled over the web to The Country Cook for an answer. I found one..but something was missing. Mulling over the recipe for days it finally hit me. The vital, key components of amazing banana pudding were missing- bananas and nilla cookies. They weren't there. No offence to the country cook, but thoughts of instant pudding and a faint dust of cookies deflated my hopes of presenting this to the spoiled rotten men in my family. 

     Not one to be defeated I posed the dilemma to my hungry fellows. They graciously and wisely posed a notion back to me. Why not simply use the 'tried and true' family banana pudding recipe with a simply vanilla cake..put the cookies and bananas in between. They are geniuses- each one of them. 

     Simply Scaife's Not So Simple Banana Pudding Cake

The cake:

• 
  
• 2 cups sugar,
• 3 1/4 cups flour
• 2 1/2 teaspoons baking powder
• 1 teaspoon salt
• 3/4 cup unsalted butter, soft
• 1 1/4 cups milk, at room temperature
• 2 teaspoons vanilla extract
• 4 large eggs

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees. Lightly grease a 9" x 13" baking dish. Whisk or sift together the flour, baking powder and salt. Add the butter and blend with a hand mixer until 'sandy'. Add the vanilla to the milk and blend into the sandy mixture, blending for 30 seconds until well incorporated. Increase the speed to medium and blend 30 more seconds. Add one egg at a time, blending 30 seconds after each one. Pour into the baking dish, baking 40 minutes or until cake tests done. Cool while preparing the pudding. 

The Pudding:

1 1/2 cups sugar

2 eggs (three if they are small)

1/2 cup flour 

1 large can evaporated milk

1 small can evaporated milk

(or skip the evaporated milk and use 3 cups full fat fresh milk)
1/3 cup butter (yes real butter), soft

1 tsp vanilla

In a heavy bottom saucepan, mix eggs and sugar, then flour. Pour in milk and stir gently (if using evaporated, measure in cup and add enough water to make 3 cups). Drop in the butter and set this over medium flame. Gently stir and cook until it begins to thicken and will coat the back of the spoon. Remove from heat, cover to prevent a "skin" forming on top, and cool to room temp.

Assemble it with:

3 bananas
1 box vanilla wafers
whipped cream

Use the handle of a wooden spoon to poke holes at random in the cake. Pour half of the lightly cooled pudding over the cake. Let the cake drink it up before layering with a hearty scattering of the wafers. Slice the bananas and scatter them over the wafers before drizzling the rest of the pudding all over the whole thing. Spread with cool whip and chill thoroughly. 

     So it was born- the Scaife Family Farm version of Banana Pudding cake. Rich, moist, dreamily delicious and so full of calories you will need to fast for a week. This recipe is so dangerous it has to be set aside with great reserve and saved for only the most special of occasions. We share it with you to use at your own risk..we are not responsible for the sugar laden euphoria that will result from consuming unrestrained portions of this amazing delight. Bonn appetite! 

Ok, Today Let's...

    Today let's meet in the sewing room to discuss the many options for backing our quilts. See you there!

I Have Been....

    I have been:

out of my element

living out of a suitcase

swimming in research and statistics

missing my family 

and my farm

I have been:

relaxing from my travel

fishing with my guys

breathing deep the nature all around me

and watching a little boy

become a young man.

Now that I am home, it is time to catch up on chores and challenges I have been missing- oh, and apply some soothing aloe to my sunburn! See you in the sewing room tomorrow- until then, keep cool and wear sunscreen!!

Lifelong Plague of a Short Girl

   Here in the lower atmosphere dwells the few, the overlooked, the neglected short girl. Forgotten by the makers of cars, restaurant booths, and fashion designers, we short girls struggle to make it in the 'amazon' woman's domain. Truth be told, I drive with my tip toes..always have. Actually that's not true, my early years of driving found me with a phone book behind my back and blocks tied to the petals. Yes, it was the best kept secret in high school. In my forties, I can swing my feet in nearly any chair I sit in. I am that adult in a restaurant dangling her feet wishing she had a Sears and Roebuck's catalog.

   Is this a rant? No. A gross complaint against humanity? Not really. It is a shout out to all in the lower trenches with me. Ladies under the five-two mark, you are not alone. Smile with me..we reached perfection sooner than others and stayed 'just right'. Giggle at the reality that we are 'fun size'; perfect complements to our taller mates. Groan as you face the start notion you will pass it on to at least one of your children. Sorry, Jen, you got it from me:)
   Off to finish the hem in five new pair of pants..some I cut more than five inches from! Can you believe it?