my first time pesto.....yum!

garlic scapes

I have only just this year been introduced to garlic scapes. I had never heard of them, let alone ever seen them before. I am pretty well versed in culinary terms, but this one had escaped me..excuse the play on words:). My first time using them I simply sauted them with asparagus, but I came across a pesto recipe that I really wanted to try! It is from one of my favorite websites, in fact the same one that I found the strawberry galette on. The recipe was simple.....garlic scapes, basil, parmesan, hazelnuts and olive oil with then salt to taste. I was making lunch for Bri and her friend and decided this might be a great thing to serve along with some homemade sausage and grilled ciabatta bread. So I went ahead and chopped the scapes, tore the basil and grated the parm.....add to that the olive oil and toasted hazelnuts and it was terrific!! I can't wait to try it with maybe walnuts or even the standard pine nuts. So another great new endeavor in my recipe collection! Oh how I do love to cook........and entertain with good food!

Life is a banquet and today mine served up garlic scape pesto!





how beautiful is that!!

Buon appetito!!



the '60' lesson.............

I sat quietly several days ago and my mind was simply wandering in many directions and to many places. It then came to stop at a place that for some reason was all about aging. I found myself reflecting on the fact that I was in several years going to be 60 years old. Heaven knows I'm well aware of my age, but this thought process on that particular day felt different. Sixty that day sounded old....simple as that. I felt myself somewhat shiver with the realization that this was going to happen and it wasn't going to be good. How can I stop this? What do I do about this? Are there any choices?? Yikes....I needed to get a handle on this quick or else I felt that there was no point in wanting to even be one day older. Don't get me wrong I wasn't going to get depressed about this, but it also wasn't making me smile with joy. I was secretly hoping that there was maybe another road I could take to avoid this whole thing. Don't we come to the proverbial 'fork' in the road lots of times in our life. Well this time I think I should maybe take the other road. Hmmmm......

So I had to really take a good look at where I'm at in my 55 years here on this planet. Life for me has not been easy, but I obviously chose alot of what happened and the rest came to me for other reasons. I could decide to veer from my current life path but my life right now is good. I have been working on myself for many years and can say that I like who I have become. Others might differ in opinion and that's ok too :). I smile and laugh more than I frown or cry, so I think thats a pretty good thing. What became clear to me is that I need to look at each day carefully and create a day for myself that I can look back on and smile about or at least know that I did my best. I know that some days will be tougher than others, but they can still be dealt with in a way that will be satisfying in the end. I know this isn't rocket science, but I don't think we focus on this much. I think we walk, run or stumble through life without thinking about it too much. Only when something happens do we stop and wonder what's going on as if we are not even connected to it. I need to take ownership for each day and write my own history as beautifully as I can. So here I go on another step in my journey making sure that I take each day and live it well. It kinda sounds like 'living in the moment' doesn't it? Yes, well that's part of it. I guess for me it was just driven home in a big way when the number 60 showed up in my mind. So, that thought process has now become a gift and I am grateful. I won't say 'no thanks, you shouldn't have', because in fact yes it needed to be given to me and I did need to accept it or it would have shown up somehow or somewhere else in my life. Learning the lesson was the easy part. Now I have to apply what I already know and live it........and I think I can do that. I am the author of my own life story.....and each day is a page in my book of life.

Namaste......

"The mind that is wise mourns less for what age takes away; than what it leaves behind"

~

William Wordsworth

my daisies.......

I love my daisies as they show themselves off over the river rocks....

community gardening........

our lovely tomatoes

romaine ready for the salad bowl

teeny tiny peppers coming along :)

I had to watch Brody for a bit this morning and since they don't live far from the Community
Garden site I thought we could walk over and see how all of our plants were growing. Brody loves going for a walk so off we went. The garden plots are all coming along great and harvesting of some vegetables is ready to go. I picked some more swiss chard, basil, arugula and onions and will use these for our dinner tonight. I love the whole thing about 'from garden to table' and can now appreciate so much more what my parents had a garden for. This little garden plot has done so much for me in terms of my own growth. So......as the garden grows, I grow also. It is creating connection for me. Connection to the earth, the plants, to community with others, my daughter who I share my plot with and also a further connection to my grandson who often comes with me when I go there. I believed for a long time that the community gardens would be such a huge benefit in so many ways for so many people and that was where my passion was focused. I was focused on how others would benefit. I love giving people an opportunity to learn and this was a perfect project for just that. I believe it is certainly providing all of those things to all the gardeners and yet its impact for me is the bonus in all of this. I have learned so much already in the short time that we have been gardening together. I look forward to all that is yet to come.

As I said before........as my garden grows, I grow also.......and this is a good thing.

quotation........

Every human being is the author of his own health or disease ~ Buddha

something she said...........

Home is a refuge not only from the world,

but a refuge from my worries,

my terrible concerns.

I like beautiful things around me.

I like it to be beautiful because it delights my eyes and my soul is lifted up.

Maya Angelou, December 17, 2010

strawberry galette.....so yummy!

all set to go in the oven .....

I came across this quick and easy recipe on a favorite website. Since our local strawberries are almost finished I thought I would pick up a last quart and make this galette. The instructions were no fuss and before I knew it I had my strawberries all wrapped up and ready to go into the oven. It was a hit for sure and I know I will be making this again as the summer progresses and the fruit season moves along. I love it when a good recipe comes along!