High Bush Cranberry

A blazingly beautiful day in Maine

Sun, blue sky, Simpson's-quality puffy clouds. A walk in town, visit to a little local art gallery, home to make pesto. Twelve more baggies to put in the freezer, green explosions of summer through the winter to come. The winters in Maine are the price we pay for the summers, and the pesto stored up make the trade off more than even.

Pesto-a non-recipe:

Basil leaves, avoiding the snails, japanese beetles and heavy twigs. 6 cups- at least
pine nuts
garlic
romano, parmesan
olive oil
salt
food processor
blend up the garlic- one healthy clove with some oil, a small handful of the nuts and some salt- heavy crunchy sea salt if you can.

Feed in the basil leaves, adding more oil to keep the blades running smoothly. Then another, larger, handful of pine nuts, added towards the end so they stay in chunks. If destined for the freezer, leave out the cheese for now or toss it in along with the leaves if you're indulging right away.

Protect the pesto from the air: pour a layer of olive oil over the top or the bright green will brown. Baggies with the air pressed out work well, keeping the quantities pretty small : just enough to pile on some fresh pasta.

It's on days like this that the thought of leaving this place breaks my heart.

the house