Almost empty

All through the summer and early autumn this dish sits on our kitchen table filled with the aubergines, peppers and courgettes we've picked in the garden. Now it holds only a few last piments d'Espelette, waiting for me to thread them and hang them up to dry. In winter we fill the dish with bought citrus fruits - just as colourful, but not as satisfying as home-grown produce.

This dish, which I've blipped before at least once, has been in my family almost as long as I can remember. It was made in Sicily and my mother bought it in Benghazi soon after we moved there in 1956. When she moved it back to Wales she often used it for rice salads when we had big family parties. Then she gave it to me and, looking at my mother-in-law's photos recently, I was reminded that I used it for a rice salad I made for her 80th birthday party. LoJ and I both have a 'big' birthday next year, so I'll have to use it for our party then!