Pesto-licious

One of the most endearing traits of my sweetheart is that when he gets inspired by something I do, he really takes it to the next level. Last winter, he got excited about my cast iron pans and started doing some research and seeking out some for his own use. He now has way more cast iron than any one person I know. In March, an antique Sabatier knife caught his eye, and
comparing it with my Henckels set, he started off on a multi-month odyssey to learn all about the best knifes, settling on some fine Japanese cutlery. A lot of it, actually - he has a lot of knives, and got me a really super knife and then later got one for himself.

Gardening was something that, at first, had a lukewarm reception. He wasn't sure that he needed more than 5 tomato plants. Once we got to work - he wanted more and more seedlings and he now has about 35 tomato plants to my 46 or so (I've lost count - there are more than a dozen volunteers, and I don't have the heart to tear them up!). He's started so many seedlings for basil, broccoli rab, watermelon and so many other things that he's got stuff getting leggy on the porch while he tries to figure out where to plant it. I think we're going to have to expand the garden to take over the rest of the yard!

His early basil plants went kind of crazy - so he decided to pull up two of the biggest plants and make pesto out of them. He researched this and decided that he would do it with the large granite mortar & pestle he has because it releases the flavor better than using a food processor or blender. His pesto turned out pretty good - different from my blended pesto -- large chunks of pine nuts, garlic and larger pieces of basil leaves.

He also brought over some big cilantro plants he pulled out of the ground. I'm going to turn that into pesto -- cilantro-pumpkin seed with pumpkin seed oil, and cilantro-almond with olive oil. Pesto and quilting are my two big projects for the weekend. And more jelly - maybe plum-basil?