What’s for dinner?

Let’s ask Gina! This month’s Guest Blogger and Mom of the Month is Gina of “What’s for Dinner Across State Lines” ~ where two granddaughters, Gina and Robbyn give tribute to the legacy of their grandfather, renowned chef Silvio Conciatore, by sharing their love for food.

If you value family and traditions like I do, you’ll feel an instant connection with Gina. A quote from her About page says:

“My goal for the blog is to share some of the recipes I’ve written and collected over the years; try new ones and hopefully inspire you to create new recipes and memories of your own!  I’m really big on traditions and host events at my house continuously.  We have a huge family and I love feeding them.”

Like me, she has a daughter that entered college this year and was cooking all her favorite foods before she left. She was willing to share any of her delicious family recipes, but I thought the fresh fig appetizer that she made for her daughter’s going away party was beautiful in its simplicity and sentiment. Enjoy the Figs with Feta and Balsamic Reduction, then pop over to Gina and Robbyn’s website to check out some of the classic Italian dishes and family favorites that they so generously share with us 🙂

I planted a black jack fig tree five years ago and it’s becoming a true thing of beauty!  This year we are having a bumper crop, and I couldn’t be happier.  Have you ever had a fig right off the tree, warmed by the sun, it is magical.

On Sunday, we had a huge party for Julia, she is leaving for college in days!  I couldn’t think of a better way to kick the party off than a super simple appetizer, using my abundance of figs from our tree.  I usually have a lot of kids over and some picky adults too, and almost everyone tried and liked these.  It was quite a weekend, I’m still barely recovering!  I have more great recipes to share with you after I take five!

I’ve been trying to get the figs before the birds, obviously they have caught on to how good they are!

Figs with Feta and Balsamic Reduction

As many figs as you can find!  (I got about 2 dozen at once, a record for our young tree)

crumbled Feta cheese

1/2 cup balsamic vinegar

In a small skillet heat vinegar on medium heat until reduced by half.  Set aside.

I cut the figs in half, sprinkled with the feta popped them under the broiler for just a couple of minutes then drizzled them with the balsamic vinegar.  They were magnificent ~ sweet, salty and with a bit of tang!

Enjoy 🙂