guest book : drew + sara

this space used to be mostly a guest book + travel log, but the kids have sort of taken center stage in blogland since their appearance in our lives.  travels are fewer than they used to be, though we still find ourselves entertaining lots of friends in our home.  so i will try to post more frequent guest book entries.

this past weekend, josh's birthday weekend, we hosted josh's parents, mike + marti, and drew + sara billups (with baby asher), all from seattle.  mike + marti came into town just for the party, and drew + sara, in town for a conference, tacked an extra day onto their trip to spend it with us.

i've been friends with drew & sara since college--about 15 years!  post-college sara & i were roommates in muncie after i returned from peru, & then the three of us lived in community together, among other muncie folk, in seattle after that.  we've all done alot of changing over the years (as we tend to in our twenties especially), but we're still as close as ever.

one big change in me over the course of our friendship has been my relationship with food.  i'm pretty certain that everyone in the lynn street house in seattle would dread the weeknight when it was my turn to cook.  i didn't despise cooking, but rather found no enjoyment in preparing or even eating food.  i would simply rather be doing other things with my time.  i didn't yet understand how relational cooking & eating could be, or how creative it could be, either.  since marrying josh, & then having children, i have developed an immense love of cooking & baking, & a real appreciation for the aesthetic elements involved in the creating & eating of a fine meal with family & friends.  some days my time in the kitchen is the only moment of immersion in creativity that i have, & i have grown to cherish that.

with that introduction, here's a little thing i made for drew + sara, mike + marti, for sunday brunch.

fresh fig and honey galette

ingredients : galette dough
2 c all-purpose or whole-wheat pastry flour
1/2 tsp salt
1 Tbsp sugar
12 Tbsp cold, unsalted butter, cut into small pieces
1/3 to 1/2 c ice water as needed

mix the flour, salt, and sugar together in a bowl.  cut in the butter by hand or using a mixer with a paddle attachment, leaving some pea-sized chunks.  sprinkle the ice water over the top by the tablespoon and toss it with the flour mixture until you can bring the dough together into a ball.  press it into a disk and refrigerate for 15 minutes if the butter feels soft.

to form a galette, roll it out on a lightly floured counter into a 14-inch irregular circle about 1/8 inch thick.  fold it into quarters and transfer it to the back of a sheet pan or a cookie sheet without sides.  unfold it.  it will be larger than the pan.

add the fruit according to the recipe, leaving a border 2 to 4 inches wide.  fold the edges of the dough over the fruit, overlapping them as you go.  depending on how much of an edge you have left, the galette will be partially or completely covered, almost like a two-crust pie.  brush the top with melted butter--it will take about a tablespoon--or an egg beaten with a little milk or cream.  sprinkle it heavily with sugar--using about 2 tablespoons--then bake according to the recipe instructions.

ingredients : fig filling
3 to 4 Tbsp butter as needed
1/2 c fresh white bread crumbs if using galette dough
12 to 16 large ripe purple figs, stems removed
2 Tbsp honey
1/8 tsp ground cloves
1/4 tsp ground anise
1 Tbsp sugar

preheat the oven to 400 F.  roll the dough into a large circle and drape it on a flat cookie sheet or over the back of a sheet pan.

melt 1 Tbsp of the butter in a small skillet, add the bread crumbs, and cook over low heat until they're golden and crisp.  scatter them in the center of the dough, making an 8-inch circle.

cut the figs in half and lay them over the bread crumbs, cut side up.  heat the honey with 1 Tbsp of the butter and the spices in a small pan, then drizzle it over the figs.  fold the edge of the dough over the top. melt the remaining tablespoon of butter in the same pan, brush it over the dough, and sprinkle with the sugar.  bake until the crust is nicely browned, 35 to 40 minutes.