This quarantine life has me cooking so much more than usual.

It's also got me evaluating everything. What do I like? What don't I like? What do I need more of? What do I need less of? Which things make me really happy? 

In my ongoing effort to cook often and create foods that are fresh and flavorful I've rounded up the kitchen tools that make eating well easier. I've got a ton of gadgets and gismos and these are the best ones that I find myself using frequently. 

Maybe you've never had a fig. If you haven't and I handed you one you'd say: "I don't even know how to eat this!" 

Well here we are: I've made a whole list, complete with pictures, for how to eat figs. Your first fig should be fresh, right from the tree. You can eat it all, the skin and the inside, just not top of the stem. There's no seed inside. Just take a BIG OLE BITE. Then, once you're in love, use this list to get creative with your new favorite fruit. 
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I love figs, clearly, as I've named my blog in honor of them. It all started in the backyard of  my Pap Pap (that's Pittsburgh-speak for Grandfather) when I was a kid. He'd pull fresh figs right off of the tree and he'd let me eat as many as I wanted! The hard part, back then, was waiting for the figs to be in season. The hard part, still, is waiting for the figs to be in season! 

Pap sold that house when I was in second grade and went to the eternal fig tree in the sky when I was in college. Good news, though, I grew up and bought a house that came complete with a yard and a fig tree! I never feel my Pap's spirit more than when I'm back there picking figs and eating them without a care in the world (see photo of me IN the tree).

​Those of you who've been reading my blogs since the old days might remember my older blog and "The House with the Fig Tree" stories from when we'd just moved in to our house.

The first time I tried halloumi cheese was at a restaurant called Lola in downtown Seattle. I was there for brunch and ordered Halloumi Cheese Kebabs with Kalamata figs. I had no idea what halloumi was but I love cheese and it came with figs so I ordered it.  

The kebabs came and they looked crazy with squares of cheese that hadn't melted and dried figs all lined up on a skewer. I was worried about what I ordered. It almost looked like marshmallows and mushrooms! Alas it was a wonderful breakfast and I was amazed by this cheese that a) paired well with figs and b) didn't melt when cooked!

That began my love affair with halloumi cheese. Let's figure out just what in the world this odd cheese is and exactly how to cook and eat it. 

We've made it to day 18. It's officially time for questioning why did I ever commit to 25 days of activities and posts!? It's been mostly fun doing this Advent calendar/Christmas countdown but I'm feeling a wee bit like a South Pole elf as I'm taking food photos in the 7 am hour...

Regardless, here we are! Day 18 included making chocolate saltine bark. I'm too impatient to bake so this recipe for melting things is a winner. I made two pans: one with mint chips and chocolate chips, another with butterscotch and chocolate chips. The mint chocolate bark turned out great, while the butterscotch chocolate bark was a total bust! You'll see that we still picked at the butterscotch mess, despite it being a wreck.