How To Make Pesto, Family Style

{ Scroll down for the recipe. }

Me & Bunny

I learned how to make pesto from a woman named Bunny. She's a cool ol' broad who built a log cabin with her own two hands and makes biscuits by putting her hips into it. She's tough as nails and warm like butter, and she's left a mark on my kitchen that goes deeper than the kitchen sink.

She tasted my mid-made pesto, and from over her shoulder gruffed simply, "More garlic," in her leftover east coast accent. Ok, I thought. Right. More garlic. But first I quietly tasted it myself to see if I could get what she got, if I could taste what she did and be able to name what was missing without missing a beat.


We were having about 25 people over to our little apartment for a big family dinner, including Gary Danko (yes, that Gary Danko) to celebrate the life of Bunny's son Chris, who after two weeks of lying in a deep sleep, and 35 years before that of giving this world his funny, unique and wholly honest breath, passed away, leaving us to ourselves and our food. We had held vigil in his hospital room for those weeks laughing, crying and hoping, and coming home each night to my kitchen, something that will never be less than amazing to me.

Chris worked with Gary at his restaurant in San Francisco, and over the years Gary got sucked into this wonderful family, just like me. He slid into my kitchen and quietly stood hip-to-hip with Bunny, each of them getting to work on getting through this. Even then the 24-yr old me knew that Gary. Danko. Is. Making. A. Rue. In. My. Kitchen., but looking back on it, what's seared into my memory is how we were all the same level of human in that moment, brought together by a very special guy named Chris and the food that would nourish our bodies to keep us going.

Although my Beginner's Bunny Pesto certainly wasn't the focus at the table that night, I've made it a million times since then. Each and every time, it's never lost on me where and when I learned how to taste the food I'm making and know instinctively when it needs more garlic.

Read more about the legacy that our friend Chris has left, changing the lives of thousands living with cancer. 

Bunny's Pesto

When baking Bunny measures like a scientist, but when cooking at the stove, eyeballing it is the only way to go. It's an art form that applies to this recipe. Maybe the lack of exact measurements will encourage you to "just go with it," and not want to crack under the anxiety like I did the first few times. When in doubt, always start with less and add more to taste.

Ingredients:

A couple of bunches of fresh basil

1-2 lemons, zest & juice (start with one and add more if needed.)

1-2 Garlic cloves chopped, you be the judge

About 1/2 cup toasted nuts - walnuts & pine nuts are my favorites

About 1/2 cup grated Parmesan, Asiago or Romano cheese

E.V. Olive Oil - use the good stuff for this since it's not cooked.

Kosher salt & fresh cracked pepper

1. Start by toasting the nuts. I use a small cast iron skillet and hover smotheringly, otherwise I WILL burn them.
2. In a food processor (or blender) add the basil, lemon zest and juice of one lemon, garlic, nuts, cheese, salt and pepper. 

It will look kinda like this:

      

      3. Start blending, and drizzle in the olive oil through the lid until it comes together like this.

      4. Taste it. It should have a fragrant basil aroma, a subtle garlic spice and a bold acidity from the lemons. If all you taste is lemon, then you need more salt. Add a touch more and blend. If it's bland, then add more lemon juice. Dance around with the salt, lemon juice, garlic and parmesan until you get to the good stuff: A zesty, aromatic, tangy pesto.

And then do this:

Cheese Tortellini with Sauteed Chicken, Kale and Heirloom Tomatoes

And this:

And then with the leftover pesto sauce, do this:

Take it to your friend's house, and they'll send you this:

Photo by my buddy Peter Campbell

What are your most vivid memories of learning to cook?

This week in DIY: Bert the magnificent, gin & tonic and a child with unusually large hands

Last night's premier of Project Runway (eatlovebert, btw) reminded me of how diy-ing my own clothing got me through the first 15 years of my life. I was a little raggedy ann out of necessity, hiding safety pins that held my jeans buttoned as I outgrew them at a pace too fast for my working class parents to keep up with. I secretly slept in my clothes after they were freshly washed so they would stretch out enough to be worn the next day. Surprisingly my mom never commented that I was already fully dressed for school when she woke me up.

