The summer that wasn't...(except for figs)

Anyone have some good recipes for green tomatoes? Hopes of home-grown, vine-ripened tomatoes are dwindling with each raindrop and gust of wind.

Today is August 31. Before leaving for work this morning, I pulled a box from the closet of tucked away winter clothes and grabbed a sweater to wear atop my gray flannel pants and leather oxfords. The red weather-resistent jacket with hood came next, and as I walked out the door, I threw my leather jacket on top of that. No regrets, except that it's August 31.

Grapes are slowly turning from green to red, and I still have hopes they'll ripen. The leaves, too, are turning, and fall arrives without summer ever getting a foothold. A couple of weeks in mid-July, a few days here and there, offered a glimpse of what summer could be. But it was only a glimpse. My garden has suffered, as has my energy.

One clear, unsuspected sign of summer: Fresh, tree-ripened figs. I had no idea they could be so good. A colleague brought these green-wrapped succulent pink-fleshed morsels to work this week, and offered a few favorite recipes to try after eating more freshly picked fruit than one person should.

Here's last night's dinner recipe:

Pasta with Figs, Walnuts and Gorgonzola
- Your choice of pasta (I've come to love brown rice pasta).
While it's cooking, saute in a tablespoon or two of butter:
- 1 chopped onion till brown
- add toasted walnuts or pecans till warm
- add figs, and salt to taste
- Then toss all together and sprinkle with crumbled gorgonzola cheese.

Said colleague also suggested drizzling fresh sliced figs with honey and sprinkling with goat cheese, or wrapping them in prociutto. Toasted walnuts work well here, too.

I think I'd like a fig tree. Had I known earlier that they grew so well in the Northwest, and that a fresh fig could be so delicious...