Today was a good day!

Today was a good day!  Not because anything special happened, but because I got to do things that I love and I wasn't worried about the time.  My life seems to revolve around a calender and a clock.  There's always a deadline for something I'm working on, whether it's something for me or someone else, and the clock just seems to tick way too fast! Before you know it, my day has ended and I still have more to do.  Today was one of those days that I didn't have a deadline on anything!  Yay for me!  I got up early and enjoyed coffee on my  porch and believe it or not, I was cutting grass by 9:00!  You have to get an early start in South Carolina because summer days get hot really quick.  I love to cut grass so it wasn't a chore for me. My husband wanted to do it but I said no, I need the exercise!  I worked in my yard, weeding, trimming, planting more flowers and suddenly I realized I was about to die from a heat stroke.  No problem...I went straight to the pool with all my clothes on and just jumped in!  I'm sure my neighbors thought I was crazy but it cooled me off pretty quick...although I did check the water temperature while I was paddling around and it was 90 degrees!!!  Can you believe that?!  After I finished my yard work I decided a proper dip in the pool with a bathing suit was in order so with sweet tea in hand I floated and relaxed for a couple hours.  It was so nice knowing I could stay in there as long as I wanted to...no deadlines remember?  I finished off the afternoon reading and taking a quick nap....aaahhh...that was so nice!   Tonight my Gamecocks were playing the first game of the Super Regionals and as tradition has it...my dear husband made his famous smoked chicken wings.  He makes the best chicken wings in the world and of course...we had homemade blue cheese dressing to top it off.  I just have to share this recipe with ya'll!  Most people eat celery with their wings and dip the celery in the blue cheese...not us...we dip the wings in the blue cheese!

Homemade Blue Cheese Dressing

1 cup sour cream

1/2 cup Duke's mayonnaise (or Hellman's if you live up north, bless your heart!)

1/2 tsp. apple cider vinegar

1 T. sugar

1/2 tsp. salt

1/2 tsp. black pepper

garlic powder to taste

1 - 4 oz. pkg. crumbled blue cheese

Mix all ingredients together and refrigerate for a couple hours before eating.  This is my favorite salad dressing too!

After munching on wings and cheering my Gamecocks to victory I decided to make up a batch of pesto.  Tomorrow I am going to Charleston to visit my daughter, Brooke, and she LOVES pesto!  Mama had given me a ton of her basil and I harvested my first crop today as well.  I made Brooke's batch tonight and will make mine tomorrow.  I love basil!  Of course my favorite way to eat it is on pasta but since I'm trying to be a little more health conscience it's delicious to mix a little with halved cherry tomatoes and cubed fresh mozzarella!  Light and refreshing!

Pesto

1/4 cup walnuts

1/4 cup pignolis (pine nuts)

6 cloves of garlic

5 cups fresh basil leaves, packed

1 tsp. kosher salt

1 cup good olive oil

3/4 cup freshly grated Parmesan cheese

Note:  If you don't have walnuts you can just use pignolis.  Most pesto recipes only call for pignolis anyway.

Place nuts and garlic in a food processor fitted with a steel blade and process for 30 seconds.  Add the basil and salt.  With the processor running, slowly pour the olive oil into the bowl through the feed tube and process until the pesto is finely pureed.  Add the Parmesan and puree for a minute.  Serve, or store the pesto in the refrigerator with a thin film of olive oil on top.  This will keep the pesto from turning dark.  This freezes well too.  

I grow several pots of basil during the summer and freeze small cartons of pesto to have during the winter!  It's great on pasta, mixed with mayonnaise for a nice sandwich spread, or thin with a little more olive oil and use as a salad dressing!

Hope you enjoy these recipes as much as I have enjoyed my day....getting to do just what I wanted to do...and not watching the clock!  Happy weekend!

                                                                                         ~Becky