Pizza Night with homemade walnut pesto

05 September 2015

Last weekend I harvested some basil from the garden and made up some pesto. I didn't have any pine nuts, so I used walnuts from our tree. My mom has a cow's milk allergy, so no Parmesan either. The end result was a pretty strong, and slightly bitter to my taste, walnutty pesto, and I was a little dubious as I put it into the refrigerator.

However, after a week of the flavors settling, I took it out and used it on a pizza, and it was great! The cheese is goat cheddar from Trader Joe's. The miniature tomatoes are from the garden. Isn't summer delightful?

Yes, I used a store bought crust, and I regret nothing. NOTHING.

Did someone say "pie"?

14 March 2015


Happy  π Day!  (3.1415...)

Thanks to the many images of pies all over Facebook this morning, I decided to honor the day by baking a rhubarb pie. The rhubarb plants in the backyard are huge right now so need to bake some more soon too.

"Before" photo:

Waiting...

Pie!

Birthday Dinner at Opal Restaurant

28 February 2015

Several people recommended Opal Restaurant & Bar to me, so for my birthday dinner with my parents, I decided to give it a try. We arrived around 5:40 or so, and we got the last table that was not reserved (birthday luck).


The menu has so many wonderful things on it that it was very difficult to make a decision, but eventually I decided on the salmon in coconut-banana-Thai red curry sauce. It was delicious, the presentation was beautiful, and the portion size was perfect.

For my birthday dessert, I chose the Dark Chocolate Pecan Tart. Imagine a shortbread crust, filled with a brownie, topped with pecan halves.

AND it came with an edible chocolate and raspberry birthday greeting right on the plate, how awesome is this?

I LOVE IT!!!!!!!