Fresh black mission figs, goat cheese, and a balsamic-honey reduction come together over golden, toasted bread. It tastes just like you would imagine it: an intense landscape of sweet and tart, crispy and creamy. Doesn’t get much better than that. 

Each year I grow more and more fond of these seasonal pumpkin beers. I don’t know about you but, to me, pouring a glass of delicious liquid pumpkin pie is hard to beat. Let’s talk about 5 of these lovelies, in order of tasty pumpkin rating.

Just a photo for today.

My friend Tim came up with this on our recent trip to Philadelphia. I thought it was brilliant… bruschetta-style tomatoes are so good, why not use them as the perfect sandwich topping? The tomato/basil/vinegar mixture along with fresh mozzarella cheese, juicy chicken breasts, and crispy sourdough make this one of my new favorite items to grill.

Scarfing this down, along with a nice summer ale or a glass of light red wine on the patio, sounds like the perfect way to kick off the warm summer season.

I am a “creative” type – meaning I have an excuse to be disorganized and messy. Unfortunately, I also have an appreciation for order and clean aesthetics, (yes, I’m that guy who wants all of the things on the dresser to be lined up “just so”) which is in direct opposition to my messy and lazy nature. Eventually, these two aspects of my personality collide and I reach a point where I just can not stand a mess any longer.

Today I hit that point with my tomato plants.

I’ve said it before: I love a cheesesteak. I’ve certainly eaten my fair share of them, and even posted a recipe that I like to make at home. In fact, it’s probably my favorite junk food.

So I would be remiss if I didn’t stop by the famed Tony Luke’s original south Philly location at some point in my life, no? Well, that point came last week, as we were up that way to visit our friends in the city.

Every once in a while, a simple and easy idea comes along that makes a huge improvement in your cooking. For me, this was one of the big ones. I’ve been using squeeze bottles for years now (they are probably OLD news to many of you), so I’m actually surprised I haven’t extolled the virtues of them here on the blog yet. Yes, they are awesome. Yes, if you haven’t yet converted to using these cheap and effective tools, you probably should.