Sharing some life updates from the last few months:
Garden
We had a great harvest of figs and wax apples this summer. Both trees grew quite a lot in the last year and produced a ton of fruit.
I’m not sure why, but my figs are massive. I can barely hold two in my palm.
This is also the first year I’ve been able to successfully grow gogi berries. The fresh version of this super fruit is hard to find here in the US, since they are native to Asia. My mom has been growing them for a few years in her backyard. I previously brought back seedlings with no success, but this year I had over a hundred berries!
The berries have a bitter aftertaste when eaten raw, but I found that if you heat them up slightly, it takes off the bitter edge and leaves just the sweetness. I’ve been adding mine to stir fries and soups.
Travel
We have been trying to take short weekend trips. Last month we went to Nashville. I visited once a few years ago for a conference. This trip was just for eating! We stuffed ourselves with biscuits, bbq, hot chicken, grits, and more biscuits (I think we had biscuits with nearly every meal!). The hospitality in Nashville is amazing and we loved how kind and friendly everyone was.
And to top it all off, I had a celebrity encounter! At the end of my trip, I met Ethan Hawke. He was right in front of us in the security line at the airport! We were able to get a few seconds with him after we passed security before he started getting recognized by others who were rushing over for a photo.
East Nasty from Biscuit Love
Hot Chicken from Hattie B’s
Biscuits from Loveless Cafe
You can read my post on Biscuit Love here. More to come!
Blog Updates
The number one request I’ve received from readers is to provide nutrition facts for my recipes. If you haven’t noticed yet, we are now doing so! Most new recipes now provide estimated nutrition information and we’re working hard to update old ones. I’ve shared over a thousand recipes over the years, so it may take a while.
Trending Recipes
If you’re looking for some new recipes to try, here are some that have been trending on the blog:
- California Sushi Roll Bowls with Cauliflower Rice Meal Prep (This is one of my personal favorites!)
- Keto Bagels
- Flourless Pumpkin Bread
Favorite Recipes
My favorite recipes from September are:
I love seeing when you’ve made one of my recipes. If you happen to take a photo and plan on sharing it on Instagram, please tag me @kirbiecravings so I can see it!
New Food Finds
Have you tried the new regional flavors of Lay’s chips launched earlier this summer for their Taste of America campaign? I was excited when I found a few at my local Vons. Then I went to do some research online and found out there were eight new flavors along with the return of four previously limited-run regional flavors. Unfortunately, the chip flavors are only sold in the regions that inspired the creations. This doesn’t make that much sense to me. I personally would be more excited to try flavors I can’t get that often in California, rather than flavors I’m already getting all the time.
There was a chance to buy all the flavors online but they were already sold out by the time I found out.
I enjoyed these three, but I would have been more excited for New England Lobster Roll or Chesapeake Bay Crab Spice.
That’s all for now!
Mochi says hi.
Kirbie! Those wax apples look amazing. They were selling the trees at 99 Ranch but my grandmother told me there’s little chance of them producing fruit. Where did you get your tree and how are you growing the tree to produce fruit? My sis gave me a fig tree and it died this year on me 🙁
My tree came from the nursery that sells them to Ranch 99 though I went and bought mine directly from the nursery so I could get some growing tips and fertilizer. San Diego’s weather is definitely warm enough to grow these, but they do need a more specialized fertilizer. They are a little more high maintenance, so if you are worried, you may want to start with something easier (and cheaper) first.
I think the nursery was in LA or OC? So I figured it was easier to buy through 99 Ranch. But yeah I’m sure the nursery could offer more tips/advice vs 99 ranch. Will definitely look for the tree when I visit the market this week!