Gil and I go to Fairway entirely too often, or more frequently than we need to, anyway. It’s usually because Gil’s running low on the only dried figs that meet his standards, but if you turn me loose in a well-stocked grocery, I’m going to do some damage whether I have a list or not. Gil and I tend to divide our labor unnecessarily; he pushes the cart while I scan the aisles, but he wanders off while I’m picking up groceries, so I spend the next 10 minutes looking for him. Fun times! But we never learn, so our last visit found me wandering around the produce section with my arms full when I spotted him back by the entrance, gazing longingly at fresh figs.

Which never last. That’s why he doesn’t buy them.

But these figs were calling his name, so he challenged me to do something with them before they turned brown and moldy, which usually happens within 3.7 seconds of hitting the fridge. They actually sat there like a ticking time bomb for three days before I got around to making this panna cotta, but […]