Homemade Pesto with Fresh Basil

I think we’ve established that I’m Italian from my previous post apt. style gardening, somehow choosing to grow every possible ingredient for pasta sauce. Since it has been nearly 100 degrees this past week in good ole Northeast Ohio, even the thought of turning on the stove seems like a death trap. While watering our patio forest this morning the rich aroma of basil continued to linger; the smell alone reminds me of my late grandmother, which always leads to pleasant memories in the kitchen. So today, in honor and remembrance of my gramma, I decided to try my best at replicating her homemade pesto recipe. If you know anything about old, Italian woman you know that their recipes are very precious to them and not to be given out to just anybody. In order to keep her recipes concealed, gramma memorized all of them. She knew by the smell, color, taste, etc. how much more of this or that, how much longer, or what it was missing. I cooked alongside her for years trying to understand how she did this. I guess I picked up more than I realized because I am constantly skimming through the cupboard for “just the right thing.”

As for the pesto recipe, no it’s not gramma’s original (I don’t believe it ever made it onto paper) but I wasn’t satisfied until I added a pinch of this and a sprinkle of that, you know, for good measure! Keep in mind that gramma would have been shocked to learn that I used a food processor for chopping. She chopped all ingredients by hand because that is how she learned in Italy. If she were here today, she would yell at me saying that I am becoming a lazy American with all of my machines. She’s right. Chopping the listed ingredients by hand will change the flavor and texture of the pesto; ultimately it will be better. If you have the time, give it a try. As for me, I took the easy way out… for now! Below is the base recipe of the pesto that I began with. Beyond that I encourage you to dig through your cupboards adding flavors of things you and your family regularly enjoy. It’s the special touch that makes it yours.

Equipment: A food processor, or chopper.

Ingredients:

- 2 c. of freshly picked basil leaves (pack these into the measuring cup)

- 1/3 c. pine nuts, walnuts, hazelnuts (I used pecans, I prefer the flavor)

- 3 cloves garlic, minced finely or 1 heaping TBSP of minced garlic

- 1 TBSP of lemon juice (necessary for coloring of the pesto to remain intact)

- ¼ c. EVOO- Extra Virgin Olive Oil (Do Not use cooking oil as substitute)

- ¼ c. freshly grated Parmesan cheese (only add this if eating all pesto right away)

This recipe should make about 1 cup of pesto, or 10 cubes in an ice cube tray!

Directions:

Step 1 - Pick the basil leaves. Be sure to discard any flower buds, stem or unhealthy leaves. Wash leaves thoroughly with cold water in a large bowl.

Step 2 – Chop the nuts, garlic, & EVOO in the food processor, or chop adding small increments of each ingredient as you go.

Step 3 – Add basil leaves and lemon juice to food processor. Chop until the mixture forms a thick, smooth paste.

Step 4 – OPTIONAL –add grated Parmesan cheese to mixture. If you plan to freeze the pesto in cubes DO NOT add in until ready for use.

Enjoy! Pretty simple, right?!

**Additional info:

Fresh pesto will keep when refrigerated for up to a week, frozen- up to 6 months.

I found a photo on Pinterest that suggested freezing the finished pesto into ice cube trays. Great idea! Once frozen, pop out and transfer them all into a freezer bag, and use as needed!

Thank You

I am now an employed full-time high school English teacher!!

I am ecstatic with the current state my life is in. The past few years have presented numerous obstacles, if you know me then you are fully aware of the roadblocks I encountered on my way to becoming a teacher: Maybe you were there when I decided to re-route my initial career decision and go back to college for a second, completely different degree. Or maybe you were there when I was I diagnosed with Chronic Mono and told to stay on bed rest for months at time while still completing my 18 credit hour semester (yep, dean’s list). You could have been there a couple months later, at the start of my 5 summer courses spanning across 3 colleges, when my appendix burst requiring emergency surgery and putting me back out of commission (yep, dean’s list again). I had enough for one year right? Wrong. A broken ankle/foot placing me on crutches for the first 2 months of my student teaching (during a Cleveland winter), was still in store for me. Maybe you held the door for me, carried my things, made dinner, gave me words of encouragement, or did anything that required standing/walking for me. Finally healthy again for the home stretch, yes, finally. In order to cap off the most grueling 2 years of my life- I was required to go to work every day, put in 50 hours a week, then come home and grade, make up tests, lesson plans, etc. duties of a teacher- for FREE, all while continuing to pay the $7,000 in tuition per semester my college charged. As they so delicately imbedded into our minds, we have been given not only the opportunity, but also the privilege to pay for school, while doing someone else’s daily work who actually is getting paid, all to make the second lowest salary in a profession across America.

Who would want to go through that? Me, and millions of other teachers out there. I would re-live each and every moment, obstacle, and triumph to be where I am today. I want to thank everyone that has taken a ride on this journey with me, whether major or minor, I want to say that I cannot thank you enough for your support, advice and encouragement. I will be forever grateful.

Thank you for never giving up on me or letting me give up on myself, I love you.

Rug Bag

I found myself adventuring into unknown territory yet again this week. This has clearly been a summer of firsts for me, everything from gardening, to homemade jam, and now taking on the task of purse making! There are two reasons why this whole purse thing started: first, I have not been able to find a purse worth paying for since Christmas, hence why I am still carrying my ‘Elf bag’ as my dad calls it. (I have to clarify that the purse only earned that name because of its vintage green color, and my father, well he is quite the character.) My other inspiration for making a purse came from my fashionista friend Kelli’s great find. She came home from a vacation with the most unique, jaw-dropping bag I had ever seen. It turned out that it was from a local retailer with a boutique in Savannah and by the looks of it, I could never afford it anyways. I thought I had given up on the idea until I found myself strictly looking for that particular bag each time I went shopping, knowing full well I was not going to find it! Yes, I sound obsessive and I’ll admit that it is definitely a flaw of mine when it comes to fashion. Not long ago Kelli’s amazing find made another appearance and stirred the pot all over again. So this time instead of pining over a purse I will likely never be able to buy, I decided to make my own.

It is definitely not a replica of the original purse; my skill set is not nearly that advanced to tackle such a project. In this case, I took a few of the qualities I liked and applied them to a different style purse to meet my needs, and again skill set! The result, I could not be happier J .  I am becoming addicted to the feeling of creating something beautiful and conquering new goals, even if they are short-term, I’m proud to have them again.

**Overwhelming demand for my new bag has provoked me to sell these in my Ashley Nicolle etsy shop. I'm planning on buying more materials this weekend with different colors!

Apartment Style Gardening

First one

Today, I became the proud mama of our first tomato this season!  Is it more lame that I am this excited about growing my first veggie, or the fact that I cannot think of a better word to use than lame? Regardless, I am an apartment dweller and consider this a great triumph seeing as though I have no actual gardening space/soil, so to speak, to use. Instead, we used a potted gardening method that seemed, upon my boyfriend's diligent research, to be quite ill-tempered. We had to take into account everything from the size of the pot, to the length of the roots, to the amount of daily sun/water required, etc., and of course each plant had a different recipe for growth. So we decided to try our hands at the whole gardening thing and grow as many things as possible; our hopes were that something would take. Great idea, right? Apparently our thumbs are bit “greener” than expected because we now have a massive amount of horticulture taking reign over the patio. Everything from tomatoes, to multiple different types of peppers, to garlic, to onions, to a variety of herbs...
 

What comes to mind now as I stare out onto the cute patio where we once used to dine – homemade sauce, salsa, pesto, hot pepper spreads, hot pepper butter, caprese salad… Ok anything Italian.

Eat fresh; eat well.

Plenty more on the way