PESTO

As I've been drawing food the last few years I've become more brave in trying some classic recipes. One of these is pesto. I happened to be paging through a magazine one day and came across this recipe and was shocked with it's simplicity.

I actually had most of the ingredients tucked into my cabinets, garden and refrigerator. The missing ingredient, pine nuts, was given to me by a friend (after I traded some fresh strawberries with her). I hate to admit that even though I was growing basil in the garden, I really didn't appreciate it's lovely scent until I prepared it into pesto.

My first batch was amazing, so a few weeks later I made a larger batch, then froze it in ice cube trays.  I plan to use these throughout the winter and mix them into pasta, potatoes, spaghetti sauce and whatever else needs a little extra flavor.

PESTO

Ingredients
1/2 clove of garlic
1/4 cup of pine nuts
2 cups of fresh basil
1/4 cup of olive oil
1/2 cup of Parmesan cheese
salt and pepper

Directions
In a food processor, finely chop 1/2 clove of garlic.
Add 1/4 cup of pine nuts and grind.
Add 2 cups of basil and process with 1/4 cup of olive oil.
Add 1/2 cup of Parmesan cheese and process to combine.
Season with salt and pepper.

This recipe is from Whole Living Magazine.  Their recipe is written in a more flexible format so you can mix in different herbs, nuts and cheese for different tastes.

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Fire Cider

I just created this fun print with a special recipe for someone.  As she states..."fire cider is a symbol of all the real 'magic' that exists in the world, and of my role as someone who is allowed to use some of that power to help people".  It's considered a "for-real" magic potion.  That's all I know, but feel lucky to have created this image for her.  Good luck to Maia as she shares her special gifts.

Garlic

Here is my inspirational garlic from the penne post a couple of days ago (thanks again Gina!).

{print available}

Roasted Red Pepper, Tomato and Garlic Penne

Gina of Simply Life sent me this delicious recipe. She even inspired me to create a garlic painting, which I'll post in a couple of days. You'll find her recipe here.

If you'd like me to draw your food click here for my guidelines. {print available}