My run on sentences are far worse than usual, it's my brain on deadline
A few weeks ago I spent a delightful long weekend at the Utah home of Nicole Cliffe, where we mostly sat on very plush couches eating snacks, and moved from room to room just so her dog could excitedly greet us each time. At one point, Mallory told us a story about her beautiful friend (she really is beautiful, this wasn't just Mallory talking, I've met this friend, she has amazing hair) and how she'd gotten eyelash extensions. Nicole and I looked at each other, and as one, sprang for our phones to google "eyelash extensions salt lake city." Let me tell you, it was not easy to find a spa in Utah that was open on a Sunday, but nevertheless we persevered. It took like ninety minutes, but your eyes are closed the entire time, and you can relax and listen to music or a podcast or audio book or something, and you come out of it with incredible eyelashes. And for me, someone who has lived a long life with short, stumpy lashes, they've been a tremendous amount of fun. This is not a recommendation for you all to get eyelash extensions -- I mean, it is, of course, because they're amazing, but they're not cheap and also only last 2-4 weeks, so if you're in the mood to splurge, or are going to a wedding where you want to look fabulous, do it, and feel free to ask me any questions. But before this impulse lash purchase, the best thing I'd ever put on my lashes was Benefit Roller Lash mascara -- it made my almost invisible lashes full and gently curled, it didn't irritate my very fussy eyes or contact lenses, and it was pretty easy to get off with any eye makeup remover.
As you may know, because I've mentioned it incessantly on every form of social media and for that I sort of apologize, my deadline for Jasmine Book 2 is Monday, which since today is Friday, is four tiny days from now (Jasmine Book 1, THE WEDDING DATE, can be pre-ordered here, and there are more pre-order options on my website, and if you wish to pre-order it, it will make me very happy!). Someone on twitter a few weeks ago said people had always told her not to read books while writing a book, and BOY am I glad no one ever told me that, I literally never would have started writing, because I can't imagine not reading books for that long. I read at least for a little while every day, at a variety of times, but always right before bed. But I will say that for this past week or so, I've been unable to read any new books. I was in the middle of a book I was really enjoying, but I had to take a pause from it, because trying to absorb new things or care about new people when I'm constantly thinking about the people in my book. So now I'm in a phase where I'm only rereading books. Granted, I reread books a lot -- one of my tiny luxuries is to buy the ebook of some of my favorite books so I can always have them with me, even if I'm away from my paper copy. In the past few weeks, I've reread the first three Harry Potter books and am now on the fourth, a bunch of Ngaio Marsh mystery novels, and the other day I picked up the first Laura Ingalls Wilder book from a pile in my living room floor and was like "Ooh, perfect." I don't know, you guys. I have a feeling that this weekend I'm going to dive in to the high school Betsy Tacy books, just to see if some of the glory of the Betsy and Joe romance can sprinkle its fairy dust onto my manuscript. Fingers crossed!
I have been eating a whole lot of takeout and otherwise packaged food this week, because of the aforementioned deadline. However, the other day I read this Saveur article about a cheesemonger who makes incredibly creative and beautiful cheese platters, and I couldn't stop thinking about it. So of course, the other night I went to my local fancy food store and bought a bunch of supplies, and went home and made this for my dinner. Everything on the plate was purchased, with the exception of the fig jam that I made last summer and pulled out of the cabinet for this. (The rest, clockwise, is prosciutto, sliced nectarine, sliced baguette, heirloom tomato, cornichons, burrata, and marcona almonds). This is the fig jam recipe, and if you've ever made jam before, it's easy and delicious. It's great on toast, but is really good on a cheese plate with a strong cheese, or as a spread for a fancy grilled cheese sandwich, or on a baguette with mozzarella and prosciutto. If you haven't ever made jam before, I promise it isn't that hard, and if you aren't ready for the canning part, you can just put it in jars and stick it in the fridge, as long as you're going to eat it relatively soon (this much jam is a lot to eat at once, you can absolutely cut this recipe in half).
Drunken Fig Jam
Ingredients
2 lemons
4 lbs ripe fresh figs, cut into quarters
4 cups sugar
3/4 cups brandy or cognac (I used Hennessy)
1/2 teaspoon kosher salt
Peel the lemons with a vegetable peeler into strips, and cut the peel into strips. Toss the lemon peel, the figs, the sugar, the brandy, and the salt into a big pot and stir (save the rest of the lemon for another use). Let stand at room temperature for an hour, or let stand in the fridge for a few hours. Stir every so often so the sugar starts to dissolve.
When you're ready, bring the mixture to a boil over medium high heat. When it's boiling, reduce the heat to medium. Keep boiling and stirring and mashing the fig pieces regularly for about 30-35 minutes. Remove from heat and ladle into jars. This should fit about 6 half pint jars, but I also like to do it in some half cup jars, which are the perfect size for a cheese plate. Wipe the edges of the jars, cover with the hot lids and screw bands, and process in boiling water for 10 minutes. Let cool and enjoy.
Have a great weekend! What books are you reading and/or rereading these days?
xoxo
Jasmine