Red Velvet Marbled Brownies

Let me give you a prime example of an incredible FAIL:

Two really good friends, living in the same city, living less than an hour apart...meeting up and not being able to recall the last time they had seen each other.

Maybe this is a testament to us early twenty-somethings getting too old, too soon, but we can never meet up as often as we'd like. In fact, we text each other about being total fails....while rescheduling our dinner plans or Skype chats.

This. Is. So. Sad.

I feel like it's about time I talk about my friend Adithi on this blog. 

She's the sweetest soul, a true-blue friend, and one of the most huggable people on the planet. You just have to take my word for it. We met our freshman year while dancing in the same Bhangra/Hip-Hop dance troupe, where I got both the most spine-crawling, mortifying ten minutes of my life AND a good friend out of the experience. I'm very grateful for both. Yes, very.

Anyway...We finally met up for dinner, during the course of which I (semi-intentionally in an unintended way) vented for a good half-hour and afterwards apologized profusely for it. Then we took some silly and hilarious selfies on the parking lot by my car. Fast-forward to four hours later I was sick to my stomach, heaving and throwing up everything I had eaten earlier. Uhhh... surprise, Adithi!

(I'm really sorry you had to find out this way. Oh, and I don't think I can eat spinach pasta anytime soon. Just making it clear.)

I guess what I'm trying to say is that, no matter what, my friend is super awesome. And that she totally deserved these red velvet brownies.  

Fig-Walnut Muffins

We have a fig tree growing in our backyard that's bearing fruit this summer. Granted the figs likely won't be ripe enough to eat until fall, but the tree alone is a wonderful thing to behold.

I love figs. I love the big, fresh, bulbous purple figs fresh and cold, cold, cold. William Carlos Williams had his plums; I have my figs. Except I won't apologize to my significant other that I've stolen his breakfast. All mine. All good.

Fresh figs on top of silky, creamy buttermilk panna cotta and drizzled with honey....fresh figs atop a bed of sweetened mascarpone filling, encased in a buttery tart crust...grilled figs(???) and nectarines with whipped cream...salad with spring greens, figs, shaved white cheddar....and I like where this is going. New entries for the future? We'll see.

However, the recipe I'm sharing with you today uses dried figs, which have an entirely different charm of their own. They're chewy, fragrant, and reminiscent of your Fig Newton eating days. (I always used to pick apart the biscuit-cookie shell and eat the filling only.)

These muffins are down-to-earth good. Sweet and charming. Decadent yet approachable. Best when eaten warm, in my opinion, and definitely within the same day.

Although dried figs will never replace my love for freshly cut figs, this recipe is solid. I think they'd make a nice breakfast table addition when you have a large group of guests over, or a special treat if you're feeling nice and decide to feed your starving roommates.

Feel free to experiment with pistachios, macadamias, and other nuts you like!