There’s something about being immersed in nature that is so incredibly peaceful and soothing. The same can be said when you pick your own food, which we recently discovered with our freshly-picked figs in Portugal. We recognize that we are extremely fortunate to have this property that has been in our family for several generations.
The enormity of that is not lost on us. It’s part of what makes us pause to appreciate everything around us – especially when we think of our ancestors, who planted these trees and who lived off this land for their lifetimes.
Learning to Appreciate the Little Things
In Portugal’s countryside, there is a lot of agriculture. Although we don’t have any animals on our property, we do have fruit trees, including a fig tree that sprawls horizontally. Even though someone cut it down without permission when we were away (we did exchange some words with the culprits), the branches regrew and there were beautiful, juicy, sweet figs for us this year.
These simple moments are so meaningful and powerful. The connection to land often means a connection to yourself. Whether it’s sitting in silence and finally hearing your own thoughts, or picking fruit and marvelling at the miracle of nature, there is a lot that happens in these quiet moments.
Different Recipes to Use With Figs in Portugal
With all of the beautiful figs we picked in Portugal, we began to look into what recipes we could make. We settled on the following two. Both were such hits (within our family but also with neighbours who we shared with) that we made them over and over again – until our tree stopped providing figs for this year.
Fig Cake
Using our freshly-picked figs, the first recipe we tried was this fig recipe. Don’t let the short size of this cake fool you. It’s similar in height as the famous chocolate cake in Lisbon. Although different in taste, this one was also delicious. So incredibly rich in flavour and the fresh figs on top added the right amount of sweetness. Highly recommend!
Fig Bruschetta
The second recipe we tried was this fig bruschetta recipe. Admittedly, we tried it because it was the first recipe that popped up in our search and we were hungry and couldn’t keep scrolling, but it worked out perfectly. Our mom now asks us to make this all the time and
At first, we weren’t sure if fig bruschetta would even be good, but it was surprisingly excellent. So much so that we kept tweaking the ingredients to match or compliment what we already had in the fridge.
Each time, there wasn’t a piece left over.
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Created by sisters, Isabel and Marilyn, Letters and Lipstick is a lifestyle blog for the woman who wants to smell the roses, eat the slice(s) of cake, and learn a thing or two along the way.
