September – Happy New Year to me!

Hi, everyone. I feel like August has been the super-speediest month yet! And September, being my birthday month is likely to bring even more (and hopefully productive) activity. 

Last month:
August contained the kids last couple weeks of  “freedom” and first 2 weeks back at school. Two weeks in is a perfect time for a 3-day weekend, which is what I’m enjoying as I type. The month hosted our first time swimming at the pool since June (that’s how cold it was this summer), some lovely evenings lying out in the backyard with our resident hummingbird for company, and just to keep things exciting, an attack of bougainvillea on the joint between our house pipes and the city’s sewer pipe. I think no further illumination is needed there. Suffice to say, 1 of the bougainvillea has been summarily extracted (the other likely to soon follow). I’ve decided that bougainvillea may well have inspired the briars that surrounded Sleeping Beauty’s castle, because when not tamed, they are indeed wild beasts. That said, some writing did happen. August’s newsletter contained a recipe for salade niçoise. I wrote an article about mermaids in South Asian cultures (inspired by aforementioned swimming adventure). I also wrote one about stags in Celtic vs. Indian folklore in preparation for inclusion into L&F, Book 2. And in an exciting new twist, rather than a new fairytale, I posted an excerpt from L&F, Book 2, tentatively titled, “Warded.” This was the first chapter, and I hope it was intriguing as I expect to post more sample chapters as I go on. 

What’s next?
With September here, I’ll be posting more of the same – newsletter, research-inspired article(s), and possibly another excerpt. I’ll also aim for another L&F origin story or fractured fairytale – depends on which Muse gets me at the right time.

With that, let’s get to the good stuff – recipe of the month!  

Recipe of the Month
This month’s recipe is for my favorite dish of all time (Italian, ovviamente) – Pasta al Pesto. Fortunately, at least in the Bay Area, the sun is still shining, and summer still lingers a bit, so the basil is fresh and plentiful. This recipe is my French (and Italian) stepmom’s recipe learned from her own Alpine-Italian mother. When we were little, it was a rare treat because she would grind the basil leaves by hand with an actual olive wood mortar and pestle. Then with the miracle of the Cuisinart chopper, the meal became a much faster and more frequent preparation (but still a treat). 

Ingredients
8 oz bunch of fresh basil
3 to 5 medium large cloves of garlic (only 3 if the garlic has already turned green; 5 if not yet green)
1 pint of shaved parmesan cheese
olive oil
3 Tbsp pine nuts (or more or less to taste)
Salt & Pepper to taste
Pasta (the best shapes seem to be Cellantani/Cavatappi, Fusilli/Rotini, or Farfalle)

Directions
Place a pot of water (with a dash of salt) on the stove to boil.
While the water is boiling, begin preparing the pesto sauce.
Pick the stems off the basil leaves and wash/dry in a salad spinner
Peel the skins off of the garlic cloves
Add the garlic and some olive oil into the food processor – Note: The purpose of the oil is to keep the ingredients well lubricated while being mixed, so no need to flood the container, but certainly add more than a few drops.
Chop the garlic and olive oil.
Add 1/3 the container of shaved parmesan to the garlic and oil and chop again.
Add 1/3 of the basil, more olive oil, and chop.
Scrape the sauce from the sides of the food processor. 
Repeat adding parmesan, basil, and olive oil in batches until fully used.
Add pine nuts, salt, and pepper, and chop.
Taste and decide if more salt or pepper are needed.

Couple extra notes: 1) If too salty, add some lemon juice – it cuts the salt and still adds a nice flavor.
2) If too leafy, add more parmesan.
3) If too garlicky, add more pine nuts (the pine nuts cut down on the bite of the garlic).

Once your water is boiling, add your pasta and cook according to the directions on the package.
When the pasta is cooked, strain and add back to the warm pot on the stove with a drizzle of olive oil (but keep the burner off).
Add the pesto sauce to the hot pasta and mix thoroughly. The heat of the pasta will activate the pesto sauce so that the cheese melts and the sauce mixes well with the pasta.

Serve with additional grated parmesan cheese and pine nuts sprinkled on top as desired.

Buon appetito and see you all next week, when I’ll officially be a year older than I am today!