Summer Herb Garden

This Spring, I planted some herbs in containers outside around the house. I really didn’t plant a lot – just enough to cook with. My container garden included basil, marjoram, sage, parsley, oregano, and dill. I harvested some of them tonight, and it made me wish I had planted more varieties and quantities. The basil didn’t come in as abundantly as I had hoped. I think this may have to do with where I placed the container. I cut quite a bit off of it. I hope it keeps growing. This weekend I am going to make pesto!  The dill I planted looks good, but there just isn’t a lot of it. I tend to use all of my dill up on our favorite spicy tomato soup recipe! I’m not sure what to do with all of my sage & marjoram. I’ll look around for good recipes & keep you posted!

Salsa!

So David and I go to Crystal & Greg’s house for dinner before going to see Batman. Crystal made these fabulous fajitas and homemade salsa. I was so impressed by her salsa, that I was immediately inspired to make my own. Luckily, our neighbors brought us fresh tomatoes from their garden the very next day. I seeded & diced the tomatoes, threw in some onion, garlic, cilantro, and a serrano pepper. They were out of jalapeno peppers at Kroger, so I had to settle for the serrano. After some salt & pepper, I was ready for a taste test.  It wasn’t as good as Crystal’s. I’m not sure where I went wrong, maybe too much onion. Anyway, maybe next time I can “crack” Crystal’s recipe.

BTW – Batman was great!

Coconut Cream Bars

I LOVE coconut cream pie. It is definitely one of my favorite desserts. It seems like it is a lot of work with little result though. So I found a recipe on MarthaStewart.com for Coconut Cream Bars. It is basically the same concept. It just makes a whole tray instead of a small pie. I loved how it turned out! It was perfect for bringing to work & sharing. I am always nervous about making my own whipped cream. I’m afraid I will over or under mix it. This turned out perfectly though. I will definitely make this one again.