Tomato, Almond Pesto

It's a sad summer for my garden.  What was once a treasure trove of colorful vegetables and herbs in the past has been reduced to a very small lot with only tomatoes, basil and kale. I knew I wasn't going to be around as much this summer tend to the garden so I strategically only bought the produce and herbs I knew I'd be using! Whether you've got a garden that's big or small, there’s no better feeling than to be able to pick fresh from your garden and then to use your yield in a recipe.  Thank god I wised up and learned a few year's ago … [Read more...]

Video: How to Make Pesto

 if you're viewing this through RSS feed or email, click over to site to view video Pesto sauce is my family's favorite new spread! We now add it to everything from pasta, to eggs, to sandwiches; we're always looking for more ways of integration. This summer, we had a similar epiphany with pesto as we did with guacamole:  there's no need to waste money purchasing store-bought containers.  It is SO easy to make at home and it tastes unbelievable. What's the best part about pesto?  There aren't many ingredients involved and, it freezes well.  … [Read more...]

Tomato and Almond Pesto Sauce

My garden is VIBRANT right now and my basil plants are leading the charge.  There’s no better feeling than to be able to pick veggies and herbs fresh from your garden and then to use them in a recipe.  And, thank god I wised up and learned that making homemade pesto is actually easy and a lot cheaper than any store-bought variety. I now make about one full Ball jar of pesto a week to keep up with the rapidly growing basil plant.  These jars line my freezer shelves like trophies.  We’ve been enjoying pesto on everything from scrambled eggs to … [Read more...]

Working from Scratch: Lessons for Cooking and Life

"Friendship isn't a big thing.  It's a million little things" - Unknown As I'm stumbling through Mom's recipes and consequently the kitchen, the grocery aisles, the farmer's markets, I'm slowly learning to appreciate the hidden benefits of cooking meals from scratch. For years, okay, for my entire adult life up until this past year, I took way too much comfort in preparing meals from mixes or nifty little packages where the food items are dumped inside and supposedly accounted for on the outside label.  There is some logic here.  It's much … [Read more...]