Whether you’re a food entrepreneur, a home chef, or never touch the kitchen, Julia Child exemplifies a good life for several reasons:

1. Boldly asking for what she wants. Not until I read about Grub Street San Francisco‘s report that Julia Child “propositioned” a chef, asking if he was single. And why not? Nothing ventured nothing gained.
2. Inspiring the world to experiment with cooking: “Learn to cook–try new recipes, learn from your mistakes, be fearless, and above all have fun!”
3. Speaking her mind : “Just speak very loudly and quickly, and state your position with utter conviction, as the French do, and you’ll have a marvelous time!”
4. Laughing at the small stuff: “Maybe the cat has fallen into the stew, or the lettuce has frozen, or the cake has collapsed. Eh bien, tant pis. Usually one’s cooking is better than one thinks it is. And if the food is truly vile, then the cook must simply grit her teeth and bear it with a smile, and learn from her mistakes.”
5. Coming into her own later in life, joining the ranks of many great late bloomers. Of course if you find your calling in your youth, all the better. But if not, Julia is a great role model.

Go down Julia memory lane on PBS and share how her Julia-ness has inspired you!

While most peanut butter filled chocolates are creamy, or maybe have a slight bit of soft crunch like peanut butter brittle (mmmm), Chuck fills these butterfly shaped wonders “with our smooth, creamy homemade peanut praliné (a combination of caramelized peanuts and chocolate).”

Now imagine miniscule pieces of hard caramel, ground up, adding the slighest bit of sugary crunch to your peanut butter confection.

Which led me to David Lebovitz’s “killer” caramelized peanut / almond recipe. It is his go-to recipe and surely will be mine, especially in my experiments with grinding the nuts into butter and pairing with chocolate.

On a side note related to using sea salt, I’ve become addicted to the Maine Sea Salt’s Applewood Smoked Sea Salt, with an aroma that’s as if you’re right there in the smokehouse – nothing subtle about it…just smoky flavor that nearly equals a wood burning fireplace. Note large salt chunks in photo.  (Dear Bay Area readers I have some on hand if you want a sample!)

Smoky Salty Sugarless Nuts

If smoked sea salt and nuts if what you’re going for rather than sweetness – I’ve got the ultimate cheap and fast trick. Lazier than lazy: I mix a little of the sea salt in a bowl with water then toss the nuts in it before toasting in a toaster or dry roasting in a pan. Amazing with pecans.

The decadent and messier version would be to toss the nuts with oil before coating with salt. If you do this, the salt’s going to be grainier so saltier than the diluted version.

(Photos will definitely come, along with future experiments.)

How could the person who told a story about someone hunting for “walnut tusks” in Alaska not win the walnut baking contest?!

2. Help people all over the country start successful food businesses

3. Help millions of people discover the most unique and interesting foods available!

4. Lead community fruit harvests in the San Francisco bay area East Bay

5. Try marketing my own artisan food! I’ve talked about it long enough

Five more goals to come…What are yours?

My drink of choice (beer) was followed by a molded lentil salad sitting on greens which it turned out also had prawns. The grilled trout was sublimely fresh, delightfully topped with candied lemon slices with a ring of olive oil surrounding. A few cherry tomatoes and a pepper accented perfectly as a simple dish flavored by the accompanying fruit and vegetables. An ultra rich dense chocolate cake with a liquor scented ice cream followed.
Considering the crap on which I easily blew 10 Euros on in Barcelona, this entire meal was a refreshing change.

After eating there I learned the restaurant was listed in the Rough Guide!

The only think missing is a little cream for the true creamsicle effect. But after enjoying a pear martini, made with their pear eau de vie, who am I to complain?

When you’re in the San Francisco Bay Area, visit St. George Spirit’s tasting room in an amazing hangar at the old Alameda Naval Air Station.

Why nuttyfig?

Well, is there anything better then lightly toasted walnuts smashed into a nearly dry fig? Simple, lovingly produced ingredients crafted into the best foods on earth. That’s what this blog is about. The symbolic fig perfectly expresses the passion I exude for good food. And my nuttiness for nuts – hazel, walnuts, pecans, almonds, cashews, macs, etc etc etc

NPR recently wrote and podcasted a nice article Perfection Is A Fresh Fig, along with a few good recipes. It reports that sales of fresh figs have increased by 30 percent each year for the past five years!

If you hated figs growing up as I did, try some not-too-dry figs with cheese, nuts, and/or chocolate. Maybe you’ll find you’re a fig nut too!

June is holding this unadvertised event alongside Slow Food Nation, which will be in San Francisco.

Other local artisan food makers such as Andante Dairy and others will be there for tasting jams coupled with complementary delicacies.

June Taylor’s “Still-Room” (where you can also take hands-on preserving classes) and shop are at 2207 4th St, Berkeley 94710, 510-528-2236