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Happy Weekend!!

Making Basil Pesto from Scratch

So I think I missed my calling as a basil farmer. Please see, me covered in basil, below:


Brett said, "Oh, while you aren't working, why don't you harvest some of our basil and freeze some pesto for us." WELL I DID!

Basil Pesto Recipe Ingredients:
2 cups fresh basil leaves, packed
1/2 cup grated Parmesan (or other hard italian cheese such as asiago)
1/2 cup extra virgin olive oil
1 minced garlic clove
salt and pepper to taste (1/2 tsp of each)
*toasted pine nuts--I don't add these in if I am freezing the pesto, only if eating right away*

Instructions:
1. Pulse basil leaves in food processor until minced
2. Add olive oil and pulse until well-mixed
3. Add cheese, garlic, and salt and pepper.
4. Run food processor until very well mixed and texture is like a loose paste
5. If eating immediately, toast pine nuts until golden brown and mix into paste by hand. If freezing, leave this step until you are going to eat the pesto
6. If freezing, spoon pesto into ice cube trays or mini muffin tins and freeze.
7. Once frozen, remove from small containers into large freezer safe bags for ease of storage
8. When ready to thaw, remove desired amount from freezer and sit near a hot burner or on the oven while it heats.

I know its mid-October, but no one told our basil plants--they are still going strong, and--no joke--were taller than me before I took my scissors to them!

Above are the ingredients you need to make your own pesto: olive oil, garlic, Parmesan cheese, salt and pepper, and most importantly basil leaves! ALSO, not necessarily an ingredient but just as important is a food processor. Unless you have totally badass knife skills, infinite patience, and a few days to chop.

This is a picture of the basil leaves I took off of the plants I collected in the first photograph. I spent HOURS pulling the leaves off those suckers, and the stems and flowers made their way to the compost pile.

Load some leaves into the food processor, PUT THE LID ON,


And hit the pulse button as many times as necessary to get the leaves chopped up into small pieces like in the photo below, then add the olive oil.
Below is a photo of the cheese added to the mixture of basil and oil.


I went a little overboard and made about THREE QUARTS of pesto--but I didn't want all that beautiful basil to go to waste. And like my mom says, "you will really love the summery smell of the fresh basil when its a dark and blustery winter night." well put!

I had some assistance from Brett when he came home from work, scooping the pesto into my mini muffin tins for freezing.

Finally, here is a photo of the pesto incorporated into pasta and fresh vegetables:

Bon Appetit!

It is also delicious on slices of french bread as part of a bruschetta, on a white pizza with mozerella and toppings, and mixed into cream cheese as a spread. Does anyone have any really great creative uses for pesto?? Please share!

CookieCakePie--is it a yay or nay?

I recently stumbled across a recipe for this devil: CookieCakePie (one word, ya'll)

Head over to Cake Spy for more details and pictures, but here is the gist:

Ingredients:
1. A batch of cookie dough
2. A single batch of Rainbow Chip cake batter (or other flavor of your choice)
3. A single pie crust
4. Enough frosting for a birthday cake

Directions:
1. Prepare one batch of chocolate chip cookie dough. Leave this in the fridge or to the side while you prepare the rest.
2. Prepare a single pie crust and place into a pie plate.
3. Place the cookie dough inside of the pie crust and using your fingers or a spoon, spread it so that it evenly coats the bottom of the crust about one inch thick.

4. Pre-heat the oven to 350 degrees.

5. Let the cookie-filled pie crust rest for a bit while you mix up some birthday cake.
6. Pour cake batter directly on top of the cookie dough til the pie crust is about 2/3 filled. The cake will rise, so you want to leave room for it.
7. Bake for 25-40 minutes or until cake is golden around the edges.
8. Let cool, and frost generously with buttercream frosting
9. Garnish as desired; sprinkles are festive and pretty.

So what do you think people??? Has anyone made this thing? Is it a yay (oh my gosh my tastebuds are even drooling) or a nay (what a god-awful fat taste abomination)?? I think I have a little bit of each in me---but the NAY wins out because i kind of just want to eat the cookie dough and cake batter raw and not mix them together!

Now the only thing they need to add to this is a brownie...

Peach Sangria

Ingredients:
1 bottle of sweet red wine per 2 oz. brandy
gobs and gobs of peaches and oranges

Instructions:
1. Chop up all the fruit. You want to make sure the pieces are small enough that you can pour them easily into your wine glass.
2. Soak the cut fruit in the brandy preferably overnight.
3. Add one bottle of sweet red wine to the fruit and brandy per 2 oz. of brandy

Chopping up peaches

Adding the peaches to the oranges which were already in the liquid. We added some halved grapes and pieces of apple for good measure.

Pouring in my dad's Blackberry Cabernet...Dad, its PERFECT for sangria!

Look at that beautiful peachy golden color. Unfortunately it was gone before I got to take a picture of it in the glass!

Appetizers on the Back Porch

Mmmmmm so juicy!! These went straight from our little vines to the table.

Louise, thank you for introducing me to Boursin! And those little mini toast squares were demolished quicker than you can say "spinach artichoke dip."

I love summer. I can't even express how much!

