Wednesday, May 27, 2009

New Things

This has been a month for trying new things. In addition to the vegetable garden (which is revisiting an old but good thing), I am growing herbs. I am excited about roasting chickens seasoned with my own rosemary and thyme. I am looking forward to bolognese made with the oregano I am growing (and that smells just like Nana, really). Also, I made pesto.

I grew the basil and then I harvested the basil and then I turned it into pesto. All by myself. With email help from Lisa, of course, but she's in the Bronx..not here...and I think that qualifies as mostly by myself. I was smart enough to email her before I started, and I thought of that myself. Or, as Britt used to say, bymyownself.

This is the bowl of basil leaves, after the harvest:
And this is the finished product...yum!


This is the basil plant (sharing its pot with the parsley), after the harvest. Also, after I moved it out of reach of the encroaching cucumber plant.

3 comments:

Sue Dickman said...

I think that is an excellent accomplishment! Also, I am jealous because it will be at least a few weeks (or more) til I have enough basil to make pesto, even though I am planting 12 basil plants! (If the weather clears up and warms up, it might be sooner, but at the moment, it's chilly and wet, and while the rain is good for the garden, the basil won't do much without sun.)

And I take it that you didn't eat your pesto with mac and cheese . . .

Debi Harbuck said...

Ha! And, no. I ate it on some angel hair pasta and am planning to use it for a sandwich spread. I am also open to other ideas for pesto-usage, because even though I was a little startled to end up with only two-ish cups of it after starting with so many leaves, a little pesto goes a long way and I don't want to waste it.

Anyone have any favorite pesto ideas?

Lisa said...

Yay pesto!

Pesto ideas: A little bit mixed in meatloaf, or leek and potato soup, or minestrone, or alfredo sauce. Anywhere you'd use basil, garlic, and cheese, basically. But definitely a dollop in most savory soups is a good thing.