Driving home from Salem, I assembled the ingredients in my mind: basil on the window sill, garlic in the bowl on the counter, Parmesan in the cheese drawer, pine nuts in the pantry.
Pesto? Really? There may be a foot of snow on the ground, but — yes — I just made and devoured a heavenly bowl of pasta with pesto. Since this dish usually appears on my table in the hot months and almost always with some element of planning, I felt a little surprise in its coming together. Joy, even.
It’s possible that a new status quo is emerging in Salem, though it’s a little hard to tell. Today, my sister was alert and clear thinking, with one exception.
“Will you be taking the Berkshire spur home?” she wanted to know.
No, I told her. Route 128 all the way.
For some reason she thought we were in Western Mass.
PS I do know not to house fruits and vegetables in the same container. I think K must have put the onions in the fruit bowl.
The Joy in a dog facing a sidewalk full of fresh snow. Not so much for the human.
Oh it was pretty. Snow Squeaking under foot. Roads pretty empty. Tree branches lined with white.
Oh, that sidewalk snow scene brought back very happy memories of growing up on Long Island … walking on top of the mounds of plowed snow we imagined ourselves to be mountain climbers!
And I do love your artful artichoke plate … pesto and all
I didn’t know you grew up on Long Island. This particular storm reminds me of the year we got TWO FEET on April Fool’s Day. C had just turned two (D was weeks old) and his favorite possession was a snow shovel a friend had given him for his birthday. So cute.
your pesto and pasta was my joy as well. I licked the plate.
It was so satisfying.
It was.
Ah pesto…always joyous. Since the word Pesto only means paste,I make it regularly so long as I have garlic, some good greens, almost any kind of nuts and dry sharp cheese. Basil Pesto is the favorite, but kale or spinach has also been fine.
This batch actually had quite a bit of parsley in it too. Didn’t have enough basil to make it green. I like the flavor of walnuts in pesto as well.
Mmm….pesto.
Pesto is just the gift to give ourselves while waiting for spring to arrive; for me It is always a pick me up dish because of the color green. We grow basil every year to put in our tomato sauces but especially for pesto; I love pesto pasta but also love it smeared on a slice of my husband’s good sourdough bread. Over the years pine nuts have become too expensive so I use walnuts, sunflower seeds and it is just fine.
Ooh pesto on homemade sourdough sounds divine!