I wore her t-shirts, two at a time (she's 6'1", can you imagine?) with the sleeves rolled up so it wouldn't look too ridiculous. Back then I wasn't thinking of how I could make an amazing outfit out of all of this, so much as I was hoping not to repeat an item of clothing in the same school week. OH THE HORROR! And cause for immediate mean girls expulsion.

Old Sweatshirt Becomes Super Cute Cardigan
Doesn't she look like Elle McPherson?
Source: dee*construction on Flickr

That Before picture looks just like a sweatshirt I would've stolen from my mom and worn. To school. As-is. To avoid embarrassment. Oy.

To me, do-it-yourself is the most basic human instinct, besides wanting to eat babies. And construction/deconstruction/construction is universally primal among my thought processes. 

When I'm cooking, I imagine the whole meal on my fantasy plate, then I break it down to the individual foods themselves, what pans I need and how to juggle them back together. I'm usually sauteeing while simultaneously thinking of what else is in the fridge that I could use. Grain mustard, radishes, seeds, lemons.

When in doubt, I always squeeze a lemon.

I can see myself making a gin & tonic right about now.
Source: (from top left, clockwise) closetcooking.com, donnahay.com/au,
joythebaker.com, theglitterguide.tumblr.com,

When I see a piece of furniture or artwork, I immediately think "How can I make that?" instead of "How much does that cost."

I love the scale of this frame leaning behind the sofa. The visual texture of the photos is the perfect conceptual compliment to the brick wall. Traveled, weathered and full of stories. Not to mention the Union Jack pillow, which could easily be made with old t-shirts and stich witchery. I hope I get around to this one.

Travel Photos in Large Scale Frame

Source: Apartment Therapy

I don't remember the first time I wanted to be Martha Stewart. I'm sure it was a closeted fantasy, because no self-respecting tomboy would be caught dead with a glue gun, and we didn't raise pheasants in our backyard.

Somewhere along the way, maybe when I bought my first sewing machine at 19 - an old White that was built into the table with a knee pedal I found for $25 at an estate sale - I knew I had acquired something golden. Something that opened possibilities for a cheaper, more interesting way of life.

 I had no idea what to do with it, but somehow I made a pencil skirt that DIDN'T FALL APART WHEN I WORE IT. The zipper was totally crooked in the back, but I pretended it was part of the design.

Yes, somewhere along the way, I became a Martha-ite. And probably even more secretly, I stuck with her through her unfortunate (but deserved) time on the rock.

Paper Pendant Lamps

Use simple paper shades and add layer upon layer of pretty goodness.

This is something I would do just for the fun of it. I don't actually have anywhere to put it.

Source: Martha Stewart via Apartment Therapy

Have you ever wanted to jam spoons into your eyeballs trying to find your other earring? One time I actually slapped myself in the face when I was trying to unjangle a necklace. Pull. Yourself. Together!

Drawer Pull Jewelry Holder

Source: onewomenshaven.blogspot.com

Do you realize that a person's options for jewelry storage are limited to those canvas closet things with plastic see through openings (which I have), stretched out pantyhose, ballerina boxes or tupperware?

One time when I was little, my dad got me a jewelry box. I didn't have any jewelry, so I just put rocks in it. My point is that it looked like a miniature china cabinet, and we weren't china cabinet people. We were bull-in-china-shop people.

It was small-tall and made from lacquered cherry wood. It had etched glass double doors that opened out, and it was mirrored in the back (so you could see yourself try on your jewelry, of course). It was so tiny, and I was an unusually large child with unusually large appendages. I could barely fit my hands into it, either to place or extract my rocks. I had to just toss them in there and turn it on its side to get them out.

Which just reminds me of how much I love plants. Look! She put plants in rocks!

Pressed Garden Leaf Stones
Source: sunsetgurldesign.typepad.com

And I love seeing plants in curious places, like clear containers.

Dinosaurs belong in their native surroundings.
Source: (from top left, clockwise) witanddelight.tumblr.com, madeit.com.au, oncewed.com

My friend Elizabeth gave me this one after I had surgery.

From Elizabeth
She got it at Iron & Eve Designs. IronAndEve@yahoo.com

(What surgery, you ask? Click over here to find out.)

What are your proudest DIY's of late?