pesto is the besto

 

 

Along with more space than can be filled by furniture in our former 800 sq ft apartment, I’ve inherited a pretty amazing garden at the new house. Now, if you know me, this basically means nothing. I tend to kill plants at an alarming rate, without even trying. But the former owners so kindly put in an auto-sprinkler system so it’s almost Sarah-proof!  I’ve started researching what to do with all the fun new veggies and herbs I now have.

Things I can kinda master:

• making kick ass sweet tea with mint 
• drying rosemary (if you need some, let me know… we have a tree’s worth) 
• steaming green beans

I’m still working on the cilantro, but today’s triumph was making my own pesto with garden basil! 

 

2 cups of packed basil
3 garlic cloves, minced
1/2 cup freshly grated parmesan cheese
1/2 cup olive oil, give or take  
salt and pepper to taste 
*note: I skipped the pine nuts

In a food processor, thoroughly blend the basil leaves until they’re in very small pieces. Pulse in the parmesan cheese and minced garlic. Slowly add olive oil into the food processor in a constant stream and blend until smooth. Add a pinch of salt and a little bit of pepper, stir it all up, and enjoy. This makes about 1 cup (and I decimated my garden supply). 

Neglect (le yikes!)

I have been neglectful. I know this. I apologize. There’s been a lot going on though! Getting settled into my new job at Whole Foods Market, moving into a new house and starting a new year (happy belated Rosh Hashanah and hope y’all had a meaningful fast at Yom Kippur).

 

Since starting my new job, I’ve been channeling my inner foodie and exploring all that WFM has to offer. I’m trying my best not to become a food snob, but some things are just better than others. In addition to being more picky about what I’m eating, I’m also starting to be more adventurous. My new thing: figs! They’re a prime pick right now and aside from delicious fig newtons as a kid, there are a lot of things you can do with figs! No, you cannot look forward to a figgy pudding entry around Christmas- sorry.

 

We recently hosted a cooking class at work that in addition to planning, I decided to attend. We made an amazing fig and goat cheese tart. Some of you may know that I often times go out of my way to include goat cheese in dishes, and this is no exception. Seriously amazing! Mine didn’t turn out nearly as pretty as I hoped it would, so my pictures were just meh. And I promise not to plug WFM anymore (well, I’ll try at least) but wow, this is a winner!

http://www.wholefoodsmarket.com/recipe/savory-fig-and-goat-cheese-tart-arugula

pinterest success

I love seeing hilarious Pinterest fails. It’s inevitable that 9 times out of 10, whatever project you take on will not look like it does in the picture. I took on this little vegetable stamp project expecting it to be one of those post-worthy fails. But it turned out to be a post-worthy success! Note that it was a Monday afternoon and a friend and I decided to have our own afternoon of canvas, cards, and cocktails- she painted, I stamped, we both had cocktails. It was delightful!

Step 1: Cut up some veggies and dip in paint. I used cabbage and celery:

 

Step 2: Stamp onto a blank greeting card. And voila!

 

I’m really excited about how well these turned out. Super cute, great for any occasion, and my own little creation! When I run out, I’ll definitely do this little trick again. Maybe next time with okra? Or peppers? Or cauliflower?

I also made cupcakes, but I cheated and bought a box of Betty Crocker Pink Lemonade. They were ah-mazing. Next time I’ll be a bit more daring, but one craft experiment was enough for the day. 

 

On another note, day 1 of Whole Foods Market training down! It’s going to be a pretty big adjustment for me, but I’m looking forward to it. 

 

 

my favorite summertime dessert

1 c. AP flour

1/2 tsp baking powder

1/2 tsp baking soda

1/4 tsp salt

1/2 stick of unsalted butter, softened

2/3 c sugar + 1.5 tbsp 

1/2 tsp vanilla

1/2 tsp citrus zest (I used lime this last time and it was so yummy! But normally I use orange)

1 large egg

1/2 c well-shaken buttermilk 

1 cup raspberries & blackberries

 

Preheat oven to 400. Butter and flour a round cake pan. 

Whisk flour, baking powder, baking soda, and salt and set aside. Beat butter and sugar in a mixer until fluffy. Mix in vanilla, zest, and egg. Begin mixing in flour mixture in three batches, alternating with buttermilk, beginning and ending with flour. Spoon batter into cake pan and sprinkle berries on top. Finish with 1.5 tbsp of sugar sprinkled over top.

