neighbors – Lisa Holcomb

Here’s the story: on Wednesday morning, I went to my friend Stephanie J’s house for coffee. She served the MOST DELICIOUS coffee cake EVER. It turned out to be a recipe one of the neighbor’s had given her…and she had used figs that another neighbor had given her to make it. Wednesday night I was over at the (recipe) neighbor’s house for a wine tasting party and asked for the recipe. She laughed and introduced me to Debbie, who is her “neighbor” at work who had given HER the recipe. Hence the name Neighbor Bread. So I posted about it to facebook and this recipe now has a following. I’m posting it here in slightly edited form (It was originally sent in to a newspaper and “my” copy of it has the newspaper bit at the top, with bits crossed out, underlined, and whited out & written over, with copious notes at the bottom.).

Neighbor Bread

AKA Fresh Fig Bread with Sherry

Spread the slices with cream cheese or butter and serve at breakfast or teatime, or for dessert. Moist, sweet, and lightly perfumed, fig bread goes well with tea, apple juice, or sherry.

1 ½ cups stemmed and coarsely chopped ripe dark or light figs	1 teaspoon each ground cinnamon and baking soda
¼ cup dry sherry	½ teaspoon each ground nutmeg and salt
1 2/3 cups all-purpose flour	1 ½ cups sugar
½ cup chopped walnuts	½ cup salad oil
	2 large eggs

Combine figs and sherry; let stand at least 15 minutes. Mix together flour, walnuts, cinnamon, baking soda, nutmeg, and salt.

In a mixer bowl, beat sugar, oil, and eggs to mix. Blend in flour mixture; gently stir in figs and sherry. Pour batter into a well-greased ~~5×9 inch~~ loaf pan. Bake in 350 degree oven until bread feels firm when gently pressed in center, about 1 ¼ hours. Let cool in pan 10 MIN. Invert onto rack to cool. Slice to serve. To store, wrap airtight and keep at room temperature up to 4 days or freeze for up to 1 month. Makes about a 2-pound loaf, or 12 servings. —Lee Jordan, Concord, California.

Notes on page from Connie (as passed on from her friend Debbie):

-can substitute port for sherry (or marsala)

-if using “cooking sherry” omit the salt

-place wax paper along bottom of pan & grease generously

-takes about 16-17 small figs, or 2 cups untrimmed figs

-can substitute pears for figs (takes about 3 pears- peel them)

-maybe add extra yolk if using pears.

Hope you enjoy it as much as I did. 🙂

So I only slept about an hour last night and have been living on coffee this morning. The kids are saying things like: “MOM, YOU ARE SO HYPER!!!” and “STOP DRINKING COFFEE!” and “WE ARE CUTTING YOU OFF!!” (while drinking coffee themselves, of course.)

Oh my goodness. The morning just keeps getting better (she said sarcastically). Rose got out and we were already running late to school and I was chasing her down the street with my wild hair and inappropriate footwear and yelling for David to come help (she’ll go to him) and this sweet walker lady was trying to help and David was not coming out. Oh, it was delightful. He finally came and walked the dog back home, so we drove around the block on our way out of the neighborhood and saw the walker walking into her yard & stopped & thanked her & now she probably thinks we’re stalkers. Got back home and David was curled up in a ball on the couch moaning. He’s got the stomach virus the rest of us had last week and it’s his last B day of school and he’s insistent that he “has” to go to school. I am sure I need more caffeine now.

Note to self: being sarcastic about the morning does not make it better.

PS. I am NOT bringing cookies to the Fifth Grade Graduation tonight. No one needs this stomach virus.