Recipe for Homemade Pesto

Try this simple recipe for making homemade pesto using the freshest basil available from your own garden or the farmers market.


Homemade Pesto

2 cups fresh basil leaves
1/2 cup parsley leaves
3 cloves garlic, roughly chopped
1/3 cup chopped walnuts (may substitute pine nuts) or omit if allergic to nuts
1/3 cup extra virgin olive oil
1/2 cup shredded Parmesan cheese

In a food processor, combine the basil and parsley leaves, chopped garlic and walnuts. Process for a few seconds. Then drizzle in the olive oil through the feed tube with the processor running until combined. Add in the Parmesan cheese and process for another second or two.

Serve over hot or cold cooked pasta, as a spread on crackers or bread, or as a topping for baked potatoes.

To freeze Pesto Sauce, fill ice cube tray or small muffin tin with the pesto and after frozen, remove and store in plastic bags in the freezer. When making pesto to freeze, omit the cheese and add in when thawed and ready to serve.

Just formed a Culinary Club

A like-minded group of foodie friends and neighbors recently formed a Culinary Club to share our experiences and knowledge about the wonderful world of food. The group held its first cooking demonstration on "Cooking With Herbs". To test how well the foodies knew their herbs, everyone tried to guess the contents of small individual cups of snipped parsley, basil, rosemary, mint and thyme. That was tricky!

Then the demonstrations began which included a Dill Batter Bread, Tuna Salad with Dill, Marinated Shrimp on Rosemary Skewers, along with Caprese Mozzarella Salad and Homemade Pesto using fresh basil. Sampling the tasty dishes topped off the meeting and left everyone wanting more.

Free Wi-fi in Paris Parks

When in Paris, travelers looking for a quick way to send an email or photo to friends back home should hurry to the nearest public park. Open your laptop or use your iPhone's settings to search for a Wi-Fi connection and
start sending pix of all your Parisian adventures to all your pals.

The free Wi-Fi is also a great way to take advantage of a VOIP program like Skype to call back home without incurring huge cell phone bills on your return to the states.

Fall festivals in Georgia

Fall has arrived and that means festivals galore. North Georgia hosts a multitude of special festivals ranging from art and apples to beer and wine. Check out the 2009 Georgia Apple Festival in Ellijay, which runs the second and third weekends in October, for all things apple or discover the history of Georgia's gold mining days during Dahlonega Gold Rush Days running October 17 and 18.

The festivals provide food and fun while the changing of the leaves on the trees offer colorful vistas with every turn of the road. 

Visit Paris in the fall

Paris is an ideal location to visit in the fall. Airlines such as Delta, Air France, American, Continental and others offer lower fares.  And many hotels have better rates in the shoulder-season.

Best of all, you won't have to endure the long lines when visiting the Eiffel Tower, the Louvre, Notre Dame or Montmartre that you would find when you visit in the summer.

Rain is gone for now

The flooding rains are gone for now and there was no local damage in my area of northern Georgia. But the rains did a number on my fresh basil, tomatoes and cucumbers.

So it's time to try new plantings of herbs for the fall season especially sage, chives, dill, mint and thyme. Since the basil is done, I'll refill my large terra-cotta herb planter with all the new herb plantings.

Every time I walk past the rosemary bush, I love to draw my fingers through the plant and inhale the fragrance.

Crusty bread and brie

Just finished a delightful snack of sour dough French bread, spread with a delectable, double-cream brie, and served with a beautiful Cabernet as a tribute to the movie Julie and Julia. The movie was inspirational in so many ways. And it felt like a calling to see it again and perhaps again.

As a writer, who loves to eat and write about food, and who also loves Paris, the movie touched me on many levels. The street scenes with Julia Child engaging the vendors of huiles (oysters) and poivres (pears) while sampling their wares reminds me of times spent strolling the markets of Paris in search of the perfect bunch of grapes for an afternoon picnic. Julia is enthralled by the abundance of fresh fruits and vegetables, fish and meats.

While watching the scene where the Sole Meuniere is served, I could almost taste the soft, flaky fish served in the browned butter sauce when Julia gives a forkfull to her husband Paul. And when she offers a taste of brie to her sister, my mouth watered for the succulent creamy flavor of the soft cheese. I could echo Julia's sentiments, "Is this not the most delicious cheese you have ever tasted?" as she gobbles up the dab of brie from her fingertip.

