Summer's first pesto. . . . . . . . .

For a real taste of summer, out comes the food processor (I love my

 small version which is easier to lift) and fresh pesto is made often.

It's so easy, especially when you grow your own basil and 

have several pots sitting outside the kitchen door.

They seem to make pesto from just about anything these days!

Mine is traditional Italian pesto made with basil, garlic, walnuts or pine nuts,

grated Parmigiana Reggiano cheese, a good quality extra virgin olive oil,

black pepper, and perhaps a pinch of salt at the end after taste testing.

This was my first batch made last Sunday before leaving on the trip north. 

That evening we enjoyed a little on grilled bread along with penne Gorgonzola, 
the remainder is in the freezer for when we get home. By then I should have
 plenty more basil ready to cut so I'll be making more for summer meals.

Do you grow herbs?
How about making pesto? 
You can't wrong having some on hand for veggies, pasta,
 tomato sandwiches, or adding more oil and dipping grilled bread etc.

June garden notes. . . . . . . . .

Thankfully June is here!

We, in just about all areas of North Carolina, after experiencing a truly drenching

 latter half of May, are excited about getting our gardens in shape. . . . . again!

Things were looking good in early May, we all had an early start with landscaping,

mulch spreading, planting summer veggies and annuals, outdoor furniture scrubbing,

 seed scattering. . . . . and then along came constant storms, torrential rains and

 flash flooding in many parts, and so much hard work was washed away, the

 remainder left a sodden mess.

The week ahead looks so much better for gardening chores.

Fingers are crossed, rakes, mowers and trimmers are at the ready, and those 

hundreds of weeds that suddenly appeared will be thwarted come 

Monday morning here in my garden!

Luckily my basil seeds were planted in pots and didn't get washed away. Today

 they are looking good - pasta and pesto making soon. The third pot I planted up

 was gifted to my dear friend MaryAnn as her own basil was supper for

 visiting deer last week!

The Boston fern on the left was the home of the house finch nest for the

 month of May this year. Thankfully, being partially under cover of the porch,

 the birdies were not drowned or blown away!

On May 20 the two baby finches fledged - two unhatched eggs remained in the nest.

The most amazing thing was that for some unknown reason, a Carolina chickadee

 helped feed these babies, along with the finch mama, and the dad often stopped by

 to check on the nursery.

It was a busy porch for all those weeks with three birds checking in, bringing tasty 

morsels of spiders and grubs, and the constant housekeeping done by the chickadee

 (finches are messy birds and don't clean their nests).

I won't mention the snake incident again other than to say I still have 

really bad dreams about that evening. 

Seeing the two new little ones fly safely off in the heat of the afternoon

 was heart warming.

These are my weekend flowers - peonies and alstroemeria 

from Trader Joe's on Friday.

So pretty!

Night-scented stock . . . . . . .

Can you smell the fragrance?  

The night-scented stock Matthiola longipetala  has such a memorable perfume.

I haven't grown them for many years but when I find them at the store - these are from

 Trader Joe's - I grab a couple of bunches to bring home. That lovely fragrance

 immediately reminds me of my mother's garden long ago in England, a place

 I reveled in during childhood.

The dining room table is looking quite 'green' with the remaining stems of the

 amaryllis still growing. . . . . later they will be cut back and the bulbs dried for a replant,

and hopefully a rebloom come winter. 

Then there's the pot of fresh basil picked up at Lidl last week - I've been snipping

 leaves to add to recipes. . . . . . . a taste of Summer already! 

The lovely purple stocks, greenery added from the garden.

Ahead are several days of major Spring Cleaning - once the pollen is done.

This year brought an exceptionally heavy pollen season - especially oak.

Washing all the china takes time - some days I think about disposing of 

many of the dishes but haven't quite reached that point and so they remain!

Actually I enjoy spending a couple of hours washing and drying them, by hand

 of course as many are antique and fragile, and replacing them all clean and

gleaming. Many of you also collect dishware, antique, vintage, even new - I've

 seen your stunning tablescapes and china cabinets.

Saturday, a foodie day and post -

Good fresh food, a necessity of life, is something we all enjoy, right?

Sadly, sometimes it's not healthy, and now and then it's downright dangerous!

The latest scares here in the USA are about eggs and Romaine lettuce.

Below you will see why I'm not at all concerned about my eggs. . . . . but

Romaine, probably my favorite leaf lettuce because I'm addicted to Cesar 

salads, will be missing from my refrigerator for some time. Salmonella (the 

egg scare) and E. coli (now covering all Romaine including whole heads as

 well as pre-chopped in bags) are both illnesses nobody wants to have - the

 latter of course being life-threatening in severe cases.

