I've been trying to use up the FRESH herbs from our garden and found this recipe from Three Many Cooks for Kale and Almond Pesto. I'm a big fan of both pesto and kale so I decided to give it a try. Chris isn't a fan of pesto (too garlicy for him, no matter how little I put in) so now is the perfect time to whip some up! I made a few adaptations to the recipe but it still turned out great:
Makes about 2 cups.
1 bunch kale (about 12 leaves or 9 ounces), rinsed thoroughly
1 cup freshly grated Parmesan cheese (I used 1/2 cup)
1/2 cup whole, raw unsalted almonds (I used pistachios, they were on hand)
1/2 cup packed fresh basil leaves
3-4 cloves garlic, peeled and smashed
1/2 cup extra virgin olive oil (I used 1/3 cup)
1/2 cup cold water (I used 1/3 cup)
Salt and pepper to taste
Bring a large pot of water to boil over high heat. (I removed steams before blanching, much easier!)Submerge all the kale in boiling water, stirring occasionally, until bright green but still crisp, 30-60 seconds. Drain the kale and rinse with cold water to stop the cooking. Dry the kale thoroughly with a clean kitchen towel. When dry, tear or cut the kale leaves from the thick, woody stem.
In a food processor fitted with a metal blade, combine the kale leaves, Parmesan, almonds, basil, and garlic; pulse until well combined. With the motor running, slowly drizzle in the olive oil first and then the water. Season to taste with salt and pepper. And add more oil or water, if necessary, to reach desired consistency.
Pesto will keep in an airtight container in the refrigerator for 1-2 weeks (longer if you float a little oil on the top). And it can be frozen for up to 6 months.
I'm having it this week and freezing 2 jars for later :)
A few months ago, I was having a BAD DAY due to a client situation at work. After talking through it with my manager, I was still upset at the outcome (which I had not control over). Later that day I spoke to my director and she recommended that I check out this blog to gain some perspective and I'm so glad that I did. I get very wrapped up in my work and my job is a part of my identity BUT I have to remember that it's not all of who I am. Now when I'm having a bad day or an okay day even, I like to checked out Maggie's blog for inspiration :) I highly recommend checking out the video of Life at Kopila Valley Children's Home.
Just registered for this cooking class (big thanks to Grant for the birthday Sur la table gift card) with my mom-in-law and two sister-in-laws. Super excited to be sharing the experience with them!
While in Pittsburgh we did more than just the Ruckus and the urgent care visit. Here's a photo of Chris, myself, Kelly and her fiance Altay. They were wonderful hosts on our city adventure. Our first night in town, we went to the Friday night downtown gallery hop and had dinner at a Pittsburgh institution Pimanti Brothers (where they put french fries on my salad...seriously!) All of this was after our warm greeting with homemade chocolate chip cookies :)
We also took in a classic car show, went for a hike in South Park, enjoyed a great grilled dinner and fire pit with s'mores. All in all, a great weekend with friends!
Hello! Your blog entry today does not come from Sonya, but from Brittany Kimmet, Sonya’s sister-in-law. I am writing today because last week I started working my way through, and documenting by taking pictures, an awesome cookbook, an ice cream cookbook! Sonya asked if I would like to make a guest post on my week of ice cream making and I of course said yes and am delighted to share with you my experiences!
As I stated above my week of cooking was making ice cream, and not just any ol’ ice cream, but delicious Jeni’s Splendid Ice Cream at Home. If some of you have not heard of Jeni’s then I have to admit you are truly missing out! Jeni’s is a local ice cream shop (that is expanding quickly!) that specializes in artisanal ice cream with all natural and as local as she can get ingredients. She has many signature flavors that are in stores all year long, but then she also makes many different flavors by the season and some pretty crazy concoctions. She just recently came out with a book of her ice cream recipes this past June while we were on vacation and the day after we got back I had the book in my possession. Yes folks, her ice cream is that good.
Having her book was the first step. The second is actually having an ice cream maker machine. Yea, I also bought the book without having something to make it with; again, it’s that good (have I convinced all you non-believers yet? I hope so! If not I’m going to keep trying throughout this post ;) ) But continuing on, I was able to borrow Sonya’s ice cream maker attachment for a Kitchenaid mixer (thank you so much!). So after getting the attachment and a trip to the grocery store I could begin my ice cream making.
In the book (links to the book on amazon and Jeni’s website will be at the bottom of the post) there are, I believe, over 100 recipes, but if you’ve gone to Jeni’s even a few times you will most likely acquire favorites and those are what I went with. I decided on making three different kinds as I had three nights free to do so. My first one was Lemon-Blueberry Yogurt (my favorite), Buckeye State, and The milkiest chocolate in the world.
The book is amazing in that you not only have the recipes for this great ice cream, but the explanations are really easy to follow and at the beginning she gives an overview of all the utensils, pots, pans, etc that you’ll need with pictures included. I could probably spend the whole post talking about how awesome the cookbook is, but you are here to read about me making ice cream so onward! And I do promise that there will be much less words and more pictures for the remainder of the post :)
Lemon-Blueberry Yogurt
This is my favorite and it had the most steps, but still totally worth it! First a blueberry sauce. In hindsight I should have cooked this a little longer to make the blueberries more tender, but it still tasted good.
Then prepping the yogurt by straining it for 6-8 hours for a creamier texture
Almost ready for cooking!
