Isle of Capri Pesto 2012

This past Sunday was "pesto making morning".  This year I had some beautiful basil...so naturally a freezer full of pesto for the winter is a must have.  When my nephew Seth and I went to the Trade Secrets Show in Sharon CT this past spring, we made as usual a beeline to the herb farmer.  He has Genovese basil which is the gold standard for making pesto.  While all others are okay, Genovese is the best!  Seth and I always buy a lot of pots and home we go with pesto dreams on our minds.  We also pick other things up but the basil is a must have.  

So Sunday morning I gathered all the ingredients and made three batches using The Barefoot Contessa's recipe.  I filled the containers almost to the top and then pouedr a thin layer of olive oil over the pesto which creates a barrier from exposing the pesto to the air which prevents oxidation which causes the pesto to darken to the brown color we all have seen...while it doesn't hurt the basil it does make the eye appeal less than desirable. Once I had everything done, tops go on, labels placed and off to the freezer.  

My mise en place...garlic, salt, pepper, olive oil, pine nuts, walnuts,
Parmesan cheese and the star of the show the Genovese basil.

Already for the freezer...YIPPEE!!!!!

I can't help but look at this bounty and imagine all the things I will be making...pasta with pesto, pizza, salad dressing, garlic basil bread and the list goes on...I will gift a bit of this booty to friend just because!

Elizabeth

Dessert Pizzas for Vacation Bible School

When I heard my three little nieces would be attending Vacation Bible School (VBS) at Wood River Baptist Church I offered to make cookies for one of the weekday snacks.  My sister came back one day and asked if I would make the last day snack and it was to be a "special" snack.  I asked the head count she said 100...WOW...sounded like a lot but I had to be glad that many kids were going to VBS.  Later the count was reduced...but still up there...now I had to figure out what to make.  

I decided on dessert pizzas...basically one huge cookie covered with "toppings" and cut into wedges like a savory pizza.  I decided on a S'more pizza and a Fruit pizza.  Both as easy as "pie"!!!!!

The s'more pizza had a chocolate chip cookie base topped with chocolate chips, broken pieces of graham crackers and mini marshmallows. The fruit pizza has a sugar cookie base then covered with a sweetened cream cheese layer topped with pieces of fruit.  I "cheated" and used prepared cookie dough which made making ten (10) pizzas a much easier task.  In the future I will use a homemade cookie base just to see what the differences are.  

I heard both styles of pizzas got rave reviews and many requests for both recipes....a sure sign these were a hit!

The S'more Pizza

Six s'more pizzas ready to be packed for VBS.

The fruit pizza sugar cookie base covered with the cream cheese mixture.

The finished product...absolutely gorgeous!  I made four of these.

A close up...colorful and tasty...and for those of you who want to live in a delusional world...healthy too!
Just 'cuz it is covered in fruit doesn't make it healthy but who's counting calories on the last day of VBS.

So there you have it...fun to make, pretty to look at, very tasty and kid approved.
Elizabeth

Time To Make the Cookies with Natalie

This is my niece Natalie. Whenever she comes over we like to make cookies together. This day we made cookies from the Martha Stewart Cookies book. We decided on sugar cookies...
Natalie overseeing the mixer as the butter and sugar cream together. Natalie likes to kneel on a "tool" (stool) to make the cookies.
Nattie is brushing the cookies with some water which gives the cookies a lovely crackles top.
A girl just needs to take a break and sample her baked goods...
Natalie posing in her apron.

Cookies going into the oven.
Cookies just out of the oven.
Nattie peeking over the counter at the pile of sugar cookies...
We packaged the cookies in cellophane bags and tied them with ribbon.
Nattie holding the MS cookbook and showing everyone the recipe we used to make the sugar cookies...

I like to make a note in the cookbook on the recipe page with the date we made the cookies together...I also take a photo and cover it in plastic and add it to the page in the cookbook...

I hope to one day wrap this cookbook in a flourish of paper and bows and tuck it in a box filled with kitchen tools and supplies for cookie making and give it to Natalie at her wedding shower...a great cookbook filled wonderful recipes but better yet with memories of Aunt Beth and Natalie making the recipes together...

Elizabeth