What's Cooking? Arugula Pear Pesto!

As you know, if you have been following me for a while; I like to cook (and eat)!  Sometimes I get inspired just by walking through the market seeing things and smelling things.  Other times, it just pops into my head and I decide to give it a whirl.  This time I was partly inspired by a short video by a man whose name I can't pronounce..ha.  So, suffice it to say that today's blog is about my creation of an "Arugula Pear Pesto"!  I generally do not cook by "measuring", but rather by taste and smell.  So, some of the following measurements are my best estimates of what I actually used.

You are going to need the following:

3 cups of  baby Arugula or one medium package.
1 package of Pecorino cheese (goat/ feta cheese).
3 pears ( I used the brown).
5 Roma Tomatoes
4 ounces of sun dried tomatoes
3 ounces (or 1 package) of fresh basil
1 cup of walnuts 
Olive Oil - (first cold pressed).
Salt and Pepper
1/4 teaspoon of cayenne pepper
3 cloves of garlic 
2 serrano peppers  

I bruised the basil with a pestle to release the aroma and oils. Chop the sun dried tomatoes.

Bring a medium pot of lightly salted water to a boil and place the pears into it. 

After two minutes remove the pears and place them in a bowl of very cold water to stop the cooking process.  Leave them in the water for two minutes. Drain, peel, and set aside. 

Do the same with the Roma tomatoes.  Blanche for two minutes and cool in very cold water for two minutes
The skin will very easily lift right off.  Set aside in a bowl.

I blanched the last two tomatoes separately because I had not yet decided if I was going to use them all in one recipe or not.  But you can put them all in the pot together. I ended up using the last two in a Pear and Arugula side salad with Grand Padano cheese.

Chop the pears, peppers, garlic and tomatoes and place in a blender along with the cheese.

Add 1 cup of olive oil, the arugula and blend until smooth adding oil as necessary.  It should be the consistency of a light cake batter. Add salt and the black and cayenne peppers to taste.

Pour into a bowl and use it over pasta, gnocchi or risotto.  I used mine with risotto that evening.  I had enough left over to fill a 16 ounce jar.  It should keep in the fridge for several days.

Watch your man go into a full belly "food coma" after dinner.....hahaha

Bon Apetit!

Ruby's Run

After experiencing temps in the 90's for almost a week, it rained for almost three days.  Ruby, Raspberry and Thing Two sat waiting for an adventure....:-(.  And then it happened!  The sun finally came out and we got ready to roll.  Now, who gets to go this time?

And the winner is......Ruby!  I had only taken her around the neighborhood once since I had gotten her a week ago.  Time to hit the highway....:-).

What a good looking pair.....:-).  Well, Ruby is pretty.....and Thing Two is ....well, a thing! ha

Don't forget the ear plugs!

We rode over to one of our favorite places for coffee.  You can't lose when you drink coffee at a place called "Bean Around The World"....ha.

Somebody needed a sugar fix and it wasn't me!

uh huh....all fixed up now.....:-).

Wow....we must be the new sheriffs in town.  The place cleared out shortly after we arrived! ha

There only remained a couple of folks and one nice lady who offered to take our picture just as we were about to leave.....:-).

I love riding through the forest....:-).  I love the smells and the quietness of nature.  No rude neighbors to deal with.

There's my stud on his steed....:-).

After galavanting around for nearly two hours, we headed home and decided to stop by the garden.

 

We couldn't do very much since we were not dressed for the occasion, but a quick check revealed that all was well and it would soon be time to harvest corn, bean, and more potatoes!

And alas...we arrived at home again.  It was a good day.  Time to put the bikes to bed until next time.

See you then!

Smell Me Something Good!

If you have ever had your own garden, then you will know that you can sometimes have more harvest than you actually have space to keep everything.  Being in a condo presents "space challenges".  So, everything we harvest has to either be eaten in a few days or frozen.  There is absolutely no more room in the freezer!

Sooooo, I hit the kitchen to cook some of the things that were about to languish in the fridge.  The quickest thing to do was to make a huge pot of soup.  Besides, it had been a bit cooler lately anyway...:-)

Chris had already separated the last of the beets that we harvested from the leaves and stems for me.
Unfortunately, I forgot to get pictures of a lot of the things I used.  So, Ill just tell you when I am missing a picture.  Hopefully, if you ever use this, you will enjoy it.

these are carrot tops, beets and radishes.

