A recent trip to Costco yielded one of those huge, ten pound bags of carrots. There are two adults in our house...which means that's a lot of carrots. My husband, being very practical and logical, graciously questioned why we needed ten pounds of carrots. I assured him we did - and that none of them would go to waste.

It has been a busy few weeks. Apparently in the midst of the busyness, September showed up. Is it just me, or does it seem like this month came out of nowhere? Last I knew, I was brainstorming a thousand different summer recipes, and the hubs and I were researching the grill we were finally going to buy.

Figs. For some reason, I have been obsessed with them in the last few weeks. I snagged a package at Trader Joe's not long ago, and now all I can think of are fig recipes. I've enjoyed them roasted with a spoonful of mascarpone, with yogurt in the morning and on top of cornbread. You may even see a fig-based cocktail coming to the blog soon. Yup, obsessed.

I grew up along the East Coast and I’ll admit, I really miss the ocean. Trips to the beach were a regular part of the summer routine while I was growing up. Sometimes, it was a quick weekend excursion down the shore, but other years it was a vacation in Florida or a road-trip north to the coast of Maine. And of course wherever we were, fresh seafood was a must.