Easter Weekend

Zach and I headed to Pensacola for Easter weekend to spend some time with his parents. We had a great time! Caryl has a wonderful garden. She is growing cucumbers, peppers, tomatoes, squash, lettuce, and a variety of herbs. I picked some lettuce and basil to bring home with us!
Don't be fooled by this picture, Zach did not help out in the garden this weekend. Sonny completely rebuilt this tractor last summer, and it's now up and running!

However, Croom did help us out!
Picking basil for pesto!

The squash plants were HUGE!She had two different kinds of basil- sweet and african blue. We made pesto out of each to taste the difference. We determined that the afrian blue (picture on left) has a stronger flavor than the sweet (picture on right), but they have the same flavor. It would be ok to mix the leaves in the same batch of pesto.

African Blue Basil

Sweet Basil Ingredients

2 cups packed fresh basil leaves
2 cloves garlic, we used more because we love garlic
1/4 cup pine nuts
2/3 cup extra-virgin olive oil, divided
salt and freshly ground black pepper, to taste
1/2 cup grated parmesean cheese

Combine the basil, garlic, and pine nuts in a food processor and pulse until coarsely chopped. Add 1/2 cup of the oil and process until fully incorporated and smooth. Season with salt and pepper.

If using immediately, add all the remaining oil and pulse until smooth. Transfer the pesto to a bowl and mix in the cheese.

If freezing, transfer to an air-tight container and drizzle remaining oil over the top. Freeze for up to 3 months. Thaw and stir in cheese.

I also got a bike! Yay! That's two things off the wishlist! Zach got a new TV a few weeks ago, and now I have a bike that is new to me! Sonny and Zach made an awesome bike hanger for us to store our bikes in our Florida room. I love having handy men around!