One Local Summer, Week 5

I decided I should just go ahead and write up one of our local meals now because we are eating out or with other people the next three nights and I don't know how much control I will have over the options.

Boy, I am loving this not working most of the summer. Reminds me of when I was first teaching. There is so much you can do when you have big stretches of time available. Today, Is started out doing some volunteer work in the morning, had a workout at the gym, and ran some errands. And, then, in the late afternoon, I rode my bike to the Eastbank Farmer's Market. We're lucky to have a couple of mid-week farm markets and both are in easy biking distance from our house.

Back at home, I picked basil and made pesto. The freshly made pesto with basil right out of the garden is SO much better than other versions we've had.

Our dinner tonight:

Pesto Pasta Genovese: basil from garden, potatoes and green beans from farmer's market
Whole wheat penne: didn't make pasta from scratch today - too hot!
Salad: greens from CSA; tomatoes, cucumbers and green onions -today's market trip
Pinot Noir: King's Ridge made in Newburg, Oregon
Baguette: made by the bakers at New Seasons

The Pesto Pasta Genovese recipe was in my new Ivy Manning cookbook. This is a variation of pasta with pesto that we first learned about from our cooking teacher in Siena several years ago.

In fact, all our meals so far this week have been pretty much local thanks to the garden, our CSA, and local choices available at the grocery store. It is getting easier and easier with so many options this time of year. I'll have to try to remember these good feelings along about next February when the choices are quite a bit less plentiful.