Julie the blogger discovers a similar joy in following the recipes and techniques of the woman who taught American women how to cook in the French style. Just the way she and her husband devour the poached eggs and chocolate cake says love.

Pure enjoyment of food. That's what comes through in this movie. Preparing--cooking--and savoring the flavor is always a joy to share.

German Food

German food is so tasty and I profess a weakness
for Weiner Schnitzel.

On a recent trip to Dusseldorf, Germany this delicious platter of Weiner Schnitzel, smothered
in a creamy mushroom sauce, tempted my tastebuds.

Served alongside a cold,
dark, Alt beer from this region of Germany, the meal was a hit. The Apfel (Apple) Struedle and striped
pancake desserts more than satisfied my sweet tooth.

Birds, birds, birds

These little house finches have found the sunflower seeds! It didn't take long for the sparrows and goldfinches to get in on the action too. Even a small, black and white downy woodpecker swoops in to grab a seed and then swoosh back out to the pine trees in the ravine behind our house. The bluebirds are too big to perch on the feeder, but they still come for a look-see anyway.

Tiger Swallowtail

Those red zinnias are a siren call for even more butterflies this morning. This elegant tiger swallowtail returned again and again, probing his proboscis for nectar. Even the hummingbird knows where to come for a snack throughout the day.

The large, red zinnias outside my library window have become quite the attraction. In just the past half-hour, three different kinds of butterflies stopped for a drink of nectar. This dark swallowtail sat and posed for quite a while.

During the morning hours, handsome, American Goldfinch males peck at the petals. Their vivid yellow coats and black markings are considerably brighter in coloration than the duller hued females.

Georgia wildlife

Our northern Georgia location brings many birds to our backyard including Eastern Bluebirds and the American Goldfinch. The bright, red zinnias are quite a draw for both the Goldfinches and also for the tiny, Ruby-throated hummingbirds. The finches pull out the petals searching for seeds while the hummingbirds poke their long, needlelike bills searching for nectar.

In the ravine behind the house, Red-Headed Woodpeckers scamper up and down the tall pines, boring holes to find a steady diet of insects.

Those tomatoes just keep coming on strong. What a lovely dilemma to have! So I've been busy making fresh salsa and many, many Caprese salads. Especially since there is so much basil as well.

Take advantage of the fresh produce from your garden while it lasts. Nothing tastes better than the veggies you pick in your own garden. And did you notice something else? These tomatoes actually have all the aroma and all the flavor a tomato should have, unlike so many store-bought tomatoes that don't have the luxury of hanging out until the peak of ripeness beckons from the vine.

For those of you not lucky enough to grow your own, search out the nearest farmers market or even a roadside stand with baskets of ripe, red tomatoes. Then savor the flavor as you enjoy one of the best fruits of the farm.

Summertime

Wow! It is already mid summer and I've been busy in the small garden outside my library window. So far the harvest has been tasty, vine-ripened tomatoes, a special Greek type of cucumber and loads of basil, mint, parsley and thyme.

All those fresh tomatoes and basil mean summer meals with my favorite Caprese Salad. To make this delicious salad, round up the best,full-of-flavor summer tomatoes you can find and a handful of green, leafy Italian basil, along with a big ball of soft, Buffalo mozzarella. (This isn't the traditional mozzarella used in pizza making. This mozzarella is soft and white and usually comes packaged in a cup filled with a salty brine to keep it fresh longer.)

To make the salad, slice one or two of the juicy, meaty tomatoes on a plate. Add a sprinkling of sea salt. Then top each tomato slice with a slice of the Buffalo mozzarella. (Hint: use a wire cheese slicer or a piece of unwaxed floss or thread to easily cut the cheese into slices.)

Then slide a few leaves of fresh basil between the tomato and the mozzarella and continue around the plate. Add another sprinkling of sea salt and ground, black pepper. Drizzle the salad with extra virgin olive oil and dashes of white or dark balsamic vinegar to taste. Serve with crusty bread.

View out my window

 

Back to the blog

After considerable time away from this blog---it is time to get down to business and continue my thoughts.

I recently moved into a new home in northern Georgia and I love the view outside my library window. Tall trees sway in the wind, naked of leaves but with hope of new growth to come with the approach of spring.