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The Jelly Jam - "The Jelly Jam" (2002- Inside Out Music)..the latest solo project from Ty Tabor (of King's X) - very good My Photographs You like photos? I love taking them. Click here, if you wanna see some of my work
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Tuesday, Aug. 26, 2003 - 8:17 p.m. High temperature today was 96�. It is still 91� as I type this ,and its almost 8 pm. The person who invented air conditioning deserves a special place in whatever afterlife you subscribe to. I can see why the elderly die when they have no ac. All it takes is just a few minutes outside in the sun, and my mind starts to bake. Sorry, I almost forgot- I did most of that damage in my youth. I decided that nothing needed canning tonight (�bout time, I might add), so I set my sights on another summer garden staple here at Casa Roadiepig: Basil Pesto. This is one of Lease�s favorite foodstuffs in the world. Whether we make her favorite Italian dish (Chicken, onions, and pesto- tonight�s supper, btw), or if all I do is cook some linguini, drain, and smother with a package of this substance, it doesn�t matter to her. Just as long as she gets a fix of if about once a month, she is a happy camper. I removed � of my total crop tonight from the ground up. Like I said- 96�. I didn�t feel like standing outside, picking one leaf at a time off of the plants. Since most of them have also gone to seed already, it didn�t hurt to yank them anyway. In just a week or two, these plants will turn brown anyway, completing their life cycle. Sorry about that- the last sentence sounds like something from 8th grade science class or something. Anyway�. I brought these plants inside, and gave my food processor a workout. I finished up with 8 heavy cups of pesto. I will have to buy some more extra virgin olive oil, if I want to make more from the remaining plants. I also made a side dish of Eggplant Parmesan for Codeman and me. Yes, that�s a lot of work for a Tuesday night. But the eggplants were ready to be harvested, and so was the basil. I can make eggplant Parmesan nearly a good as this in the winter. Like the farmer�s say- you gotta make hay while the sun shines. Not that pesto is hay, but you know what I mean� Supper quick Basil Pesto recipe (at least the way I make it): 6 parts fresh basil leaves (powdered won�t work) 1 part fresh flat leaf parsley Enough extra virgin olive oil to make a slurry mixture (not thick, and not too runny) Parmesan cheese to taste (fresh grated is best, but Kraft� will do) Salt and ground pepper to taste 3 cloves of fresh garlic for every cup of olive oil (you know we love garlic) Put all of the above in the food processor, and run in pulses on low. Start with enough of the leafy stuff to fill the bowl, and then add more as the machine chops everything up. Process until the poor machine sounds (or smells) like it is about to die (this happens when you get the bowl at least � of the way filled with packed chopped pesto). Measure out in 1 cup increments, and dump into small sandwich-sized Ziploc� bags. Lay flat in the freezer (makes it easier to defrost next January). No, we don�t use the nuts most people call for (pine or walnut). We aren�t into chopped nuts here, so it doesn�t get into the mix. I taste the product every so often as it is being mixed (WARNING! Turn machine off BEFORE sticking index finger into the pesto. Don�t want any lawsuits for not mentioning that information!) to make sure it doesn�t need more of any of the ingredients. After making this stuff for a decade or so, I can tell when it is the way we like it. One last thing- make sure you have a pot of thin pasta on the boil about the time you finish mixing the pesto. It�s hard to beat fresh pesto on top of hot pasta���� One more photo from my garden:
I was looking over the files I downloaded from my camera Saturday, and tonight this one caught my eye. It is of the blooms of one of the largest hostas plants you can grow- �Sum and Substance�. This plant produces mounds of leaves that stand up to 4� high (mine are only 3� this year), and leaves as big around as basketballs. Then, in August, they send up flower stalks that at least a foot or more higher than the top leaves. They open to a pale white, with a little purple blushing on the tips. Before they open, the stalk has a bud on it�s top that looks almost like an unopened artichoke flower. This one had already started to bloom, but it shows the form still at the top. To quote Roger Swain (of the old �Victory Garden� on PBS)- �Let�s make this our plant of the week���.
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