The Girl and the Fig

Unfortunately, this is not a post that includes me waxing poetic about a meal I ate at The Girl and the Fig but someday I will get to Sonoma and do just that! No, no, I've just had a number of fig-related encounters over the past month that I'd like to share.

-I bought some beautiful, fat-bottomed figs at Whole Foods and mixed some gorgonzola, chopped walnuts and rosemary together, stuffed the figs and drizzled with balsamic vinegar and they were delightful. I bet they would be good with a scoop of vanilla ice cream but lovely in their own right.

-I often have an egg scrambled with spinach and snippets of basil from my massive basil tree (yes, it's a tree, woody stalk and all)for breakfast. The other day, I also had a piece of toast, smeared with fig preserves, piled with basil-flecked egg, and who knew that the combination of basil and fig was so perfect? I can't recommend it enough.

-Speaking of those fig preserves, I also put them on some savory bread I made this weekend with squash and feta. It seems that fig preserves taste delicious on everything.

-I bought "Good to the Grain" by Kim Boyce for my sister's birthday and while I haven't had the pleasure of sitting down with it and perusing, I expect her to make the Buckwheat Figgy Scones and send me the recipe. One of the steps has you make FIG BUTTER with port and red wine. How can that not sell you?

-I have a fig tree on the corner of my street. It seems largely untended and generally unloved. It's not very nice to ignore perfectly good figs so sometimes I will pick one or two. There really is nothing better than taking a walk in the morning on your day off, grabbing a few fresh figs and sitting on the porch in the sun while you eat them. Perfection.

Cheese(s) of the Week

Enjoyed an evening of cheese and wine last night with the inimitable Mary Beth aka best roommate ever. It was so nice to spend one of these cool, early fall evenings with good company and these delectable selections.

Bucherondine: Reminds me of Humboldt Fog (mmm!) with the ultra-creamy goat cheese center, surrounded by a runnier layer.

Appalachiam Tomme: Never heard of this, sort of a cross between cheddar and Gruyere? This would make a super grilled cheese.

Roth Kase Gruyere Surchoix: Oh my. Nutty, with those little crystals that I love so much.