Fig Bars

A few weeks ago, I made this fig challah from the Smitten Kitchen cookbook... I was planning on doing a blog post about that, because it was supposed to be really pretty, but it turns out that tying bread in beautiful knots takes a skill that I don't have!  Then the bottom got a bit burnt and it just wasn't that good.  BUT I still had a bunch of figs leftover, so today was the day to redeem the fig baking project!  I wanted to make a homemade version of fig newtons, so I looked up some recipes and kinda just made my own little version.  Turned out REALLY tasty.  Here's the recipe :)

For the doughy part...
Whisk together
1 1/2 cup oats
1 cup flour
3/4 cup brown sugar
1/2 cup chopped walnuts
1/2 tsp baking soda
1/4 tsp salt
then stir together with
1/2 cup melted butter
1 egg

For the figgy part...
Bring to a boil, simmer until most of the liquid is gone, then blend in a food processor.
1 cup chopped black mission figs
1/2 cup water
1/4 cup orange juice
A bit of orange zest

Once you have that, lay down a layer using about half of the "dough"in a square baking dish. Press it down a bit, smear the fig filling on top, and top it with the other half of the dough.  Bake at 350 for 20 minutes.  Deliciousssssss.

Garden Party

It's spring time!!!! Not that we really have seasons here, but it's been getting nice and hot during the day.  And I am overly excited about my balcony garden :)  We went to Home Depot and splurged on a couple of nice pots, because I can hardly stand to look at these plastic ones any longer.  I got a cute little cherry tomato plant, a jalepeno plant, and some flowers!  Oh and the growth of my succulent collection continues.  Bryan even got a little redwood sapling from some promotion at REI... not sure how long it will last in that pot, but maybe it will help our house hunting karma and find us a place with a yard... fingers crossed!