Outtakes, August 22nd: behind Autumn Makes & Does this week

It has been a big week of food-learning here! Last weekend we learned about harvesting and cooking both prickly pear cactus paddles (nopales) and their bright magenta fruit, which are at their peak of ripeness right now. I sampled some smoked nopales, which were so darn good–bright, smoky, chewy–that they bumped a smoker up a couple spots on my must haves list. Tomorrow is the—wait for it–Prickly Pear Festival and I’m pretty amped about it. Expect a lot of bright pink treats here in the coming weeks because we also spent this afternoon harvesting a couple big bowls full of prickly pear fruit. I think I’ve found the desert equivalent of when the first rhubarb shows up at the Union Square Greenmarket 🙂

This week I also consume and loved:

• This video on how to cut a watermelon from The Faux Martha because you know I’ve been cutting it on the roly poly side like a fool.
• Goat Cheese Mousse from Savory Simple? Excellent idea. Especially when it’s topped with blueberries.
• A classy countertop compost hack from Local Kitchen.
• This DIY flaxseed curly hair gel. I would LOVE if this worked like a charm. I’ll report back.
• This recipe for sweet cinnamon grilled plantains from Edible Perspective. So smart to get the ultimate flavor out of these by grilling!
• This Grilled Pineapple and Coconut Guacamole from Girl vs Dough. I can be an obnoxious minimalist about a lot of things, but this sounds so delicious.

About autumn

Autumn Giles is the creator of Autumn Makes & Does and the co-host of the Alphabet Soup Podcast.