Pesto made with Walnuts

What to do with all that fresh basil in your garden? Make pesto!


For our anniversary my mom bought me, well us, a food processor. Even though our anniversary isn't for a couple more weeks (and my mom gave it to us a month ago) I pulled it out and decided to give it a whirl. I'm in love! It is super quiet and easy.

My son was being fussy and really wanted to go outside (it has been raining most of the day) so I took him out and we picked a bunch of basil. It wasn't easy getting him back inside buy once I did he helped me make the pesto.

Pesto is traditionally made with pine nuts but today we made it with walnuts because that is what we had. I chopped the garlic and measured out the cheese and my son got to pour it in the processor and the best part...push the buttons!

I think because I used walnuts and it took a little longer (because of my help) our pesto turned a little dark but the flavor was and is still there. It actually looked a little like olive tapenade. Oh well.

Here is the simple recipe:

Walnut Pesto

4 cups basil, packed
1 1/4 cup walnuts
2-3 medium/large garlic cloves
1 cup Parmesan cheese, grated
1 cup olive oil
Salt and pepper to taste

In a food processor, pulse the basil leaves until coarsely chopped. Add the walnuts, garlic and cheese, pulse until blended. While processor is running, stream in the oil.

Use or freeze. I used baby food freezer trays that are just over 1/4 cup to divide and freeze my pesto. This way I can use just what I need and save the rest for later.

You can do all sorts of things with pesto, here are just a few:

-toss with your favorite pasta
-mix in with your ground beef or turkey and make a pesto burger
-mix with mayonnaise and use as a spread on your sandwich
-mix with butter and spread on corn
-toss with green beans
-brush over a grilled steak


Enjoy! (don't be scared of the color, it still tastes great!)

Homemade Oreos

I found a recipe for homemade Oreos online a few weeks ago and have been wanting to make them ever since, so today I made my own Oreos. They were super simple to make and they really don't take any longer to make then any other drop cookie. Granted they aren't really any cheaper if you make them at home but they sure do taste a lot better!  Next time I make these I plan on making the cookie smaller. If you make them as the recipe says, the cookies bake to be about a two inch cookie which when sandwiched make a pretty large cookie. The only good thing about that is that one is enough.  

On a side note, a favorite ice cream in our house is Turkey Hill's Double Dunker and the cookie dough is just like the cookie swirl, so keep an eye out for when I attempt to make our own homemade 'Double Dunker' ice cream.

Homemade Oreos
(Adapted from Smitten Kitchen)

Ingredients
For the chocolate wafers:
1 1/4 cups all-purpose flour
1/2 cup Hershey's Special Dark Chocolate cocoa powder
1 teaspoon baking soda
1/4 teaspoon baking powder
1/4 teaspoon salt
1 cup sugar
1/2 cup plus 2 tablespoons (1 1/4 sticks) room-temperature, unsalted butter
1 large egg
For the filling:
1/4 cup (1/2 stick) butter, softened
1/4 cup vegetable shortening
2 cups sifted confectioners' sugar
2 teaspoons vanilla extract
Directions
Preheat oven to 375°F.

In the bowl a standing mixer fitted with the whisk attachment, mix together the flour, cocoa, baking soda and powder, salt, and sugar. While the mixer is running, on low-speed, add the butter, and then the egg. Continue mixing until dough comes together.

Roll just under a teaspoon of dough unto a ball and place two inches apart on to a baking sheet lined with parchment paper. Using the bottom of measuring cup, slightly flatten the dough. Bake for 9 minutes, rotating once for even baking. Set baking sheets on a rack to cool.

To make the filling, beat together the butter and shortening in a medium bowl. Then, starting at low speed, gradually beat in the sugar and vanilla. Turn the mixer on high and beat for 2 to 3 minutes until filling is light and fluffy. Transfer to a pastry bag fitted with large round tip or a ziploc bag with the corner cut.

To assemble the cookies, start by matching the cookies up by size (doing this before you start filling makes the process go much smoother), placing one cookie bottom side up on top of its match. Cover one cookie with the icing and place the matching cookie on top and gently press into a sandwich.

Enjoy!