fact: last weekend, the somm and i were eating grapes by the side of the road, looking out over vineyards and scrubby forest.  it smelled like the california of my childhood, like dust and sunshine and chaparral.  it was warm.  and it felt possible to be anyone or do anything we could imagine.

today: it's raining.  it's wednesday.  it's the last week of farmer's market for us deprived east coasters.

luckily, there isn't much that some homemade ice cream can't fix.

we're back to the ice cream book.  we're proving that ice cream is TOTALLY a fall food. 

especially when it comes marbled up with your momma's drunken fig jam. 

drunken figs . . . bright with citrus and just a hint of cognac to round out and deepen the flavor. 

but, i didn't want to use it all. 

did you know i'm a hoarder?  seriously.  especially in the refrigerator region of the house.  so many tiny tupperware containers with the last traces of something delish. 

the original recipe suggested using roasted red cherries.

cherries, sadly, are not a fall fruit.

luckily, my cupboards are another food hoarder's paradise, full of random jars of condiments i purchased, perhaps after a glass, perhaps two, of wine, perhaps in a certain little town in a certain state near and dear to my heart.  jars that, upon sober reflection, i have no idea what to do with.

thus i found: a jar of apricot-fig chutney.  it was spicy . . . like pumpkin pie spicy.  warm cinnamon and nutmeg and just a hint of heat from white pepper.

victory.  i split my batch in two . . . double the fun.

goat cheese ice cream might sound weird, but trust me, it works.  it's sweet and creamy, but has a great hit of that goat cheese tang.  kind of like cheesecake.  but lighter.  and colder.

just the thing to brighten up a gray fall day.

Jeni's Goat Cheese Ice Cream

Find the recipe here. Use whatever fruit spread catches your fall heart's fancy.