August Break 2015 – Week Four (with Pesto recipe)
And with that… August is over. Siiiiigh. But not before squeezing out just a little bit more summer…
T W E N T Y F I V E: green. One of the wonderful things about summer coming to the end is harvest. So many yummy things from the garden – like this chard, which I like to eat sautéed with garlic and butter mushrooms. Mmmmm…
And would you check out the size of this carrot!?!?! Apparently they’ve had a good summer too. So sweet! 😉
T W E N T Y S I X: door. With the air being somewhat smokey due to western forest fires, I took the boys to the Village Square Leisure Center. The water park has lovely murals throughout – including over doors like these. Awesomeness!
The Monkeyboys and I had a wonderful time, rest assured. 🙂
T W E N T Y S E V E N: favourite recipe. Pesto! I put it on pasta. On zucchini “noodles” as a side dish. In scrambled eggs on toasted focaccia. Or on fried tofu, topped with bruschetta. Yummy!!!!! It adds instant zing to just about anything. 😊
2 cups basil leaves
1/4 cup shredded Parmesan
1/4 cup pan toasted pine nuts
2-3 cloves garlic
3-4 glugs olive oil
Dashes salt & pepper
Place leaves of basil in mini processor. Add cheese. In small pan, toast pine nuts on med-low heat, tossing occasionally. Add to mixer. In that hot pan, add a glug of oil and gently sautéed minced garlic (to take away the bite a bit). Pour all into mixer. Add salt & pepper & 2-3 glugs of oil. Process, scraping the sides downward a few times. If it is not blending, add 1-2 more glugs of oil until it mixes and forms a paste. Enjoy as you will!!!
Of course, if I could learn how to make the Sugar Creek Kettle Corn, we’d be in some serious trouble. 😉
T W E N T Y E I G H T: in my bag. I never go anywhere without my keys, my wallet, and my phone (not in this image, as it was being used to take this image). But having children (and getting older) has necessitated the use of a bag on occasion. Nowadays, I usually make sure to bring my Swiss Army knife, first aid kit, glasses (for night/distance driving), an old fashioned iPod for entertainment, and various treats.
And just so my phone doesn’t feel left out, here is a photograph of it. 😉 I noticed this cute little moth on the bathroom mirror one night before bed and tried to snap a photo of it…
The pretty case and my giant fingers made for a neat, abstract landscape for the little critter. I absolutely love how the ends of the wings are feather-like!
T H I R T Y: smile. At the end of a fun activity with friends, we like to initiate a big ol’ group hug. It lessens the disappointment of having to say goodbye, and it always makes us smile! <3
In this particular case, it was after an afternoon of playing at Bowness Park with our Popsicle Pals. 😉
Speaking of pals, I was wondering if this bee was pal-ing up with this sunflower for a bit of camouflage? Up until now, I’ve only seen fuzzy yellow bees buzzing in the garden this year. Hmmmm… And check out the pollen on this guy!
And one more autumn-y photo, just because I love it. Many of the crab apples got blown off the tree this week. Better grab the rest soon, so my friend can make some brandy. 😉
T H I R T Y O N E: August was… awesome!!! Sweet. Fun. Tasty. Busy. Silly. Beautiful. And not quite long enough. Although, it rarely is. (Here is what a calendar page of my Gratitude Journal looks like – taken using the Collect app. Each day has various photos stored, with my favourite image on display.)
One last artsy day with the Monkeyboys. We found a Perler-bead-like activity called Qixels. The beads are square, and instead of using a hot iron to stick them together, you use water. The boys LOVE them!
And then I realized that I had missed a prompt entirely! So…
T W E N T Y N I N E: listening. To the silence. As today, it was time for the bitter-sweet first day of school. Grade 6 for Monkeyboy Jr. and Grade 1 for Monkeyboy Junior Jr. Time, she flies.
Thank you to Susannah Conway and all of you August Breakers who played along this summer! It was so great to see so many familiar “faces” and meet some new people as well. Thanks for sharing your particular vision of the world you live in. <3 Group HUG to y’all!!!