The first day I was much messier/disorganized. It got better as the week went. But not cooler. Did I mention I decided to do this during a week when the heat index was over 100 on most days? Well I did. You would think this wouldn’t be a problem for making ice cream . Ice cream is cold, but to make it you must cook it over a stove. This = hot, hot, hot in my apartment. Ah well I survived J
Cooking the cream mixture with lemon jest.
Cooling the yogurt off before putting it in the ice cream machine (~30 minutes)
Freezing the yogurt! (again takes 25-30 minutes)
After the mixing is done you layer the yogurt with the blueberry sauce and voila!
:) mmmm . The main issue here was the heat, because all the sauce sank to the bottom, but it still tastes good!
I made Buckeye State the next day ….
And on Sunday I made the Chocolate ice cream.
The final product! I had about a week and also the help of others to go through the other two flavors (they’re in pint containers), although I could probably do that much damage on my own :)
Each batch made about a quart which for myself is most definitely plenty of ice cream! I’m taking a little break from ice cream making now with my class load increasing this week and studying for the GRE, but I already can’t wait to make my next batch/flavor!
I hope you enjoyed my journey of ice cream making. Below I added the links to Jeni’s website along with the link to amazon for her book. Her ice cream can be shipped all over the U.S. and quite a few specialty stores are carrying pints of it as well. My sister in D.C. is able to find it around her, but I’m not exactly sure which stores she goes to. The ice cream is a tad on the expensive side, but I honestly believe that with one taste you’ll feel it’s worth it. I sure did!
So now that I've only got one good hand (read about it here), I've found that there are many daily tasks that require two hands...at least for me! Makes me very thankful that this is just a short term thing and think of all of those who really only have one hand/arm. This guy, Keiron McCammon, lost his left hand in 2006...and it's not slowing him down!
Apply eye liner
Walk two dogs or one not-so-good-at-walking-on-the-leash dog (not that I'm naming names but we all know it's Lila)
Buttoning jeans and pants (I've been wearing dresses all week)
Clasping bras (try this with one hand...really hard!)
Opening bottles (opening prescription med bottles...impossible)
Grinding salt and pepper (or really any cooking)
Lifting laundry baskets or anything heavy that you need both hands for
Cutting my own meat
Now there is a sliver lining, I have a wonderful husband who is happy to help with any of these tasks when he was home on the weekends!
Said husband, cutting up chicken for me so I will have food this week, with his "assistants". BTW, he normally doesn't wear a headlamp and we don't usually keep large boxes in the kitchen. Our power was out and the basement was flooding so we (I use this term loosely, see #7 on the list) were moving everything to higher ground. Good times at our house!
Last weekend, at the spur of the moment, Chris and I decided to meet up in Pittsburgh to spend the weekend with my good friend Kelly and her fiance :) They were so generous in allowing us to stay in their beautiful and cozy home...once again, thank you! On Saturday we participated in our first ever adventure race (a Ruckus in this case). What is a Ruckus??? Well this is the description from the Ruckus website:
This is not a trail run. This is not a mud run. This is an obstacle course.
This event was created for those looking for an "Adult Playground" experience that they can't get anywhere else. The Ruckus obstacle course is designed for those with casual fitness abilities, but is challenging enough for the fittest. There is no time limit and participants are encouraged to run the course at their own pace.
At the end of the day, the course is what the participant chooses to make it, and will provide an unforgettable experience.
And if you want to see more, check out this video. Yes, I realize that we may be crazy...
Needless to say, mine truly was an unforgettable experience and I'll always have the x-rays to remember it! Chris, Kelly and I started with the 10:40am heat on a beautiful Saturday morning. Chris decided that he was in it for time so he took off ahead of Kelly and I. The hilly terrain and obstacles made it challenging but fun, over dirt piles, under army nets and through mud pits...until the gauntlet! Kelly and I were about 1/2 mile from the finish line when as I like to put it, I misjudged my dismount...and fell about 10 feet to the ground landing on my left side (mainly wrist and hip). Well, my hip took it better than the wrist and I left the race after a the next set of obstacles to head over to the medical tent (I'm still a little bummed that I didn't finish the race). There I got some ice and was directed to the urgent care for further treatment. The urgent care folks were very kind and splinted my left arm from elbow to fingertips which really did help the pain, that and the pain relievers they prescribed! The whole time we were at the urgent care, Chris kept saying "never again, you are never allowed to do a race like this again".
Team 2 Bobcats and a Buckeye
Chris "Slow is smooth and smooth is fast"
Finishing the Ruckus and checking his time :)
Post race, pre-urgent care
I followed up with an ortho specialist on Tuesday and the diagnosis is a fractured triquetrum (small bone in the hand, on the pinky side of the wrist). I'm now in a removable brace for the next 8 week or so.....which I'm happy with as it could have been much, much worse! Overall, a great weekend with friends that we will never forget!
Splint from the urgent care...no mobility in left hand
Ortho brace, yay for being able to move my fingers and remove it to shower!
PS. please forgive the hair and makeup...seriously hard to do with one hand! I even went to the stylist and had her cut 5 inches off my hair just so I could attempt to style it myself.
PPS. Shout out to Chris who completed the race at an awesome pace of 48:53.5 (12:13 per mile). Remember, 4 miles and 20+ obstacles :) Great job!
