Still snowing . . . still at home . . .

Seriously . . . this is really ridiculous!  Have been snowed in since Friday last week!!!  The bad news:  it is still snowing and can't even see outside the window!  The good news, on the other hand:  my flight to Detroit tomorrow hasn't been cancelled so far!!! Yay!!! :)

I was checking my "News Feed" on Facebook and got across this:
"Food & Wine: We're proud to announce the winner of our first-ever Home Cook Superstar Search, Sarah Simmons, a digital marketing consultant in New York City! To learn more about Sarah and for more great entrants we loved: http://www.foodandwine.com/slideshows/home-cook-superstar/Home-Cook-Superstar."

So, I clicked on the link and started reading about the winner . . . then went to the second entrant and read the following: "Contestant Melissa Ainslie of Miami, blogs about her cooking adventures at bitchincamero.com."  And, of course, had to check her blog!

I looooove figs!  And, guess what?  Melissa's current posting is precisely about figs . . . here it is:

Fig & Balsamic Jam

Published by mel on February 8, 2010 in breakfast, recipe and sides & bites

Anyone who knows me knows I’m a bit persnickety about my kitchen. I like everything to be immaculately clean and orderly – counter tops shining and everything put away. No toaster or blender or mixer out on the counter. I like as much space as possible to make a real mess on when I’m cooking. So, it’s an absolute wonder that I’ve kept my new Ad Hoc at Home cookbook on the counter for the past month. It’s just so beautiful and inspiring and I like to peruse it while I’m wondering what to make for dinner.

One of the recipes that kept catching my eye was a Fig & Balsamic Jam that sounded like the perfect accompaniment to a large hunk of Manchego taking up room in the cheese drawer (Yes, I keep an entire drawer of cheese… Don’t judge me.). Of course, it’s winter and fresh figs are still a few months away. But I wanted some fig jam now! So, I tweaked the recipe to see if it would work with dried figs. And happy surprise – it did!

This jam is super quick and endlessly delicious. Paired with cheese, it’s just dreamy. Brings a little bit of summer to your plate. I highly recommend you make it as soon as possible.


In case you’re wondering, that’s a Fig jam, Manchego and chorizo sandwich in the background. My favorite kind of food…

Fig & Balsamic Jam
Adapted from Ad Hoc at Home.


1 lb. dried mission figs (or other dried figs), roughly chopped
1 cup demerara sugar (or cane sugar)
1/2 cup balsamic vinegar
1/2 cup water
1 tbsp. lemon juice


Place the figs, sugar, balsamic and water in a medium-sized sauce pan over medium heat. Once it comes to a bubbling simmer, reduce the heat to low, cover and cook for 20 minutes, or until the figs have absorbed most of the cooking liquid.


Remove from heat and carefully use a blender or food processor to puree the jam, breaking up any large pieces of dried figs.


Stir in the lemon juice and let cool completely to room temperature. Store in an airtight container in the fridge for up to 1 month.

Makes about 2 cups jam.

Still snowing . . . still at home . . .