Pesto Recipe

Right now I am full

I just ate a panini with pesto, avo, tomato, and mozz

and it was delicious

Making pesto is easy, but it does require a lot of basil

And this is why every summer I plant a ton of it

This summer I bought 3 little plants and put them in 1 big pot

They are loving the sun they get from our balcony

and they don't seem to mind the summer heat 

which zaps every ounce of energy from me

the growing baby might have something to do with that too...

Without further ado here is my mother-in-law's pesto recipe

Slather it on pizza, a panini, or a pasta salad and I promise it will not disappoint

2 c. tightly packed fresh basil leaves (about 1 large bunch)

½ c. olive oil

1/3 cup pine nuts, roasted

1 large garlic clove

1 t. salt

½ teaspoon freshly ground pepper

2 oz. freshly grated imported Parmesan cheese

1 oz. freshly grated Pecorino Romano cheese

Combine first 6 ingredients in processor or blender and puree, stopping machine as 

necessary to scrape down sides of container.  Pour into bowl.  Stir in cheeses, cover and 

refrigerate.  (Flavor is better if cheeses are grated and added just before using.)

Pix from the weekend

Trying to get back into the swing of blogging.

Here are some pictures I took this weekend.

This was a great show. Especially when they played Walk in the Park and Other People.

 Missing Cafe Rio. A lot. So I tried to make imitation Cafe Rio. 

This beautiful Spiced Pear Upside Down Cake is sitting on our counter. I make this cake yearly during the fall season. I love it for several reasons: 1) It has CARDAMOM in it (which is my favorite spice of all time) 2) It is moist and delicious 3) Phil also loves it.

We had our 9 generation genealogy fan charts printed in January and we finally bought frames for them. Next step hanging them in our bedroom.

Pesto Cheesecake Recipe

I made this for the reception that we had after my graduate recital.

We served squares of it with crackers. Also delicious to melt over hot pasta.

The recipe came from Shannon Jones. She always has such a beautiful garden.

A few people have asked me for the recipe so here 'tis!

p.s. it may sound complicated, but I made it successfully on my first try so you can too! and it is so worth it!

Ingredients:

1/2-2/3 c purchased or homemade pesto

1 Tbsp butter

1/4 cup fine dry bread seasoned crumbs

2 Tbsp grated parmesan

16 oz cream cheese, room temp

1 C ricotta cheese

1/2 C grated parmesan

1/4 tsp salt

1/8 tsp cayenne, or to taste

3 large eggs

1/4 C pine nuts

Directions:

Preheat oven to 325. Rub butter over the bottom and sides of a 9-inch spring-form pan. Mix breadcrumbs with 2 Tbsp parmesan cheese. Turn pan to coat with the crumb mixture.

Using an electric mixer, beat cream cheese, ricotta, and parmesan, salt, and cayenne in a large bowl until light. Add eggs one at a time, beating well after each addition. Transfer half of the batter to a medium bowl. Mix pesto mixture into remaining half. Pour pesto batter into prepared pan; smooth top evenly. Spoon plain mixture over; gently smooth to cover pesto layer. Sprinkle with 1/4 C pine nuts.

Bake until center is no longer jiggly, about 45 minutes. Transfer to rack to cool completely. Cover tightly with plastic wrap and refrigerate for 6-24 hours before serving.

remember when

Remember when I used to update my blog on a regular basis? I blame three things that have kept me from my blog 1) pinterest 2) school 3) the tv show friday night lights.

These pictures bring back good memories:

pumpkin ice cream

snickerdoodles

Combine them for an ice cream sandwich of your dreams.

Most saliva inducing recipe of the week

I posted this one on facebook too.
But just in case you feel less stalker-ish reading blogs
this is for you:

http://www.perrysplate.com/2008/02/cinn-bun-cheesecake.html

who wants to come over when I make it?

We like to grill

This grill came with our rental house. And so did our backyard which is one of my favorite parts of the house.

This was a great meal. At 12 we have homemade strawberry lemonade, at 3 this tandoori chicken, at 6 rice that was a little crunchy because I never know how to make rice, and at 9 a yummy salad.

Cooking Inspiration

I love this website

It makes me want to cook

Yum

recipes that I wanna try

I have been excited about this website tonight.

I made a huge batch of the Quick Quinoa & Turkey Taco Stew for lunches this week.

I love recipe websites that include the nutritional information.