My family and I are back in Seattle, and as much as I LOVE New York, it is really so nice to be here. Seattle summers are spectacular actually. So sunny, so green and blue and bright and gorgeous. Our garden is insane. I will have to take some picture of how crazy the vegetable and fruit garden is- or like a video or something. The unusual extended period of heat has just made everything explode and some stuff has come and gone a month early. Like our figs. We pretty much totally missed them. I found a few that were hiding under big leaves or near the apple trees and it tricked the naughty starling birds who devoured everything else- and left us the bird poop to prove it. Just so, so much bird poop.

So I had to do something special with my last precious figs! Something that celebrated how beautiful they are and kept things fresh and summery, but also a little bit more exciting.

When I was in France a couple of weeks ago, I actually obsessed over melon and prosciutto. I ate it at least once a day. I think it was all about how amazing the melon is over there, but I just couldn’t get enough- and have been thinking about it ever since.

So I decided to amp up the traditional Melon and Prosciutto that I love so much with the sweet figs, crunchy shallots and the perfect herbal accompaniment of fragrant basil and refreshing mint. I used a great naturally spicy olive oil and a touch of balsamic glaze to make things really flavorful and it made for a really tasty and fresh salad that also happened to be SO pretty. Happy Summer!