Peach Pudding Cake

Let me preface this post with this thought: I don't like cake. I just really kind of am bored by most cakes, so a cake has to be really special to make it on my list! Its the texture of this one that makes it stand out for me.

This one I found on www.shelteriffic.com, and being a pie-maker, I had to add spices to my peaches. I actually put nutmeg in mine as well as cinnamon, but I wouldn't recommend that because it overwhelmed the peaches just a tad. Anyway, this cake is a little bit along the lines of a pineapple upside-down cake--you put the fruit on the top, and as it bakes it falls through the batter and ends up on the bottom. The edges of the cake get wonderfully chewy like brownie edges. I wholeheartedly recommend making this wonderful summer desert!

Peach Pudding Cake
(adapted from Hyde Park Bar & Grill recipe as seen in Bon Appetite, August 2007)

Ingredients:

Nonstick veggie oil spray
1 3/4 plus 2 tbs all purpose flour
2 1/4 tsp baking powder
3/4 tsp kosher salt
1/2 tsp baking soda
1 tsp cinnamon
3/4 cup (1 1/2 sticks) unsalted butter at room temp
1 3/4 cup sugar
2 tbs vanilla extract
2 large eggs
3/4 cup buttermilk
4 cups peeled & sliced peaches (about 3 pounds)

Directions:
1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Spray 13X9X2 inch glass baking dish with vegetable oil spray.
2. Whisk flour, baking poder, salt, cinnamon, and baking soda in a medium bowl.
3. Using an electric mixer, beat butter in a large bowl until smooth.
4. Gradually beat in sugar.
5. Beat in vanilla, then eggs, one at a time, incorporating well after each addition.
6. Using low speed, beat in flower mixture alternately with buttermilk in three additions each, beating well between additions.7. Transfer batter to baking dish, spreading eavenly.
8. Arrange peach slices over batter, overlapping slightly as needed. Spray sheet of foil with vegetable oil spray; cover cake with foil, spray side down, and seal at edges.9. Bake 45 minutes. Remove foil (some cake may stick). Bake until top is golden brown, edges are crusty, and tester inserted cinto center comes out clean, about 40 minutes longer.

Cool one hour. Serve warm with vanilla bean ice cream.

Asian-Inspired Asparagus Recipe

This is my absolutely favorite way to eat asparagus. My friend Pamela taught me how to make this in high school, and I have been making it ever since. This makes a great side dish with practically anything: salmon, pork chops, steak, or even shrimp. It's SO EASY, enjoy!

Asian-Inspired Asparagus

1 bunch asparagus

1 teaspoon diced garlic

2 teaspoons olive oil

1 teaspoon sugar

1/4 c soy sauce, plus more to taste

1. Cut off the tough ends of the asparagus spears, and cut the remaining tender part into 1-2 inch sections with the ends at a 45-degree angle.

2. Heat olive oil in pan and saute garlic until slightly golden

3. Add asparagus and cover pan, stirring occasionally, until asparagus is tender. (approx. 5 mins)

4. Mix sugar into soy sauce, and add mixture to pan. Toss until asparagus is coated.

5. Remove from heat and enjoy!

Blackberry (or Blueberry!) Pie Recipe

Made this for a low key summer dinner party last night--it was the perfect ending to a meal of crab legs, watermelon, and grilled corn on the cob.

Blackberry Crumb Pie

Ingredients

scant 1 c Sugar

8 oz low fat sour cream

3 tbs All-purpose flour

1/8 tsp Salt

4 c Fresh blackberries or blueberries, or a combination of the two types

1 Unbaked 9-inch pastry shell

1 tb Sugar

1/4 c Fine dry breadcrumbs

1 tbs Sugar

1 tbs Butter or margarine; melted

1 tsp cinnamon

Directions

Combine first 4 ingredients; stir well. Place blackberries in unbaked pastry shell, mounding slightly in the middle; sprinkle 1 tablespoon sugar over berries. Spread sour cream mixture evenly over berries. Combine breadcrumbs, 1 tablespoon sugar, butter, and cinnamon; sprinkle over top. Bake at 375 degrees for 45 to 50 minutes or until crust is golden brown and berry filling is liquid and bubbling. Allow to rest for approximately 1-2 hours before serving.

(Adapted from Southern Living)

Happy 4th of July

This is absolutely my favorite holiday!

In honor of the holiday, here is my favorite berry pie recipe! It calls for strawberries, but you can pretty much substitute any berry or combination of berries and get a fabulous result!

The Best Strawberry Pie

INGREDIENTS

• 1 recipe pastry for a 9 inch single crust pie
• 3/4 cup white sugar
• 3/4 cup all-purpose flour
• 6 tablespoons butter
• 1 pinch ground nutmeg
• 4 cups fresh strawberries, hulled
• 1/2 cup white sugar
• 1/2 cup all-purpose flour
• 1 tablespoon cornstarch

DIRECTIONS

1. Preheat oven to 400 degrees. Preheat oven to 400 degrees. Place a drip pan on lowest shelf to catch pie juices.

2. Topping: In a medium bowl, mix until fluffy the 3/4 cup sugar, 3/4 cup flour, butter, and nutmeg.

3. Place cleaned strawberries in a deep bowl. In a separate bowl, mix together the 1/2 cup sugar, 1/2 cup flour, and cornstarch. Gently coat berries with this mixture; be careful not to crush berries.

