scape me!

 I have been waiting for these beauties for a pretty long time.  Summer of '10 to be exact.
So, when they showed up this week in my CSA box, I was beyond thrilled.
The recipe is simple.  
With three little ingredients.  
But one of those ingredients is parmesan cheese.  
Cheese. Oh, yes.  I'm onto a new food venture.  Omitting dairy from my diet.  I've tired a lot of things over the years, I know.  And you've been there for them all. There was the ice addiction.  (I kicked the ice eating habit and started taking iron pills.) There was the green smoothie challenge in May '10.  (I've been drinking a green smoothie 4-5 days a week ever since.)  Then there was the gluten-free attempt where I went gluten free for 3 months to try to help my excema.  (It did help, and I still watch my gluten but am not gluten free.) I tried going fully raw.  (That lasted for 3 days. I like some of my food hot.) And now,  now I am attempting to eliminate dairy from my diet.  Why?  Well, I have read a lot of studies about dairy.  And the one that really caught my eye and made me get serious about giving it up was that without it,  it can help eliminate asthma symptoms. (There goes my friend Michelle's eye rolling.) I have been an asthmatic my entire life, so I figured why not give it a try.  To be free of my inhalers would be a dream.  (I may just prove you wrong, Michelle. :) )
So, I made a version of parmesan cheese.  It's not bad, either.  And the scape pesto?  Fabulous!

Cashew Parmesan:
1 cup raw cashews
1/4 cup nutritional yeast (You just have to get over the name.)
1 tsp salt

Scape Pesto:
7-8 garlic scapes
1 cup parmesan cheese (The real stuff or the cashew parmesan above.)
3/4 cup good olive oil

Put all ingredients in a food processor and let it do it's thing.

You can use the pesto as a dip, or tossed with your favorite pasta, or with your zuchinni noodles, or as a spread on a sandwich.  I made hummus and threw in a big spoonful instead of the garlic.  Yumm.

Enjoy your weekend and your yarn!

summer '14

It's official.  School is out.  
So looking forward to once again doing not much of anything and a little bit of everything.  
Kids:  "Mom, this is so queer. "  
Me:  "I know!  Isn't it wonderful!"

I've been making them jump since '08, I wasn't about to let Charlie's last year of high school go without a final group jump.  He'll be off to college in the fall.  Super, duper hard to believe.

Happy summer!

chive blossom vinegar

I just love the recipes that come alive with the changing seasons.
I have seen chive blossom vinegar recipes sprinkled on the internet and found some blowing in the wind so decided to try some of our own.
These little flowers are so beautiful, I almost hated to cut them for this purpose.  Almost.
I used this recipe but forgot to boil the vinegar before pouring on the blossoms.  Two weeks in a dark spot in the kitchen to see if it made a difference.  So looking forward to it.