Sorrel & Cilantro Pesto

Photo is a wikimedia commons cc licensed photo. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sorrel

Our front yard garden is going great. We're all anxiously awaiting our first major harvest. In the meantime, we've been snipping at the greens that are growing in our cold frames. Yes, it's still cold at night here in Colorado. [sigh]

One of my new favorite things to eat is sorrel. If you've never eaten it, be prepared. It is the most intense lemon flavor I've ever had when not eating a lemon. But it's so so so good! The flavor is bright and springy. And we need more spring.

The other day we decided to make a cilantro and sorrel pesto. It was awesome. It will make your mouth sing. It also goes good with just about everything. Angel hair pasta would be awesome with this pesto. It also goes great atop fish tacos I'm told. Essentially, add this to anything you want to brighten up.

Sorrel & Cilantro Pesto
This recipe, like so many of mine, is something I just threw together. Its more like a guideline.

1/2 - 1 bunch of cilantro
1/2 - 1 bunch of sorrel (we probably used about 1/2 a cup loosely packed)
olive oil
coriander seeds
salt & pepper to taste

Put all ingredients into your blender except for the olive oil, slat & pepper. Turn the blender on and drizzle a few tablespoons in while the blades are going. Stop and scrape down the sides and test the consistency. It'll look like regular pesto does when it's ready, maybe a bit runnier because there is no nuts or cheese in this recipe. Give it a taste and adjust the salt and pepper to your liking. Proceed to eat it on everything. It would be great on bruschetta, also. Just toast some crusty bread with a bit of olive oil brushed on top. Add some yummy cheese and top with pesto.

Enjoy!

Planning & Sewing

If you haven't heard yet, Collette Patterns is having an Almost Summer 30% off sale. You just have to sign up for their newsletter to get the coupon code.

I'm in love with a lot of their patterns. They have a vintage vibe that is really awesome. I like the fact that the patterns are so well designed that they look good on a wide range of body-types. That is the mark of a great designer in my opinion. Check out the gallery to see what I'm talking about.

I got my coupon code and promptly placed an order. Now I just have to decide which one to make first. And in what fabric.

Well, I know already what I'm making first. I first fell in love with Rooibos. Just check out those details. Pockets! Piping! Cute neckline! I'm in love. Now I just have to figure out what fabric to make this out of. I hate synthetics, so those are out. Cotton? Silk? Wool? I'm thinking my first one will be cotton since it's summer. Although, the Parfait pattern is also on it's way and that's a mighty fine sun dress. I think I want to make that one out of a gingham or a seersucker. I may even make that one first so that I can wear it when I go to the beach for my sister's wedding.

I've set a goal for myself: I'm going to be in FL for 3 days, I want to have handmade clothes to wear for each day. I've already got one dress. Now I need 2 more dresses or at least a dress and a shirt. Maybe a bathing suit?? I think that's pushing it a little too far. A girl can dream, can't she?

I think though that the mini-bloomers that come as a free pdf pattern on Collette's site are a necessity for sleepwear or at least as a swimsuit cover-up.

I have too many things I want to make.

A Ravelry Revelation

I've been a member of Ravelry for a while now. But only recently have I really really gotten into it. It's a serious problem. Is there a Ravelrers Anonymous that I can join? 'Cause it's getting out of hand. I have a tab always open with it. I love looking at all of the cool things that people do to make the patterns their own. I love seeing the pattern adjustments and all of the different yarns. It's a time drain though.

But, I think it's also a major encouragement. There are so many awesome projects and patterns on there that I want to knit. I never knew I wanted to knit a shawl until two weeks ago. I thought shawls were old and fuddy duddy. But I'm knitting a shawl now.


In peacock blue malabrigo sock yarn nonetheless. It's going really well, too. I love the pattern, I love the yarn, I love how the yarn knits up. I'm addicted.

The pattern that I'm knitting is called Simple Things. You can find it's Ravelry page here.

I've made significant progress considering how busy my life has been lately. I'm pretty proud of how much I've actually gotten done!


Isn't that yarn gorgeous?!? The eyelets in the middle are so fun. I'm smitten. If you're related to me, what color do you want for Christmas? ;)

Also, knitted and felted shoes. Yes. Yes, please. I can't wait to get the yarn for this pattern. I'm thinking that I can sew on some leather or maybe a jute/hemp sole and then wear them outside. It'll feed into my obsession with making my own shoes.

An Update

I've been trying my best to get over my sewing block. I have this fear that I'm going to mess up all the amazing fabric that I have. I'm paralyzed. I can't cut into my fabric. It's gorgeous Anna Maria Horner cotton voile. I need to make some awesome things for my summer wardrobe. I'm trying to make the Cabo Halter by Amy Butler.


This is the fabric that I want to make it out of. Pistachio-green and Robins Egg-blue cotton voile. I made a muslin, but there wasn't room for the zipper. So I redrew the pattern and added room for the zipper and I pulled the center front up about an inch. It was waaaaaay too boob-alicious as the pattern was originally drawn. Some cleavage is all well and good, but I don't want to show mine off to the whole world. No thank you. Especially since I teach high school. I was hoping to wear this under a cardigan to work. We'll see. It may be something only for summer and not work. I think I'm also going to alter the pattern a bit more so that I can have the halter straps attached to the back so that I don't have to tie it all the time. That usually makes my neck hurt. I've made a muslin from the altered pattern already. I just need to work on the straps.

Next up, my recent knitting adventures...