Food, Recipes and More Food

Last night Brad told me that he thinks I should make a point of blogging regularly about food.
Why? Because we sure spend a lot of time making it, eating it and talking about it.

Soooo. . . here's what to look forward to:

(and how appropriate that I begin this as I am sitting at my Mom's computer copying some slow cooker recipes!)

New recipe findings.
Some of my favorite mainstream sources for finding recipes* are the Food Network and the Martha dynasty, mainly Living, Real Simple and best of all Everyday Food. I just received a new issue of EF in the mail yesterday which has lots of yummy recipes for fall using sweet potatoes, fall squashes (both of which should coincide nicely with what I'll be receiving from my garden share (more to come on that) in the next few weeks) and apples, mmm! There will definitely be some new favorites popping up as I try out these recent recipes in search of gems.

* Of course I'm always on the hunt for recipes from all sorts of sources, nothing like an unusual find!

Suburban Classics Revisited.
When Brad and I got married, I was given not one but two (!) collections of family recipes. If you like casseroles, these are where it's at. However, many of the recipes call for canned veggies, dried and preserved ingredients. So, what does a fresh, organic, garden share-loving girl like myself do with this? I am hoping to remake the classics with a hip, fresh spin. Look out delicious! I'll be sure to post links as I successfully complete these new-old recipes.

What's happening in my kitchen tonight.
Brad and I are tasting and talking about it, so why not write? Tonight for example, we will be making the most of the remainder of the 5lbs of tomatoes I picked up from the garden share last saturday. Now, tomato sauce has already been made, but we'll be whipping up some salsa to take to the beach this weekend (I use this recipe, doctored by adding a red bell pepper, cleaned and quartered, plus 2 cloves of garlic to the first step. If you're brave add another chipotle). For dinner we're having our latest and greatest favorite, Pesto Pizza!!!

To make the pesto pizza I have been using my pizza stone and a ball of frozen dough from the store, however I have been tempted to stroll up the street for some dough from my local and super-Italian pizzeria. We top the pizza with my pesto* and slices of fresh mozzarella cheese and tomatoes (garden share!). A little corn meal on the stone and some fresh ground salt and pepper - it's a dream come true in your mouth!

* I make my pesto like so, put:
1 bunch of basil
1/3 cup of olive oil
1 generous handful of toasted pine nuts or almond
1 small handful of grated parmesan cheese
fresh ground salt and pepper to taste (a little heavy on the salt, I think)
in the blender and blend until smooth. Test the consistency, if it seems to thick, blend in water a tablespoon-full at a time until it seems right (no more than 1/4 cup).

For the pizza, we bake it at 450˚ for 15-20 minutes until the crust is golden and the cheese looks like bubbly, gooey goodness.

Enjoy, until . . . .