So, here's to ways of solving food contamination - we need to be sure what we

 eat is safe. Probably the only way to be 100% regarding veggies and fruits is to

 go back to growing our own - possible for some people, not so for others.

Today I'm looking for Romaine lettuce seeds and may give growing some

a try - I do have garden space so no excuses for me.

 Meanwhile, imagine my joy at finding these yesterday - freshly picked 

local North Carolina strawberries from just south of Raleigh. . . . . . .

. . . . . . and how delicious compared to the long distance ones transported 

and chilled for days before arriving at the grocery store.

The farmer selling these shows up each Spring at his 'patch' next to a 

nearby gas station. . . . . . and he told us this year's crop, despite a chilly

March, is going to be great and he will have fruits until early June.

Note he uses recyclable paper punnets, not those awful plastic clamshells.

Bob and I are back on a Muesli kick. I prepare it the night before with 2% milk

and a dash of orange juice and refrigerate.

We always enjoy this type of cereal on board ships - they seem to make the

 best (perhaps as the chefs are usually European where people love Muesli) - and

 we feel we are getting our daily does of goodness in this morning bowl. 

I usually add other things to my boxed mix (currently an excellent German one

with almonds, hazelnuts and raisins - purchased from Aldi), such as chopped

 dried apricots or prunes, oat bran, turmeric, chia seeds. . . . . and of course today 

the strawberries that taste like strawberries should, and Bob will always add fresh blueberries. 

A small dash of heavy cream just prior to eating makes it rich,

 but I never add sugar!

The beautiful eggs - oh how I absolutely love these.

Joan, a member of my Tai Chi class (and yes, I've just graduated from 

Beginners class and am now in Continuing) has chickens and sells 

these perfectly healthy eggs.  She brings them to class 'unwashed' but they

 are this clean so she must keep a fastidious chicken coop, and says 

this way allows you to use them for up to 2 months even if kept unrefrigerated.

One should always rinse eggs just prior to using, but of course you know the 

store-bought ones are washed as most people don't want dirty looking eggs,

something we've been brain-washed about in modern life.

Joan also told me the names of which chicken laid which color egg - and I

have to say they are the best tasting eggs I've had in a long time. 

Last but by no means least - pots of fresh basil are now coming into stores,

  I found this pot at Lidl on Thursday.  I've already cut several pieces and put into

 water to root on the kitchen window sill, later I will transfer them to a pot.

Soon I'll be planting basil seeds in large pots for my own harvest later in

 Summer. . . . .tomatoes, pasta, pizza, soups and salads all need to be

 enhanced by this wonderful Mediterranean herb. . . . . . and who can live

 without homemade pesto!!!

Here's to a wonderful weekend.

Anything special to share from your Spring kitchen today?

Weather woes. . . . . . . . .

 I was up early today knowing the gardening crew we hired would be arriving

 to work on cutting, clearing and removing my lovely overgrown small trees,
 shrubs and plants along the front of the cottage. We are preparing for power
 washing, exterior wood repairs and a fresh coat of paint, so need
 unencumbered access for the carpenters, painters etc.

Memo to self: 
1. In the future cut back on planting everything I fall in love with at the
 garden center.
 2. Engage services of others when it come to keeping up with the big garden
 jobs from here on out.
3. Travel less!

We moved a lot of potted plants ourselves yesterday, ornamental ivy, small

 potted conifers, Summer herbs and fading annuals. Also moved lanterns,
 birdbaths and garden ornaments before heavy rain came late in the day. 
garden

Morning sun at the kitchen window.

Today started with bright sunshine, cooler temperatures, and continued
 until this evening, a near perfect weather day. Hopefully this is not the lull
 before the storm!
No rain expected for a few days but who knows what is going to happen
 when Hurricane Irma makes up her mind as to which direction she will take
 north from Florida this weekend.
We have lived through several hurricanes right here in
 Raleigh even though we're 2 hours inland from the coast - and have had severe
 damage to our home, cars and property. The most intense damage was
from Hurricane Fran which made a landfall here on September 5, 1996.
Fran hit us at night and was a Category 3 hurricane with maximum sustained
 winds of 115 mph. We were without power for almost two weeks.
   Sadly 26 people were killed here during Fran, and $4.16 billion in damages
 made it the most expensive natural disaster ever for North Carolina. 

Irma is a category 5 packing sustained winds of 175 mph!

