Wednesday, September 22, 2010

Basil by the ton, plus a friend or foe question

Supposedly fall is coming, but it doesn't feel like fall lately.  Temps on Sunday hit 90*.  Our neighbor, Joe, invited us over to pick up some veggies from the last of his garden.
We grabbed those tiny orange tomatoes (I'm completely addicted - they are so fabulous roasted), some potatoes, some green peppers and hot peppers, and a whole bunch of basil.

The double bob sure looked funny loaded down w/ the twins and the basil.


On the walk back (it's 1/2 mile walk), I discovered this guy in the stream next to the road:
I guess he doesn't think he needs to be holing up for the winter yet.
Friend or foe?
I'm not very good with snake identification.
Especially with youngins like this guy.
He sure was mello as I took his picture several times.
I know they have a lot of copperheads on that side of the road, but his head didn't look that pointy to me.
At any rate, I think we both were happy to just admire one another from a healthy distance.

After we got home, I got out the food processor.
Tossed in fresh basil, fresh parmesan, olive oil and garlic.
Alas, I had no pine nuts, but I still whipped up a delicious pesto:

The rest of the basil we froze, and it will be fun to enjoy fresh during the wintry months.

Also, the winner of the Halloween Giveaway is Tiggeriffic.  Congrats, Tiggeriffic!  And huge thanks to all who entered.  I loved reading about all the favorite Halloween costumes.

9 comments:

Laura @ Green Legacy Farm said...

Basil is one of the best things about summer! I use walnuts instead of pine nuts (cheaper & still yummy)and freeze the extra in ice cube trays. It's fun to pull out during the winter.

Chicken Wrangler said...

Great that you were able to take advantage of the bounty - and you even have a way to save it for the 'off season'!

jp@A Green Ridge said...

Hey, Baby Girl...I'm back! Glad to hear you got your veggies & basil...:)JP

warren said...

Not sure about the snake...but any snake it the water bugs me for some reason...childhood experience I think.

Anyhow, nice basil too! By the wagon-load!!!

Meredith said...

yum! that looks heavenly! I've made pesto using walnuts when I didn't have any pine nuts. How did you freeze the basil? washed and in storage bags? never thought of that. My peppers and tomatoes are gonners, but my eggplant just started flowering again after a huge rain we just had. I doubt they'll last, but they are pretty right now. I'm making PW's rosemary skewers for my mom's birthday dinner this weekend...glad my rosemary is still thriving!

Mary said...

Mmm that looks so good! That's so cool you were able to get some fresh basil. I have never tried homemade pesto but I may have to. :)

Happy Wednesday!

Myya said...

What a great picture of that little slithery guy. Mmmm that pesto looks sooooo good!

My Mad World said...

How nice of your neighbor to share! Sounds like you got a good supply to last a little while.
Your pesto looks yummy!

Not sure about the snake though but he's pretty interesting.

jennohara said...

Your pesto looks awesome!! The snake on the other hand...glad he there, and not here. :)