March 21, 2007 | Fruit, Technique

I guess success really does breed success. I’m so enjoying doing my dinner journal that I felt compelled to create yet a new blog – this one devoted solely to posting all the culinary tips that run through my mind every day. My comments will cover everything from gadgets I can’t live without to techniques to ease your cooking tasks to indispensable information about ingredients. Please feel free to share your ideas and tips back with me through the comment button.

So here goes…my first tip!

If a recipe calls for fresh figs (which have a very short season) and you can’t find them, purchase plump dried figs and cover them 1 inch over the top of the figs in a pan with boiling water (stove turned off). Cover the pan and let them set for 2-4 hours and they will plump up so beautifully your guests will think they’re fresh. As a bonus, I discovered that the soaking liquid makes a great fruit tea to drink, or boil it to reduce it down and use it as a drizzle over ice cream.