For years preceding our aliyah, I'd make annual pilgrimages to Hod Hasharon to visit a cousin who was like a sister to me, and I'd fervently wish that I could replicate her life. I imagined her house was mine, and spent hours planning how I'd arrange my furniture. I dreamed of the nearby mall being my closest shopping destination too. And I envisaged our kids, who were born months apart, attending the same school, and us waving as we frequently drove past one another.

We never failed to take advantage of the opportunity to cook together and, at least a few times on every visit, I'd walk to the end of her road to pick essential rosemary sprigs from the bush on the corner. This bush was situated opposite an empty piece of land, and Orit would frequently joke that I'd live here one day. We'd then laugh at this outrageous concept as my family had no plans to make aliyah.

Fast forward to today, and my cousin and I live in carbon copy homes, with the identical floor plan. (Arranging the furniture was a cinch as I'd done this mental exercise so often.) We regularly meet at our childrens' school, or in the local mall, which is now my local too. And although that frequently remarked upon plot of land still stands empty, I live just meters away from it, and I now pick rosemary off the very same bush to use in my kitchen.

I'm sharing this story as a testament to the power of dreams, and the magical properties of versatile rosemary.

Ingredients

1/2 cup sugar

1 large lemon, juice and zest

1 large cinnamon stick

4 short sprigs of rosemary

8 plums, halved and stoned

4 nectarines, cut in quarters

300 grams frozen berries of your choice

Vanilla ice-cream or watermelon to serve

Method 

1: Place sugar in a medium sized pot, add 1 cup of water, and simmer for 10 minutes.

2: Add the lemon juice and zest, rosemary, cinnamon stick, plums and nectarines and cook gently for 15 minutes till fruit begins to soften.

3: Add frozen berries and simmer a few minutes longer.

4: Remove rosemary and cinnamon and serve slightly warm with vanilla ice-cream, or cold over wedges of cubed watermelon.