Let’s just press pause.
Because life is crazy and funny and difficult and amazing.
And we miss so very much of it while we work our butts off to get where we are going. We let friendships slide so we can spend more time in a relationship. We let relationships slide so that we can get ahead at work. We very often go on autopilot through our days and don’t stop to notice the beauty of the world around us. We forget to say things like “thank-you” or “I love you”.
And we need to stop that.
We need to press pause. We need to stop our crazy, busy lives every now and then so that we can remember the whole point of being alive.
To live.
So, let’s press pause and savor this moment.
Stop and look at the trees as they change from green to a symphony of reds and oranges. Enjoy the fresh apple cider that is plentiful this time of year. Take time to indulge in a favorite hobby. Make time to take a trip and visit friends. Tell people how much you love them.
And hug your mom the next time you see her.
Since it is fall, and figs are one of my favorite indulgences from nature, I thought I would work them into a quick bread while they can still be found at the grocery store fresh.
If you can only find dried figs, soak chopped figs in enough milk (either dairy or non-dairy will work) for about half an hour before making the quick bread. This will rehydrate them just a wee bit so they don’t dry out the bread.
- 350 grams (2 1/2 cups) gluten-free all purpose flour*
- 1/2 teaspoon xantham gum (omit if using a blend that contains this)
- 10 grams (2 teaspoons) baking powder
- 1/4 teaspoon salt
- 200 grams (1 cup) sugar
- 2 eggs, lightly beaten
- 3/4 cup (175 milliliters) unsweetened vanilla almond milk (you can use any unsweetened milk or cows milk if you prefer)
- 1/2 cup (120 milliliters) olive oil
- 75 grams (1/2 cup or 4 large) fresh figs cut into eights and roughly chopped
- 8 large fresh figs cut in fourths (so you have wedges) to place on top of the bread
- Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Grease a standard loaf pan using olive oil.
- In a large mixing bowl, whisk together the flour, xantham gum (if using), baking powder, salt and sugar.
- In a separate bowl, whisk together the eggs, almond (or other) milk, and olive oil.
- Pour the liquids into the dry ingredients and mix until just combined.
- Stir in the chopped figs and pour into a loaf pan.
- Bake for 65-75 minutes. The loaf will be golden on the top, and a tooth pick will come out clean when inserted into the center.
- Let the quickbread cool for 10 minutes in the pan, then remove it and allow it to cool on a wire rack. This bread tastes even better the next day 🙂
*I use Cup4Cup gluten-free all purpose flour from Williams-Sonoma, but Jules’ Nearly Normal flour or Better Batter would work without needing the xantham gum. If you use a blend such as the King Arthur Flour gluten-free all purpose blend, you will need to include the xantham gum listed in the recipe.
