Ring in the new year with figs and feta
When I was a kid, my grandfather and I "rescued" a wild fig tree from St. Petersburg Beach. In those days, the beach was a fairly wild place with a few scattered hotels and even an abandoned 1920s elegant hotel that had once seen guests such as F. Scott and Zelda Fitzgerald. (That huge abandoned hotel, where I used to explore empty rooms and imagine myself dining with the Fitzgeralds was later renovated and in the 1980s reopened as the luxurious Don Cesar Hotel...look it up - it's gorgeous!)
When I was about 8, I found - growing wild on the beach - a fig tree in just the spot where construction workers informed me they were going to put a new hotel. I was horrified. I protested and asked that, if I could get the tree dug up, I could have it. They agreed and I enlisted my grandfather to dig it up.
We liberated the tree and brought it home and planted it in the back yard. The hotel was built and has since been torn down and replaced with a "bigger and better" facility. The tree is still in the yard, producing beautiful deep purple figs.
When the first figs appeared each year, my grandfather and I would meet under the branches of that tree and revel in the sweet treats hanging down for us to eat.
Nearly 40 years later, when I can't get there to pluck the figs from the tree, or when figs aren't available in the season at the store, I buy dried figs and make a variety of special treats. This is one of my favorites.
Enjoy it with a nice glass of wine or champagne as you ring in the new years.
Fig and Feta Treats
24 dried figs 2 cups of orange juice
1 cup feta cheese
12 wonton wrappers
Preheat oven to 350 degrees.
Combine the figs and the orange juice in a small saucepan and heat until it boils. Cover and simmer until the figs have softened, about 15 minutes.
Remove the figs from the pan; drain well.
Place 2 figs and a generous teaspoon of feta cheese on each wrapper. Fold in regular egg roll fashion.
Spray each wonton with a bit of oil.
Bake for 15 minutes. Flip the wontons and bake for an additional 5 minutes.
