Herbs

 I am really enjoying my herbs again this summer.  They did well last season but I kept them in the downstairs screened in porch and the slugs would get after them.  This year I'm keeping them up on the deck.  They are getting great sunlight so I have to water them every day but they're doing great.  This location is great for cooking because I can just pop out onto the deck instead of running downstairs for them.

My basil is doing AWESOME now that I know how to pick it properly.  Last year I didn't know what I was doing and picked it all wrong so it never bushed out and I had almost a dozen spindly little basil plants.  This year I'm having to make an effort to use it in things because it is doing so well.  I hope I can keep some through the winter.

I love love love the combination of fresh mozzarella, tomato and basil leaves.  The greatest and simplest panini you'll ever eat contains all three.  When skewered onto a toothpick together, they are a great snack and an elegant appetizer.  I salt and pepper my tomato pieces, assemble them and then drizzle some garlic oil over them.  Num NUM.  These are store bought cherry tomatoes and I can't wait for garden fresh. 

I tried my hand at our first 2 quarts of spicy garlicky pickles yesterday.  Brenda would always send these home with us and I'd have to hide them from Dave for 2 weeks so they'd have time to actually pickle in the jars.  I used the same brine as the pickled green beans.  Each jar has 4 cloves of garlic, 1 teaspoon of red pepper flakes and 1 small sprig of dill weed from the garden.  Brenda used sliced jalapenos and never used dill so we'll see how they turn out.  These cucumbers are from our garden too.

Dave drove me to the Axman so I could look for some glass bottles and that store didn't disappoint.  I think these are blank Heinz ketchup bottles but they're just perfect.  I made some flavored vinegar with white wine vinegar and rosemary sprigs from the deck.  The herbs have been in there a little more than 24 hours and you can smell the rosemary.  I'd like to try dill or maybe a garlic variety.  These bottles would work well for infusing olive oil with garlic too I think.