This weekend it was time for the annual ritual of pesto making. My basil has been glorious this summer, and it was time for me to hack it all down!
Aw. It looks so sad now. But I know it'll grow back strong and healthy again! Thank you, basil plants, for being so awesome!
Harvest!
Mmm, the whole house smelled like basil.
After making and freezing tons and tons of pesto, I made some grilled pizzas with the rest of it. These were the freshest, most summery grilled pizzas ever! With tomatoes from the farmer's market!
It was a lovely night, so we ate out on the deck.
Our cherry tomato plant is looking glorious TOO! Patio lights make everything look magical.
SPEAKING OF MAGIC, eating on the deck is ever so much more magical now than ever before, thanks to the addition of this fancy unicorn statue!
Many thanks to Joey for knowing that this unicorn would find a good home with me! Doesn't it look beautiful on our deck!?
Summer was testing out a new cocktail recipe this afternoon, and she invited us out to enjoy one! Lucky us! They are called Cucumber Cape Codders. It's a Martha Stewart recipe. They were DELICIOUS!!! So refreshing!! I highly recommend. And so PRETTY!
Cheryl's birthday was yesterday, so we all gathered at our place tonight to celebrate! I made butternut squash enchiladas.
And a huge salad!
Dishin' up!
Cheryl, Ben and Dad.
Cheryl and Ben!
Mmm, enchiladas!
Derrick and Mom!
It's a birthday party!!
Mmm, even better with greek yogurt on top!
Time for birthday cake! I made a chocolate cake with peanut buttercream frosting. I accidentally put an extra 1/2 stick of butter into the cake (WHOOPS!) and I have to say, it was extra delicious.
For this month's installment of cooking club, we celebrated the wonderful world of herbs! Yumi was our hostess for this delicious event. Nancy started us off with her famous apple thyme martinis. Cheers!
Summer made a little appetizer of prosciutto-wrapped feta and sage.
Valerie made Avgolemono, a chilled greek soup. It had lemon, rice and eggs, and was topped with a delicious heap of fresh dill!
I made spring rolls! They had basil, peaches, avocado and spinach.
I served them with a peanutty dipping sauce, and they paired BEAUTIFULLY with Yumi's delicious green papaya salad with cilantro!!
Nancy made a green bean and grape salad with rosemary, thyme and cilantro dressing. Herbalicious!
Summer made risotto with sage! She brought all the ingredients and made a fresh risotto on the spot.
It takes awhile to make, so we took turns keeping her company!
This was part of a taste test. She had made a batch the night before, and we were curious to see whether or not it was worth it to make it fresh. The answer was YES! While the leftover risotto was totally delicious, the fresh risotto was EXTRA creamy and amazing. I could have eaten a pound of each, though. So good!
Yumi also made red snapper with a cilantro chimichurri.
All together, now!
We played Apples to Apples while we made room for dessert.
Emily made rosemary watermelon sorbet! It was SO light and refreshing. Yum, yum, yum!
And finally, in the true spirit of herbs, Valerie brought us all giant bags of weed!
Haha, just kidding! That's catnip from her garden. Yumi's cat was going bonkers throughout the night trying to get at the stash. We all got a baggie to take home. Here is some footage of Charlie and Emma enjoying the treat. Things started off pleasantly, but then turned kind of vicious!
