Quick Pop-In

 As we are nearing the end of our 2026 4th of July decor tour I remembered that we never caught the front porch. I was waiting to see if Lowes ever got in their red, white and "blue" pots-and they did-so I grabbed one and with the "blue" petunias with white accents left over from spring and Easter, the "red" geranium and the blue daze-which isn't blooming much at the moment- I have enough out there now to set the scene so let's go.

I will say that keeping the potted plants happy these days is difficult. If they don't get watered at least once a day, they begin to quickly show their stress.

I grow my herbs in pots also. I keep them outside the side door towards the pool and even though this area is a bit shaded, the herbs need to be babied as well. So, whenever they start getting big and beginning to flower, I go into my "Mother Nature" mode and cut them back, bring them into the kitchen and come up with something-and, with the basil, it is almost always a pesto if I'm not just ripping them onto a pizza or pasta.

I have been making pesto for many years and when I started, I made it the traditional way using pine nuts. But, over the years, the price of those things has gone crazy high so I explored other options and I found that making it with either pistachios or pecans was just as good for my taste.

This is really the simplest recipe. Using a food processor makes easy work of it. Basically, it is 1/2 cup olive oil, 1/2 cup fresh grated parmesan cheese, 1/2 cup pistachios, 4 cups fresh basil leaves, one clove of garlic and salt and pepper to taste. Make sure that you use freshly grated cheese-NOT the stuff from the cardboard box! I always have a hunk of cheese in my fridge because I like to grate it over all kinds of things-even my roasted veggies!

And then the small tarragon plant I bought at the Master Gardener's Show back in March got huge as well. I love the smell and look of tarragon but except for tuna salad and, again, as a seasoning on my roasted veggies, I don't cook with it a lot unless I'm making a special dish for guests. But, the plant needed to be cut back so I trimmed off a lot and bundled it up and hung it over my kitchen window until it had dried. Then, I pulled it down, peeled off the leaves and chipped them very finely. I made a tuna salad and really only needed about a teaspoon so I have the rest in an air tight container for when I roast my next large batch of vegetables tomorrow night. I wish you could smell my kitchen! It is just beautiful and it makes me feel like an earth mother. Lol Imagine how good I would feel if I could actually grow ANYTHING real! LOL

That's all I have for today. I think the only things we actually have left to catch are the two bathrooms and this year's tour will be over. I will get back with that soon but until then, stay safe and stay tuned.