Start with a large stock pot of water or vegetable stock if you have some.  Let it heat while you are cooking the beets in a separate pot.  Add the beet water to the stock pot when the beets are finished along with a large chopped onion, a cup of barley(optional), and 3 large cloves of garlic- pressed.   I also used 4 carrots that were sliced into medium pieces and two large Yukon Gold potatoes cut into half inch pieces (or chunks).  Take the skin off of the beets and potatoes, dice and add to the pot.  Stir in half can of tomato paste and I tablespoon of raw honey.

I cut up two chicken breast, washed them and marinated them in some rice vinegar, thyme, olive oil, sea salt, fresh ground pepper and fresh sage from my garden.  I let it sit for about an hour before browning.

Add the browned chicken to the pot along with the chopped beet greens and radish greens.  Add a tablespoon of greek or italian seasoning.

Let cook on medium  for an additional twenty minutes stirring occasionally to make sure the barley and potatoes don't stick to the bottom of the pot.

You should have lots left over to freeze.....if you have room!  Otherwise, be kind to a neighbor and give some away....:-)

Lastly, serve with lots of love!  And don't forget the cracker....:-)

Bon Appetit!

Ruby Do......:-)

Well as you know, Ms Vickey; who I had and cherished for 2 1/2 years is long gone for four days now.  Terrible to say that when I was speaking about her today, I could not remember her name right away!  I know!  Treason.....right...:-(.

Well, anyway....I had my eye on this Honda that is almost 100 pounds lighter than Ms Vickey and almost brand new.  We traveled today to take a "sit" and see if this was the replacement for me.
I think we have a winner.....:-).  Chris and the previous owner were having a "chin wag" about bikes and things while I check out the bike whose name was to become "Ruby".....:-)

This is her from the front......:-)

We waited for the previous owner to go and get some paperwork from his house.  Meanwhile he left his key to his Honda CTX700...The screen that is on the bike was purchased by the previous owner.  The stock screen was supposed to be included as well, but someone had broken into this locker and stolen it.  So, the price came down $100.00.  Sweet!

uh oh.......

Whew!  That was a close call.....haha.  They got Ruby loaded onto the trailer and ready for transport.

We made our way to the insurance agent which was quite the experience with the conflicting information that I was receiving. But, we finally got through the ordeal.... 

And sealed the deal....meanwhile the insurance agent was photo bombing in the background! haha

We headed back toward our own city pulling Ruby behind us.  The skies were looking ominous.

We made it back with just a little bit of rain along the way and put Ruby in her place.

Now, I have to decide which pair of boots feel more comfortable with which bike! I also got plastic bags to cover all of the seats while the bikes are resting under the tarp.  It seems that the neighborhood cats like to put their paw prints on all of the seat (complete with mud) and take naps.

I gotta tell you; there is a huge difference in the performance between the Bet & Win and this Honda.  When I rolled the throttle, I thought it was my last day on the planet!  The thing takes off like a jet!!  ha.  Blew my wig clean back, ya'll.....ha.  So, if you felt a big gust of wind going past you, it was probably me and Ruby hanging on for dear life!

See you on the road.....:-)

A Raspberry Coffee Break

It was time to take little Raspberry and "Thing Two" out for another spin.  "Thing Two" had to have his clutch adjusted but after that, he seemed to be just fine. I have to cover the seat because the neighborhood kitties seem to love putting their paw prints all over everything.

Scootard always does the unlocking of our bikes while I am getting the helmets and putting on my gear.

We putted around the neighborhood for a while to make sure that Thing Two was not sick and then we headed downtown for coffee.  This was our first visit to this place.

And to our surprise, there seemed to be some kind of kid's festival going on.

There was music and food and a big bouncy thingee in the middle of the street........

Scootard went inside to get our coffee.  He got the sugar and everything right.  Looking pretty pleased with himself......:-).

I went through the coffee pretty quickly.  I have no idea why.  When I have it at home it takes me all morning!

Raspberry and Thingee Two waited patiently across the street for us to come back.  Raspberry was getting plenty of second glances....:-).  She's soooo cute!

That's the bouncy thingee that I mentioned....They had hoola hoops too.......:-)
.

Well, we finished our coffee and decided that the two-some looked lonely sitting there by themselves.

We got our gear back on and did a bit more riding before going back to the ponderosa.....

Now time to chill out with my favorite person and relax for the rest of the evening....:-)

chow!