After a month of settling in my new baby girl, I am emerging from the sleep deprived haze of the last few weeks. We still are not in our house, (what is with going months over on remodels??), and my mom has left town for a month. That means that I am back to cooking and taking care of my family myself. As great as it can be to have someone else making all of your meals, getting back into the kitchen is actually really nice.

The seasons have changed far more quickly than usual for this part of the country. I am used to the long summers that stretch well into October. Not so much this year. With temperatures that never climbed past the mid-50’s today, and a stretch of rain that spans the whole weeks weather forecast, fall is here. I have visions of big pots of hot soup, loaves of freshly baked bread, and spiced desserts stretching for months and months.

However, even with the cold weather settling in, we are still lucky enough to have access to the late summer produce here in Seattle. The stores are still full of heirloom tomatoes and beets, fresh basil and sweet figs.

For dinner tonight I am trying to take advantage of these straggling ingredients. I started with a crostini piled with rich cheese and fresh mission figs served with a fresh green salad and a roast chicken with fingerling potatoes tossed in basil pesto. Tonight I am enclosing the recipe for the crostini- I will get back to you on the chicken when I figure out the recipe “measurements”!

Fig Crostini
(can make up to 16 pieces)

-1 Baguette, sliced at an angle into ½” thick pieces.
-8 oz of cambozola cheese
-16 fresh figs, sliced in half
-truffle oil
-kosher salt

1) Preheat the oven to 400 degrees.

2) Put the slices of baguette on a baking sheet, and put them in the preheated oven. Bake them until pale golden brown, about 5 minutes.

3) Top each of the slices with about a ½ oz of cheese and two halves of the figs.

4) Sprinkle with a tiny amount of kosher salt and drizzle with olive oil.

5) Serve on a bed of mixed greens such as lettuce, arugula and fresh herbs dressed with champagne vinegar and extra-virgin olive oil.