Autumn salad of pomegranate, pear & fig in rhubarb syrup

'...like the feeling you get on the first real day of autumn, when the air is crisp and the leaves are all flaring at the edges and the wind smells just vaguely of smoke - like the end and the beginning of something all at once.”
― Lauren Oliver, Delirium 

I've shouted from every soap box around how besotted I am with Autumn. I adore the varied weather that sends leaves ablaze before tousling them loose to pirouette gracefully to the dew misted earth. And of course, there is the bounty of food. In the beginning we have the last of Summer's beautiful berries, tantalising tropical fruits and vibrantly fresh veggies.  But for me, the middle is the most interesting. This is where you get the short lived wonders like the gorgeous garnet pomegranates with their sparkling ruby arils and the royal purple figs with their perfumed damask bellies. You also are gifted with pretty persimmons, charming custard apples, quirky quinces, bold beetroots, pleasing pumpkins - I could rant endlessly.

What makes this Autumn impossibly precious is that it is the first I have shared with my darling daughter. I have watched her, mouth open in awe as she tracks each dancing leaf and feels every warm kiss of wind on her cheek. I have laughed when upon tasting a touch of pomegranate juice her mouth has puckered and her eyes squinted. Seeing the world through her eyes has painted mine with colours I have never seen; my world has been transformed in the most wonderful way. I count my blessings each and every minute.

What do you enjoy most about Autumn?

ease: 4/5.
prep time: 20mins.
chilling time: 30mins.
total: 50mins.

taste: 4/5. Autumn's sweet kiss.

I knew I would love this from the ingredient list alone; what a spectacular selection of fruits. The vanilla adds such a wonderful delicate fragrance whilst the cinnamon and cardamom give it an exotic twist. The rhubarb provides a sharp tartness to counter the sweet pears, whilst the vibrant pomegranate pairs perfectly with the perfumed figs.

would I make it again: No, it tasted lovely but I found it more suitable as breakfast with yoghurt than as a dessert, and for breakfast, its a touch time intensive and rather messy (those darned pomegranates, so delicious but so eager to stain everything in sight!).

recipe: http://gourmettraveller.com.au/autumn_salad_of_pomegranate_pear_and_fig_in_rhubarb_syrup.htm