The falling of the figs marks the end of summer.  You think that it will never come, that the tree will stay barren, that the bright green bulbs will never turn purple. You think that you have forever, that the days will stay long, and that you still have time to do the things that you haven’t done yet.

Then one day, you look up and see that there are purple splotches against the green and you know that the fig season is beginning, and summer is ending.

The taste of figs is the last taste of summer. You have eaten your way through the peaches, the berries, and the tomatoes, all leaving juice to drip down your chin until you jump in the pool or lake or ocean and wash it away. You still have a way to go before the gourds and roasted soups and the pumpkin in everything.

But in between, there are figs. They leave no juice to run down your chin, but they are tangy and soft and they transition from sweet to savory in an instant. You have to eat them fast while they are falling, have to bake them into everything, jam them, eat them raw because they go too fast, summer goes too fast, it all goes too fast.

So let’s eat figs and say goodbye to summer.

Fig jam recipe, similar to this one.

Fig and goat cheese flatbread

• Fresh figs
• Honey
• Balsamic vinegar or glaze
• Goat cheese
• Pizza crust

1. Make crust (or unroll the Pillsbury one you bought because you didn’t calculate the rising time for a homemade crust and you are hungry NOW and can’t wait).  Pre-bake according to package/ recipe instructions.
2. Drizzle a little honey across surface of crust, more or less depending on how sweet you want it.
3. Quarter figs and scatter thickly across crust. Drizzle with balsamic glaze or vinegar (glaze will leave it sweeter).
4. Scatter with crumbled goat cheese, letting the amount be decided by your love of goat cheese. For me, this means a lot. For James, it means none, as he refuses to eat non-bovine lactate. One time he described the milking process for a goat and I barely recovered, but rally I did and I still eat it on everything.
5. Bake at 350 until cheese is melted.
6. Alternate method: Make mini flatbreads by doing the same process on a slice of pita bread.

In case you were wondering, no, we don’t have a fig tree, because we don’t even have a yard. But Suze does, and this marks the second year that I have helped her pound that fig crop. Check out her beautiful photos of fig season here.

And yes, that flatbread is pretty much the non-quiche version of this.