4. Pour berries into prepared pie crust mounding them in the middle; mounding is necessary as the berries will sink as they bake. Cover berries with crumb topping and top crumbs with about 15 pea-sized blobs of butter. Wrap edges of pie crust with foil to prevent burning.

5. Bake pie in preheated oven for 20 minutes, then reduce heat to 375 degrees and bake for an additional 40 minutes. When there are 10 minutes left of baking, sprinkle a little extra sugar over crumb topping and then finish baking.

Have a great holiday!

Angie's cupcakes

This is a picture of one of the cupcakes I made for Angie's birthday at the office. YUM!

Dreary Monday

Well, its a dreary day here. Wish I were in bed under the covers... I started reading Eccentric Glamour again last night after putting it down for a week or so--its so funny!

http://www.elle.com/featurefullstory/13759/simon-doonan-eccentric-glamour.html

I finished The Fifth Horseman yesterday and it was good. I love Lt. Lindsay Boxer--she is such a badass. http://www.jamespatterson.com/books_womens_murder_club.html I also love that Angie Harmon plays her on the show, what fantastic casting!

Last night 2 tornadoes touched down about 20 miles from here in north carolina, and I am SO SCARED of them!! Especially since that one a week or two ago in Suffolk that caused all that damage--it was like 10 miles away. I want to move back to the mountains where we don't ever have tornados. Brett and I were just getting ready to eat dinner (he made delicious ground beef stuffed eggplant mmmmmm) and all of a sudden it was like we couldn't see out our windows and the building started creaking and the wind was whistling--SO SCARY!! So naturally I chugged my wine and put on Spanglish so I could pretend I was in a happy place.

Mom really liked her mother's day present, yay! She actually didn't try to give it back to me this time, so I consider it a success!

So far we have about 30 RSVP yesses and 5 nos for the wedding. I definitely had nightmares last night that I overslept on the day of the wedding and was late and everyone was mad at me. I can't believe how soon it is coming up, yikes! It seems like since we got engaged it has always been like I could just keep flipping the pages of the calendar forever. AND NOW I JUST HAVE TO FLIP ONE PAGE!! I am going to be so nervous. I know its supposed to be my day, etc, but I really just want everyone to have a good time and not screw up! We are trying to find someone to help us prepare for our first dance too. Here is the email i just sent to a studio in the area:

Hi,
Brett and I are getting married July 5th, and we both have 2 left feet!! Can you help us learn a basic waltz so that we won't embarass ourselves? We would like to have a few private lessons and maybe have you help us practice and pick out a good song to dance to. Please let me know!
Thank you,
Charlotte

lol pathetic right?

Jen, thanks so much for hanging out on Saturday night! I had so much fun playing taboo with you and maciek and getting tipsy. :-) I can't wait to move back to Richmond!

Smoothie weekend

Last weekend was fantastic because I had nowhere to be at a certain time. Amy came in for dinner Friday night at Amalfi in Ghent, and Catherine came too. It was yummy and had a great ambiance and cannoli, but was pretty overpriced. We rented Dan in Real Life, which was eh, ok, but nothing stellar. Saturday Brett and I went rollerblading like nerds on the boardwalk, which was SO FUN and exhausting. It was a really nice day, and we went 5 miles (from 34th street to 1st street and then back). We got some really fresh strawberries and made smoothies all weekend--its the little things!!

Charlotte's Favorite Smoothie Recipe

1 banana

6 strawberries

1 cup of french vanilla lowfat yogurt (stoneyfield farm is the BEST)

a splash of milk or orange juice

Combine the above ingredients in a blender, and fill the rest of the way up with ice cubes. Blend until smooth, then enjoy.

Then Brett made me watch Tron, a movie from the early 1980s where some guy gets sucked into a computer and has to battle an evil mainframe. Ridiculous knock-off of Star Wars but substitute outer space terms with computer programming terms. WOW is all I have to say about that one...


Went to Michaels to get MORE stuff for the wedding. Sigh. This time I got stuff to make invitations for the rehersal dinner, some raffia to tie the programs together with, and blank notecards so that I can make thank you notes that match the invitations. I am working on the programs for the ceremony, and I like the Song of Solomon for the old testament lesson. But I am kind of stuck because I really don't like any of the Psalms. I am going to ask Father Bennett and Father Jackson if we can substitute a poem for the Psalm, hopefully one by e.e. cummings. Then the Gospel Lesson and the New Testament Lesson should be easier because they are significantly less sexist! I just don't really want anything in the ceremony about "cleaving to your husband" or being created from Adam's rib.

We also planted an herb garden, which I am excited about, on our balconey in pots. I can't wait until we can eat dinner out on the balcony and watch the boats on the river as the sun sets! Hopefully there will be oregano, basil, thyme, rosemary, and sage. I think. I don't actually know, I just dumped the seed packets out and watered. But I like to watch them grow and I will know what they are later, right?

The view from my balcony: