Just in time for Ferd’s birthday, the figs starting ripening on our tree out back, and my favorite way to have them is with raspberries, fresh buffalo mozarella and a spicy basil, drizzled with extra virgin olive oil and sprinkled with a little salt. Now that I’m back on the entertaining circuit, I might just serve them to somebody. For the past twelve years or so, my brain has been otherwise occupied, so I haven’t been able to entertain. Not to mention, for a lot of those years I was either living in a pig sty(not a messy place…a pig sty, with stalls and metal doors) with no running water, or a sub sub let with no forks. Entertaining isn’t always the answer to being relaxed, and I reccommend avoiding it at all costs if it throws you overboard.
These days, I am all right with it. I am like a reborn party planner. I look forward to it. I have easy friends, I have a backyard, I have a fridge with ice that pops out the front, and enough cash to buy loads of beer, bottled water and juice boxes, so that I can be ready for anybody.
I am convinced that the ticket is to go basic. If you have figs ready and hanging off a tree, serve figs, but if you have no gourmet grocery or what you feel most comfortable with is a hot dog, serve hot dogs. It took me way too long to get it, but people don’t care if you serve figs, they just want to have a good time.