Our Pesto is the Best-o

Thanks to Anna and Danny, we had a whole bunch of fresh basil on hand, so of course we made pesto! I looooooooove pesto. It's so summery! We don't have a food processor however, and our blender broke a few months ago, so we used our Magic Bullet. Here is the recipe we used if you are interested in trying it out!

The Best-O Pesto- adapted from the How to Cook Everything App

2 cups of fresh basil leaves
1/2 cup olive oil
1/2 cup freshly grated parmesan cheese
2 Tbl walnuts (most recipes call for pine nuts but they are DANG expensive)
1 garlic clove - peeled

Toss all ingredients into whatever machine you have that will blend them all up into a nice looking sauce. We served it right away with chicken and rice. YUM!

Chow Mein

When I was young I went to a school called Parkvalley. The school cook was Mrs. McGinty and she was a GREAT cook. She was the one that taught us to bake our grilled cheese instead of cook them on the stove top. Best grilled cheese sandwiches EVER. This chow mein recipe came from her. It's super easy and super delicious!

Hamburger Chow Mein

1 lb hamburger
1 cup onion diced
2 cups celery chopped
1 can beef broth
1/2 can chicken broth
3 Tbl soy sauce
4 Tbl corn starch
salt and pepper to taste

Brown hamburger with onions and celery. Add beef broth, chicken broth and soy sauce. Heat to boiling and add corn starch (dissolve corn starch in some water before adding or you will get lumps of corn starch in the sauce) stir until thickened. Add salt and pepper. Serve over rice and chow mein noodles.

Enjoy!

Blueberry Dream

This is super yummy, but pretty rich. I had a hard time finishing my bowl. Give it a try! It's pretty to look at too!

Blueberry Dream
adapted from Food Network Magazine

2 cups blueberries
1/4 cup sugar
pinch of salt
1 1/2 tsp lemon juice
1 1/3 cup heavy cream
powdered sugar
vanilla
shortbread or wafer cookies for serving

Make the blueberry sauce: heat 1 1/2 cups blueberries, sugar and salt in a saucepan over medium heat until bubbling. Reduce the heat to medium low and cook, stirring occasionally, until blueberries are soft, about 5 minutes. Stir in the lemon juice, remove from heat, stir in the remaining blueberries and let mixture cool to room temperature

Beat the heavy cream in a bowl with a mixer until soft peaks form. mix in powdered sugar and vanilla (I never measure, I just eye ball it) Gently fold in the blueberry mixture. Divide among bowls and serve with cookies.

Enjoy!

opera in the park raspberry bars

These bars are fiercely delicious. So fresh and summery.

Opera-in-the-park raspberry bars
from the penzey spice catalog

Crumb Layers:
1 1/2 cups oatmeal
1 cup brown sugar
1 cup butter
1 1/2 cups flour
1 tsp, baking soda

Filling:
3 1/2 cups raspberries (I just used two pints - it came out to about 3 cups)
2 Tb. raspberry enlightenment (found at Penzey's)
1 1/2 cups sugar
2 Tb corn starch
1/3 cup oatmeal
1 tsp vanilla
1/2 tsp cinnamon

Preheat oven to 350. In a mixing bowl combine the ingredients for the crumb layers. Mix until crumbly. Press about 2/3 of the mixture into the bottom of a greased 9x13 pan and set aside.
For the filling, combine the ingredients in a saucepan. Bring to a boil, stirring occasionally. Remove from the heat and let cool until only slightly warm. Spread over the bottom layer in the pan. Top with the remaining crumb mixture.
Bake at 350 until the topping is golden and the raspberry filling is bubbling near the center, about 40 minutes.

Enjoy!