Winter

I love Orange Marmalade—the sweet jam accented by the slightly bitter bits of rind is the perfect topping for buttered toast. My brother Brad used to keep me in a good supply of his tart homemade version, but now that he’s traded his orange grove in for a pear orchard, I’ve found myself wanting, and I set out to make my own.

I have a Morro Blood Orange tree in my garden, and I have made blood orange marmalade before. Of course I can’t remember how. So I looked at all sorts of recipes, and gee whiz, what a pain! Some call for boiling halved oranges, then soaking, then chopping. Some call for removing the peel with a peeler, then cutting away all the pith, then slicing the denuded oranges and then finally cooking—but I was looking at roughly 6 pounds of juicy fruit. I finally found one that seemed good: juice the oranges, thinly slice the peels—that I can handle, but then it called for wrapping all the seeds and membranes in 4 layers of cheesecloth and cooking the bundle along with the juice—forget it.

First you pick a Jaboticaba... Bill and I had mango and papaya trees once – fine adult specimens – all lost in a hurricane (along with five Royal Palms). Now that we live on the ocean, those days are past, but the joys of going into one’s backyard and picking something exotic is a most pleasing experience.

Here in South Florida unbelievable exotic fruit trees flourish. Besides the aforementioned Jaboticaba – and Florida’s famed citrus trees – there are, to name a few: Jackfruit, Tamarind, Loquat, Lychee (Oh do I love fresh Lychees) Mango, Muscadine Grapes, Papaya, Passion Fruit, Calamondin, and the mighty Avocado.

Local avocados are quite large, creamy in texture and I have been told of fewer calories than the California Hass. Since little grows in our salt-sprayed gardens, meeting inland friends with fruit bearing trees was a stroke of luck, and with just a bit of old fashioned obsequious sucking-up, we got on Ray Wakefield and David Millers home made exotic jams and chutney Christmas gift list. What, I asked; does Ray do with his big beautiful creamy low-in-calories Avocados besides Guacamole lite?

I get downright giddy when I think of galettes. Rustic, free-formed, and shockingly beautiful, they are everything I want in a baked good and then some.

Simplicity is rewarded tenfold in my opinion, and if there’s one in a bakery case or counter chances are I will order it, no matter the ingredients.

Because I love them that much. I had to share the recipe for this savory pie comes from the Food Network Kitchens. This is a group I know very well and every time we photograph their recipes I know I’m in for a creative treat that works. They always work. And they are always delicious, so thanks, FNK!

What can I say about this galette? It’s gorgeous, both in appearance and flavor. It makes me feel like I am a million miles away in a cafe, and pairing a slice of this with a glass of rosé or sancerre might possibly make you the happiest person on the planet. Did I mention how gorgeous it is?

Another workhorse of a vegetable, Butternut Squash is always on my shopping list and in my inventory  during the fall and winter months.

Sometimes it’s tucked into a curry, sometimes it’s a soup or pureed but, most of the time, it’s simply roasted with cayenne, cinnamon and salt and then drizzled with sugar free maple syrup (which has just 20 calories instead of 200!)

It’s not only a delicious side dish with dinner, it’s a satisfying snack to take on the run, or a great way to top a spinach, walnut and cranberry salad the next day.  Believe it or not, I even have it for breakfast sometimes because its cinnamon-y and syrupy warmth reminds me of hot cinnamon rolls!

And this is also another one of those one oven/one time dishes which makes it easy to build your inventory!