summer freshness of newly picked basil

Ring… ring… huh? what? I opened my eyes and made a grab for the phone. I was not fully awake when I heard Trudie’s voice at the other end of the line - I was supposed to go to her place on Saturday to pick basil. It was now Monday… Oh dear. “Could I come now?”. I staggered out of bed into the bathroom. The visage in the mirror was barely recognizable: bed head was out of control. A few splashes of water and it was somewhat flattened.

No coffee for me, instead I headed directly out the door and into the truck. It isn’t far to Trudie’s, maybe a km or two (she’s our neighbor on one side) so I barely had time to wake up.

I should mention that Trudie has the energy of a manic person and I’m pretty sure she has never had a bleary moment, so I sucked it up and pretended I was bright and chipper.

I received instruction on how she wanted the basil picked and got to work. The ‘trug’ that I had brought to put everything in was full to the brim with the summer freshness of newly picked basil. I could almost taste the pesto.

A pile of freshly picked garlic was wrapped into a bag and away I went home. There was work to do.

First a swim though ;-) and that cup of coffee.

I picked through the giant bin of basil and soon I had a mountain of leaves with a tower of stems beside it. Carm peeled a bunch of garlic, then the food processor got to work chopping the basil and spinning it with garlic. I don’t put the cheese in until I’m using it as many times I just want basil and garlic.

I think I did four full bowls in the food processor before I had several baggies and two small containers ready to freeze. I kept some aside to use tonight (fresh zucchini from Trudie’s garden in the actifry and tossed with pesto - my mouth is watering just thinking about it.)

It is a summer day again today - hot with a little cool in the shade. This morning was cloudless, but some are moving in this afternoon. Yesterday was nice too and Graham came out for a visit. We sat on the swing enjoying an afternoon in the country.

Four years ago today we had already been in Medicine Hat for a day. I was happy to re-read the blog entries for that day - a little reminder of how wonderful that trip was. We’ve had a few fantastic trips in the last few years and I would be hard pressed to choose a favorite, but if I had to, I think it would be our Alberta adventure. Almost everything about that trip was a journey home to the happiest times of my youth. So many memories were revisited and relived. The west is my heart’s true home.

“I was merely looking at the prairie as a human being, savouring it for its beauty which engaged all the senses and brought with it a feeling of well-being, contentment and often even joy.”
~Sharon Butala - The Perfection of the Morning

I'm content

“Don’t touch it!”, she said, too late to save herself. We were doing our daily round of the hay field and the newly formed Norwegian Spruce cones hung tantalizingly over the fence. I couldn’t help but reach my hand to cup this marvel of nature. That was before I noticed the spruce gum dripping.

A good scrub with hot water and dish soap got rid of most of the sticky residue.

The sun is shining, and while it isn’t hot, it is a lovely day. Not a baking, languid one to be spent by the pool, but a regular summer day.

Yesterday was nice too. Carm golfed and when he got home I drove into the city to see brother Graham. We had a nice lunch of sushi and good conversation.

For supper we went to Trudie & Leo’s and sat outside in her lovely garden, mosquitoes held at bay by some special lanterns. We had bbq meat - a treat for us as we’ve been all beans & legumes for the last few weeks - and lots of veggies and fruit, so all was not lost ;-)

I had the urge to get out of the house, and maybe in the past we would have gone out for lunch, today we made the trip to Liquidation with no noshing at the Greek diner. I had seen some glass chargers (big plates for the table) when we were there last time but took the time to sleep on it. They were still there so today we checked them over and loaded a bunch into my cart. Now I’ll have to plan a dinner party to break them in (or not).

With healthy eating comes lots and lots of time in the kitchen. I’m on a roll now and hope that continues. Carm has been pitching in cutting and chopping so that’s a big help. It doesn’t seem like quite as big a chore when we are shoulder to shoulder at the cutting board.

“It's easy to impress me. I don't need a fancy party to be happy. Just good friends, good food, and good laughs. I'm happy. I'm satisfied. I'm content.”
~Maria Sharapova

beans, beans, the musical fruit

Black-eyed peas are cooking in the Instant Pot. I’ll make bean burgers to save in the freezer. A quick meal, even one that can be served to friends, will be at the ready. Yesterday I cooked chickpeas in the IP - 2 cups of dried expands into a full container of hummus (once I add all the good stuff).

Yesterday was my monthly psyc dr. appointment. I’m sad to say that I have only two more appointments left with Dr. N before she retires. She’s been a voice of reason for me for 6 ½ years and I’ll miss her.

The weather has still been overcast and cool. The sun might shine for an hour or two first thing in the morning, but the remainder of the days have been dismal. What a summer :-(  I can count on one hand the number of swing days.

Since the Instant Pot, I’ve gone on a dry bean marathon which is good… except… the beans take up so much room and have turned my pantry into a chaotic mess. A trip to the store netted us a few containers so I can unbag the beans, and while this little corner of the pantry is good, I have the detritus from where I put them to sort out. I think I’ll have to start from ground zero and empty the pantry so I can start from fresh, and maybe get rid of some of the stuff I don’t use as much.

I don’t have the energy for that. Maybe if I ate a DQ blizzard I’d be able to tackle Mount Ever-so-full, but I’ve given up on those naughty calories, at least for the moment.

“Maybe the cat has fallen into the stew, or the lettuce has frozen, or the cake has collapsed. Eh bien, tant pis. Usually one's cooking is better than one thinks it is. And if the food is truly vile, then the cook must simply grit her teeth and bear it with a smile, and learn from her mistakes.”
~Julia Child