i have a fig tree in my yard. when i bought my house many years ago, my neighbor use to climb up the tree and pick figs. wait, back up. to be completely honest, my neighbor has a fig tree, just a few branches (really, almost all of them) are on my property. so rightfully it is my neighbors fig tree, i just like to say i have one. around july, they are almost ready to harvest. problem is, all of the birds and squirrels in my neighborhood, and a few of the surrounding neighborhoods, also know i have a fig tree. they beat me to them every year and on top of that, they poop and drop rotten figs on the windshield of my car. very bothersome. after moaning and groaning about it for a while, brian finally suggested that i go to the market and just buy some. truth is, i don't think i would ever feel comfortable eating the figs from my fig tree, just because of all the rodent germs and potential swine flu. so i went to the market to pick up a container of black mission figs. i wanted to get what looked most like my figs so i could eat them and pretend i picked them. i have never really been that into figs. i think it stems back to my childhood when a cookie for me was a fig newton. just gave me shivers thinking about it (thanks mom and dad). i made the tastiest little appetizers, that have now opened my eyes to these once not so respected fruits. i started by removing the stems. i then scored the tops with an x and cut through about 1/3 down. gently pry the figs open and stuff some blue cheese (or gorgonzola) in the center. bake in a 350 degree oven for 15 minutes until the cheese melts and the figs soften. i drizzled a bit of honey over the top to balance out the sharpness of the cheese. delicious. next summer, i hope, i mean, i will take back my fig tree!