bountiful basil

We are home!  It is good to be home.  We spent all our time yesterday, getting ready for the week to come, including a few trips to the garden. The weeds had overrun a bit…

With the bounty beginning to pour from our garden and the market, we are beginning to swim in produce.  I am certainly not going to complain, this is my favorite time of the year.  The garlic is drying!  The tomatoes and peppers, well, I have a favorite recipe to share with you later in the week!  The kale is being consumed in as many ways as there are pieces of kale!  We  have a big bucket of fingerling potatoes from our neighbor and a large head of fennel (which my son keeps sneaking the fronds from!)

And Basil.  One of my favorites.  I plan to share several recipes over the next week or so that include basil.  But for now…

Thai Basil Grapefruit Lime Cocktail
(Recipe makes two-three cocktails)

5-6 Thai basil leaves, roughly chopped
1 tablespoon lime juice
1 finger full liquor – (I used vodka because rum gives me a headache, but you could use rum or gin too!)
1 1/2 cup grapefruit juice

Add basil and lime juice to a mortar and pestle and grind away.

To really concentrate the flavors, refrigerate for 2-5 hours.
Mix a small amount of basil lime concentrate with grapefruit juice.  (Adjust taste accordingly.)
Add vodka and serve.

greetings from Nashville

Hello Readers!

Yes, as you can tell from the title of this post, we are in Nashville – for two weeks!  I love exploring a new city and Nashville has certainly not disappointed.

The kids and I have had several adventures over the last week.  Maybe when they are older they would enjoy things like the Country Music Hall Fame, but right now, they are focused on parks and playgrounds and pools.  We had a bit of fun at the Nashville Zoo yesterday and plan to head to the Adventure Science Center and Bicentennial Park over the next week, amongst other things.

What I did not realize about Nashville, is that it is a foodie town!  Great restaurants, of all different types and often clumped together so if you stay in one area, you can try many without having to drive all over the city.

Some favorites!

1.  Best Coffee (and I’m not a coffee drinker!) at Hot & Cold.  They also have great ice cream and las paletas (popsicles).  I am also very much impressed with their variety of teas and the different blends they offer.

2.  Great pizza!  New York style, thin crust pizza, Pizza Perfect is great!  An amazing blend of spices in the sauce with just the right amount of cheese.  While not close to my favorite pizza, Fricano’s in Michigan, it is truly good.  (Fricano’s stands alone.  It is like no other pizza in the world!)

3.  Best Thai I have had in a very long time at The Smiling Elephant.  And they do their best to make it healthy.  (It is also great that it is reasonably priced!)

salad and sangria

Tonight’s dinner was magnificent.  Truly exceptional.  I have to share it with you, because everyone was happy.  Even the daughter who doesn’t like bitter greens.

Salad Sicilia
Based on this recipe.

1 head radicchio, sliced
1 head chicory, chopped into bite-sized pieces
1 head of fennel, thinly sliced
1 large handful of arugula
2 large oranges, cut into segments (save the remnants for dressing)
1 granny smith apple, thinly sliced and julienned
1/2 cup pumpkin seeds
1/2 cup slivered almonds

Mix ingredients thoroughly in a large bowl.
For dressing: squeeze the remnants of the orange and add a splash of grapefruit juice. (While we like the sweetness of fruit juice that cuts through the bitter greens, the grapefruit juice keeps the dressing from becoming too sweet.) Add a touch of olive oil, a pinch of salt and some freshly ground black pepper.
Serve.

We prefer to keep the dressing separate from the salad because the recipe makes so much salad (we have lunch tomorrow!) that if we were to put the dressing on the salad it would make it soggy.

Our new favorite cheese
Oh what would I do without Trader Joe’s!
Their Toscano with Black Pepper is amazing! I like it with Trader Joe’s rasin rosemary crisps.

Instant Sangria
And to top off an amazing dinner, we need an amazing drink.

In a blender mix 1 cup organic strawberries (de-stemmed and cored) and 1/2 cup blueberries with a splash of triple sec, simple syrup and a dash of cardamom. Mix with wine. Serve.

sharing

I feel I must apologize for my absence here.  Life has become a bit more complicated recently.  I have begun a part-time, temporary job to help bring some extra income in.  (We have grand plans for next summer!) With this new adjustment and the craziness that the end of a school year brings, things have been a bit overwhelming.  I am hoping that I can take some time this weekend to catch up on some things, including this blog.

In the meantime, I’d like to share some things from the interconnected world wide web with you…

-A dear friend is leaving us for her home in Ireland soon.  Her good-bye party is Monday and I plan on serving some Sangria.  I hope to share the recipe with you soon.  But in the meantime, Smitten Kitchen has some lovely ideas here.  Or this lovely version here.

-Our favorite summer pizza, found here,  has been used many times this year already.  But I just found this great idea too!

-Dug into this summer time favorite a couple of times too!

-Recently stumbled on this lovely website for CSA’s and farmer’s markets. Plan to use it in the near future.

-Just finished this book for book club (in 4 four hours!) and cannot recommend it enough!
Hope you are enjoying the summer (or in our case, rainy and cool) weather!

 

some recent finds

This Memorial Day has dawned a perfect spring day.  Sunny, in the 70’s and after a brief stop at Trader Joe’s, the kids and I are headed to a state park for a hike and a picnic lunch.

Today, I’d like to share some recent finds from this inter-connected web.

1.  We do not have many lilac trees here.  Lilacs are my most favorite flower and so this lovely post  makes me want to search for a bouquet for my table.

2.  REALLY want to try this lovely thing for dinner soon!

3.  Starting to plan summer lessons and projects for the kids.  No, we do not homeschool, but during the summer, we need things to do and I love to learn as much as the kids.  Here are some activities I’ve been thinking about.

4.  Planning a trip to this lovely bird sanctuary.  My favorite is the albino robin they have.  We often end our trip with a stop at the Great Swamp for a bird watching session.

5.  Thinking about pampering myself using this.

6.  Next we grill, I hope to have garden fresh beets for this lovely thing.

7.  Lastly, I’d like to end one of my weeks with one of these.