It's my party and I cook if I want to!

We had Balsamic Fresh Figs with Prosciutto,

Baked Garlic and Cauliflower Hummus with Walnut Gremoulata,

Slow baked Tomato Pizza on Puff Pastry with Smoked Mozzarella

and Grilled Mussels with Garlic and Parsley butter.

After that we had Fresh Pasta with

creamed Chanterelles and Norwegian Lobster

And ended with a lovely Tiramisu with Hips, Lemon and Lime

(no coffee, please).

So that was a nice birthday party!

Are you wondering where they serve such wonderful food?

At my place of course - how else would I spend my birthday but in my own kitchen:)

The plums are peaking right now - they have to be used, so how about a nice and easy cake:)

Spicy plum cake
(Serves 8 to 10)

1 1/2 pound fresh plums
3 TBSP sugar (for sprinkling)

1 1/3 cup flour
1/2 cup sugar
1/2 cup brown sugar
1 tsp baking powder
1 tsp cinnamon
1/2 tsp salt
1/2 tsp allspice
1/2 tsp nutmeg
1/2 tsp ginger
1/2 tsp vanilla
1/4 tsp cloves

2 eggs
1/3 cup oil
1/3 cup milk

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees Fahrenheit and butter a 9-inch springform pan.
Pit the plums and quarter them.
Mix all the dry ingredients in a bowl.
In another bowl whisk the eggs, oil and milk together.
Pour the wet ingredients in the flour mixture and blend thoroughly.
Pour the batter in the pan and place the plums closely on top. Sprinkle the rest of the sugar over the plums and bake the cake for about 60 minutes, or until a tester inserted in the center comes out clean.

Arriving at our summerhouse the first weekend of September our two fig trees were loaded with ripe and almost overripe fruits.
I gathered the fruit and sorted the less ripe for enjoying raw as a snack and for breakfast. The very soft and ripe ones I used for jam and filled 10 cup-sized jars.

Fresh fig jam

2 1/2 cups water
2 1/2 cups sugar
2 lemons, thinly sliced (do not peel, but cut off and discard the ends)
1 cinnamon stick
4 cups fresh figs, stemmed and quartered or coarsely chopped
2 cups cane sugar
Pectin (optional)

Cook the water and sugar over medium heat until the sugar dissolves and the mixture comes to a full, rolling boil. Add lemons and cinnamon and let it boil for 20 minutes.
Pour figs into the hot bubbling syrup. Boil over medium heat, stirring gently, for 20-30 minutes. Ad cane sugar and boil rapidly 5 minutes. Ad pectin if using.
Spoon into sterilized canning jars, wipe the rims and seal immediately with hot, sterilized lids.