Presto!

Maybe it's not quite magic, though some days the way garden keeps feeding us, it feels that way. 

Today was a day for making containers of pesto for the freezer. There are plenty of different ways to use it (ours goes mostly to pasta dishes), and probably just as many ways of making it. 

All I do for the freezer packs is whir garlic (again, from the garden), basil, lemon juice, and olive oil in the little food processor. Later, when I'm ready to use it, I'll add cheese and nuts. Most recipes call for pine nuts, but those are soooo expensive, I generally use walnuts. 

It may seem silly to some, but one of the reasons I decided to make this today -- besides the fact that the basil is growing like crazy out back -- is that I heard a friend read such a beautiful poem that she'd written. "Sweet Basil" it was called, and it's stayed in my mind all day. 

I suspect I'll likely think of it again sometime this winter when I'm once again using this magically delicious concoction, pesto. 

Tiny but mighty

Berries are one of the treats I love most about summer. Yes, the blackberries are the ones I pick every year. I'm also a slave to pruning them, where they grow along the fence out back of our house. During summer, I trim them every week to keep them happy. 

Those little raspberries though are a new discovery. 

There's a vacant lot (for sale, of course) across the street and along with the free bouquets I've been picking there since spring, I recently discovered a wild raspberry bush. 

The fruits are small, and there aren't ever very many, but WOW are they ever sweet and delicious. 

You can bet I'm hoping that next summer the lot will remain vacant, and will again serve as my go-to flower shop as well as the spot for picking tiny red berries. Yum.