Saturday, August 20, 2011

make pesto while the sun shines...

Ah, summer. Flourishing herb gardens and basil abundant, the trophies of summer's heat. I whizzed up a batch of pesto this morning in the food processor. But for the very first time ever I did something to the basil that I have never tried before in all my years of making pesto. I blanched the basil for 30 seconds in boiling water. This will make the color of the pesto stay the most lovely shade of green I am told.


Immediately after blanching run cold water over the basil leaves, and with gentle handling press out the excess water before putting the leaves into the processor.

a chickadee

 I have taken to afternoon walks in the fields along the side of the woodlands. Today I carried along a small pair of binoculars hoping to c...