We are scared!

Calm in the front garden just after sunrise today.

Mr. Northern Cardinal who seems to love hanging out here in the south, but 
may be safer flying north by Sunday.

Today's garden visitors included the usual cardinals and finches, plus a lovely bright

surprise, a pair of precious goldfinches.

Good pickins' from the garden today - what may well be the last of enough

 basil to make one more batch of pesto to freeze for Winter. One good looking 

jalapeño pepper from my neighbor's plant. . . . . . . .and the rose? 

The last welcome bloom for some time from the pretty rose named PEACE.

This very old plant is now cut down as part of the ground clearing in front of the front

 porch - however she's a sturdy girl so I hope will return later with more fragrant flowers.

My thoughts tonight are with not just my own friends in Florida, but also with you if

 you are there, and your families and loved ones who might live there also. 

I pray you will all be spared injury and damage to your homes. Irma really does look

 like an unforgiving, horrific storm at this time, and now Hurricane Jose is following

 behind and growing stronger. . . . . . . .all of us in the southeast are really scared, 

and that's no lie!

A cloud of southern humidity. . . . . . . . .

Southern hospitality is great - but they can keep

 southern humidity!

The past several August days have seen us enveloped in a cloak of humidity

 almost unworthy of discussion!

Just let me say, walking out the door in a pair of 'sunnies' at 5 o'clock Saturday to

 attend a lovely 60th birthday party for a friend, I was immediately sightless as the

 sunglasses clouded over. Trying to take outdoor photos in this humidity is hopeless!

I'm always rooting basil cuttings on the kitchen windowsill - then replanting them

 in my pots outside. Basil has been amazing this year. Pesto-making has become

 almost a daily habit. I've spent small fortune in pine nuts, good olive oil and
 Parmigiano Reggiano - thank goodness garlic is cheap! 
 I'll miss being able to clip big bunches of fresh basil come Winter - I do have
 lots of little pesto packets tucked into the freezer though.

This is pretty, airy dill - another herb I'm growing in pots outside and which also 

makes a lovely fragrant addition to cut flowers in the house. 

~ Some of my many garden herbs ~

Note: I'm allowing the morning glories to clamber over the hydrangeas as

they have few blooms this year due to the Spring freeze. I really miss 

those lovely flowers.

~ Dill and parsley ~

 Think yourself fortunate not to be living in the south right now . . . . . . . unless of

 course you do enjoy heat, and weren't raised in a cool (usually) Summer climate
 as I was. I will never enjoy the heat and humidity even though I've lived here longer
 than any other place. . . . . . . forty very hot and humid Summers.

Today I'm not doing much, just being lazy in the heat with threatening rain
 and thunderstorms which usually arrive late afternoon.
The sun has decided to hide in the cloud cover - it's the kind of day to stay 
home. . . . . . . . I think I'll bake scones, or a cake with some fresh peaches 
eyeing me from a bowl on the kitchen island.

Just realized, this is definitely a very 'green post'.

Never enough basil. . . . . . . . .

Basil : Ocimum basilica "king of herbs"

Are you like me. . . . . . . . . never can have enough of the delicious fragrant herb

basil growing nearby? 

 Whether a small pot on the kitchen window sill at easy reach, larger pots outside

 the door (my favorite way), or even a raised bed tucked into a sunny garden spot,

 basil reigns as the "king of herbs" in summer.

After all, what is a warm sun-ripened tomato without fresh basil - in a quick basic

 sandwich, snipped over the mozzarella and best EVOO in a Caprese salad, and

 of course gathered by the bunch to make a beautiful pesto sauce for pasta,

 bruschetta, or spread on a crisp grilled cheese or roasted veggie panini?

I did start off my annual basil with this store bought pot in May - snipped and rooted

 pieces in a Mason jar on the kitchen window sill - just because I couldn't wait for all

 those seeds to germinate!  The other plants are from seed which I sow wherever

 there's a pot with an empty space. The basil doesn't mind sharing with a few annual 

flowers and they do look pretty together.

Do you have basil growing ready for summertime recipes?

What other annual herbs do you grow?  

I'm growing parsley, cilantro, chives, mint, dill. . . . . . . and sage is out there somewhere

 but I haven't seen it yet! I also have two huge old rosemary bushes, they are hardy

 and stay green year round and are often clipped for recipes, or just to make a

 vase of fragrant greenery in the winter kitchen. 

I can't imagine life, or cooking, without wonderful easy to grow herbs, can you?
Pesto coming next!