Fig preserves giveaway and a roasted figs recipe

I don't think that my parents realized that they were going to be in the business of hauling food back and forth between Florida/Georgia and Michigan when they decided to drive up to visit me.  They arrived with 3 dozen eggs from my mom's boss and hundreds of tomatoes, a giant watermelon, 6 butternut squash, and a ton of figs from my grandparents' garden.  On the way back, they were loaded down with apples and peaches, Michigan wine, and all of the gluten-filled products that were still sitting around my kitchen.

We were in somewhat of a hurry to eat the figs, because we knew that they needed to be consumed before we headed off to Toronto.  While I can sit and eat dozens of figs, I thought it would be fun to do something a little bit more interesting.  I didn't want to interfere with their amazing flavor, so I decided that a simple roast with honey would be a nice solution.

Roasted figs with honey
(Printable version)

20 fresh figs, ends trimmed and cut in half
2 Tbsp honey

Place fig halves in a medium baking dish and drizzle with honey.  Bake at 350 until figs are soft, but haven't completely fallen apart (about 40 min).  Serves 3.

These were delicious because they retained their amazing fig taste, while taking on a slightly caramelized flavor.  Mom, Dad, and I gobbled these up in no time, and I bet that we would have eaten more.  Oh, how I long to have access to a fresh figs on a regular basis...

And on to the giveaway...

My parents also brought a jar of fig preserves that my grandpa made from this year's harvest.  He makes wonderful preserves and, as a small way of saying thanks to all of my faithful readers, I would love to share them with someone.  So, just leave me a comment telling me about your favorite way to eat figs by Wednesday, September 9th, and I'll draw a random number on Thursday to select a winner.  Make sure to leave me your email address if I can't access it through your blog profile.  Unfortunately I can only afford to ship to them within the United States.  I wish I could share a jar with all of you!!

Honey winners!

The winners of the second tupelo honey giveaway are...

Kat Bryan and Carolyn G

Again, I got great comments about things to do with honey and peaches.  I agree with Kat, Amy, and Sam that perhaps the best way to eat peaches is right off the vine or fresh from the farmers' market, and I love the way that Amy described the way that the juice drips down your arm.  I will be in heaven when they're ready to be picked here in Michigan!

Honey winner

And the winner of the tupelo honey giveaway is....

Julia!

I really appreciate all of the comments, and I now have more ideas for using honey and cabbage!

I had completely forgotten about mead, and am glad that both Sam and Mel brought it up. It sounds like it could be fun to make some with tupelo honey. Perhaps I'll try it out one of these days...

Although there was only one comment about the best honey-related word, I have to emphasize that I also love mellifluous. It's one of the few Latin derivatives that I actually remember. Thanks, eli!