ITALIAN PLUM COMPOTE

With Rosh Hashanah (Jewish New Year) just around the corner, this recipe seemed fitting, almost necessary. Every year, my Oma (maternal grandmother) would make her famous plum pies for the holidays -- an open face pie with a shortbread-like crust, loaded with fresh fruit. During the summer months, blueberries, for jewish new year, italian plums, for her birthday in December, apple slices and cinnamon.

My mom continues the tradition and bakes these pies throughout the year; I on the other hand wanted to feel the warmth and familiarity of the pie, without going through the effort of baking (lazy or efficient, I'll let you decide). That's where this compote comes in -- yielding a similar texture and equally gorgeous colour as the plums baked atop the pie crust. Eat it straight out if the jar, or top your morning oats or yogurt with it. Either way, you're going to wish you had made a double batch.

LAKESIDE SANGRIA

This past weekend was an extra long weekend. My office added a few extra vacay days to the Canada Day long weekend, giving us ample time to mission to the cottage. It was a fantastic 5 days spent with my family; celebrating big birthdays, eating good meals, overdosing on sugar, and of course, indulging in the mandatory lakeside cocktail hour.

That's where this sangria comes in. It's my favourite recipe -- really simple to throw together, laced with boozy fruit, and quite forgiving based on what you have in the fridge. I promise it tastes equally delicious whether or not you have a dock to drink it on. Happy Summer friends!

MANGO + BLACKERRY FRUIT SALAD WITH A RHUBARB AND GINGER CREAM

This week has been all about rhubarb. We spent this past weekend in Southwest Ontario and discovered Macklin's, a great place to stock up all on all your seasonal produce. I hadn't had much luck finding rhubarb in town, so decided to stock up when I saw in. An abundance of rhubarb meant a week of rhubarb themed recipes. I made these muffins, replacing roasted strawberries with roasted rhubarb; I made compote to top this weekend's birthday breakfast waffles; I may try to squeeze this in with the last 4 stalks that remain, and I was super inspired by this unique mango kale salad. Mangos are everywhere right now, so I decided to follow suite, but with a light fruit salad.

MANGO + BLACKBERRY FRUIT SALAD WITH A RHUBARB AND GINGER CREAM // serves several

Ingredients:

4 mangoes (I used ataulfo, just-ripe)
1 carton blackberries
1-2 sprigs mint, chopped

rhubarb and ginger cream //
1 1/2 T coconut oil
1 cup chopped rhubarb
1/2 inch num of fresh ginger, peeled and roughly chopped
juice from 1 lime
1 tsp maple syrup
1 T olive oil

What to do:

Peel and slice mangoes. Slice along the pit to maximize usable fruit. Transfer to a bowl.

Heat 1/2 T coconut oil in a small pan over medium heat. Add the rhubarb and sautée until the fruit begins to soften and break up.

While the rhubarb is cooking, combine the remaining 1 T of coconut oil with all the remaining cream ingredients into the body of a blender or bullet. Once the rhubarb is ready, let cool for 1 minute before adding to the blender. Blend until smooth and creamy. The heat from the rhubarb will help the cream thicken.

There are a few ways to compile this salad. You can choose to toss all the fruit and cream together in a bowl before serving, or serve undressed, with a scoop of cream*. Either way, it will taste delicious.

Enjoy!

*note: If storing for later, I would recommend dressing only when you choose to eat it. If bringing to a backyard bbq, toss beforehand.

FESTIVE FRUIT SALAD WITH EARL GREY SYRUP

I've definitely said this before, but there are some recipes that you stumble upon and know you're going to make them almost immediately. They sound so delicious and look so tantalizing, that you're basically half way to the store by the time you actually finish reading the recipe. This fruit salad was one of those recipes, and it happened to be posted the same day that I was asked to bring fruit salad to a baby gender reveal brunch. How timely. And perfect. YUM!

FESTIVE FRUIT SALAD WITH EARL GREY SYRUP // makes enough for a large crowd (~10 people)

Modified oh so slightly from The First Mess

Ingredients:

For the salad...
2 ripe persimmons, peeled and sliced
2 grapefruits, peeled and segmented (takes time, but totally worth it!)
3 clementines, peeled and segmented
2 bosc pears, cored and sliced
seeds from 1/2 a pomegranate
juice from 1 lime
handful of pumpkin seeds
sprinkle of black sesame seeds

For the syrup...
1/4 cup maple syrup
2 tbsp loose leaf earl grey tea
1/2 tsp cinnamon
1 sprig fresh rosemary
big splash (just under 1 cup) of water

What to do:

Combine all your fruit in a large bowl and cover with lime juice. Set aside.

Make your syrup by combining all the ingredients in a small pot and simmering on medium, while stirring, until it begins to boil. Once boiling, remove from heat and let steep for 10 minutes. Using a fine strainer (I used my David's Tea mug infuser), strain the syrup into a jar.

Just before serving, sprinkle pumpkin seeds, sesame seeds, and syrup over the fruit. No need to toss as you risk mushing up your fruit - syrup will seep through on its own. Enjoy!

PS. In case you were wondering... pink jelly beans! (She's having a girl)!