Bake for 20-25 minutes or until cake is golden brown and tooth pick comes out clean. Eat and enjoy!  

charting a new course

I’m not entirely sure where I’m still going with all of this nautical stuff, but I am officially charting a new course. Last night I accepted a position as a Marketing Specialist with Whole Foods Market! I am super excited to be a part of the team and to start working with such a kick ass company! Not to mention, I’m now privy to a ridiculous amount of amazing ingredients, so here’s to some new cooking exploration.

!!

That’s my store! Really excited to start fresh and hope that this is the right path for me. 

In other news, we celebrated my LDBFF getting married over Memorial Day weekend with an absolute blast of a party, celebrated a friend’s up coming baby, and helped my partner in crime get through her first chemo session with a surprise. A few celebrations to jump start June, and hoping it continues!  

adjusting my sails

Today has been a terrible, horrible, no good, very bad day! I mean really. Normally, I’m all about suzy sunshine, chin up buttercup, silver lining, glass half full, but today completely knocked me on my ass. I got 2 no thank you’s from jobs I thought I was perfect for, and then got news that a dear friend of mine received a not-so-great diagnosis. Seriously, universe, what the eff is up?!  It’s been a hard day. 

At the very least, I have to use this, as cliche as it is, to tell my friends and family that I love them and try to believe that the two great jobs I was passed over for means that there’s something even better on the other side, but good lord it’s hard! 

Tomorrow will be brought to you by Elizabeth Edwards… “She stood in the storm, and when the wind did not blow her way, she adjusted her sails.”

But for now, I’m going have some froyo and a beer for dinner and resume suzy sunshine tomorrow. Even she needs a rainy day once in a while. 

 

just keep moving

Fun things since the last installment:
BK’s pirate themed birthday (he did, in fact, turn 29) complete with multi-colored funfetti cupcakes,

a dear college friend’s wedding in St. Louis, a rafting trip (pictures in my previous post) and, at the risk of completely jinxing myself, 2 interviews today! So, I’m thinking happy thoughts, a la Peter Pan, and am hoping to fly! 

And thanks to my new obsession with buzzfeed, I found the below kick ass poster. Now, this is not your ordinary reach for the stars type bullshit inspiration poster. As cool as those are, I actually thought this one was pretty applicable to jobs, life, friends, late 20s, etc. Balancing everything that we all have going on is freaking hard. Don’t let anyone tell you it’s not. Finding the right balance is even harder. But in spite of the hard stuff, break ups, friendship changes, job changes, moving, and overall growing up, the key is to keep moving. Sure, there will be some people left behind, but I tend to find that the ones who keep up are the ones worth keeping.  

http://www.buzzfeed.com/papergirl/22-inspirational-posters-you-might-actually-be-ins-aatq

don’t settle.

“The only way to do great work is to love what you do. If you haven’t found it yet, keep looking. Don’t settle.” – Steve Jobs

still searching, frustration and all. but some kind, wise words from an inspirational man go a long way. not settling.

 

and on an even more positive note, here are some pictures from my beautiful rafting trip down the lower gunnison river.

when in doubt, make banana bread

Yesterday I was riding my bike on a beautiful, mid 70s day. Today has turned into a gloomy, overcast, summer-needs-to-hurry-up-and-get-here kinda day. And after an odd phone interview this morning, I decided to bake some banana bread to pick my spirits up. So here you go! Enjoy. 

2 c. whole wheat flour 

1 tsp. baking soda

1/4 tsp. salt

1/2 c. butter

3/4 c. brown sugar

2 eggs, beaten

6-7 overripe, mashed bananas

Add ons of your choice: craisins, white chocolate chips, blueberries, walnuts, etc. 

 

Preheat oven to 350. Lightly grease a loaf pan (9 x 5) or baking pan (9 x 13). 

Mix all wet ingredients, mix all dry ingredients. Blend wet mixture into the dry mixture, add in your extras (this batch is white chocolate chip). Bake for 60-65 minutes. Let the bread cool, serve, and enjoy! 

last week in a quick recap

cool stuff i’ve done in the last week:

hand-addresses all of the invitations for one of my best friend’s wedding

 

went to austin, tx to celebrate @sharonmegumi bachelorette party 

 

ate some awesome food, listened to some great music, and caused some debauchery 

friends truly make the world go ’round.

 

coming soon: BK’s birthday celebration (complete with tie-dye funfetti cupcakes and a pirate theme), rafting trip on the Arkansas River, DW’s wedding in St.L, CMitch’s bachelorette party in Boulder… seriously, slow down!

also, world, please send me a kick ass job soon. 

thanks, love, sarah