basil-me-mucho

Happy July! Summer at its best is on its way... And with it, bringing enough sunshine to ripen my plants. Patience, patience.

{Two of my tomato plants--these will yield cherry tomatoes.}

{Pumpkin, yellow squash, and zucchini, now with some girth!}

I have never grown Basil before, but I am having a hoot with it this year! Look at this bunch I clipped this morning:

The cool thing about basil is that if you prune it every few weeks, it will grow back bushier and stronger, giving you even MORE leaves to cook with. {This is the second time this year I've pruned; I chopped up that batch and stuck it in the freezer in a baggie with some olive oil for future pesto.} Just trim the leaves/stalks down to the first few pairs of leaves at the bottom to prune. It will look sad, but not for long.

One of my favorite things to do with herbs, especially dill, is to make Herb Butter. I've never tried it with basil, but I think I have no excuses now!

PESTO BUTTER - Good on beef, veal, chicken, or your favorite bread.

1/2 cup butter
3 tablespoons freshly grated parmesan cheese
2 tablespoons chopped fresh basil
1 teaspoon corasely ground black pepper

In a medium bowl, beat 1/2 cup butter (1 stick), softened, with wooden spoon until creamy. Beat in flavor ingredients; blend well. Transfer flavored butter to waxed paper and shape into log about 6 inches long. Wrap, twisting ends of waxed paper to seal. Let set in the fridge for a day; then enjoy!