Years ago, my friend Emily had us over for dinner and being the amazing chef that she is, wowed me with her pesto that she used arugula and walnuts in, instead of the classic basil and pine nuts. I’m definitely a classic basil pesto fan, but something about the bitterness of the arugula calmed by the smooth walnut flavor remained with me for a long time. At the time I didn’t own a food processor, so the recipe slipped from my mind for a long time, until about a month ago, when challenged with having a vegetarian over for dinner (I was vegan for years, but a TERRIBLE cook back then) the recipe popped back into my head as the perfect star of the meal.

It’s ridiculously easy to make, and you can basically eat it on anything. Just plop that stuff right on any meat, veggies, toast, GO WILD! I have a very small food processor, so you can double this recipe to have leftovers or feed more people if yours is larger. This recipe was enough to top pasta with for four people.

Arugula Walnut Pesto
2 cups arugula, packed
1/2 cup shelled walnuts
1/2 cup grated parmesan
1/2 olive oil (extra virgin will taste better, but I never have it on hand as I cook with regular)
6 garlic cloves, broken up but not peeled!
salt to taste

Heat a pan with a small bit of olive oil and add the un-peeled garlic. You want to cook them until the garlic inside is soft – the skins will turn a golden brown and start to absorb the oil. It takes roughly 8-10 minutes. Remove the garlic, but not the oil, and let the garlic cool down. Add the walnuts and toast for a few minutes. When the garlic is cool enough, peel the skins off.

In a food processor, combine all of the ingredients except for the olive oil. Once well combined, slowly add the olive oil until smooth. Add salt to taste.

The first night I made it, I put red and yellow cherry tomatoes tossed with olive oil in the broiler for a few minutes and we ate the pesto and tomatoes a top angel hair pasta. It was dreamy.

Photos by Kate Miss, taken on a Pentax Honeywell Spotmatic with Portra 160 film. Holding a spoon and focusing a manual camera takes skills I apparently don’t have all the time.

Recipe: Arugula Walnut Pesto is a post from: For Me, For You

I whipped up some sweet potato bread out of boredom last night that was super easy and crazy delicious. If you’ve never had it before, it’s a lot like pumpkin bread, but I found this to possibly be even better. I thought it would make a great weekend recipe – perfect for a snack or breakfast with an egg on top. I have some chai jelly I got at the food swap that is heavenly on top. Sweet potatoes are probably my favorite vegetable on this earth and we eat them like there’s no tomorrow. I buy huge bags of them so I always have them on hand.

Sweet Potato Bread

• 1 1/2 cups white sugar
• 1/2 cup melted butter
• 2 eggs
• 1 3/4 cups whole wheat flour
• 1 teaspoon baking soda
• 1/4 teaspoon salt
• 1/2 teaspoon ground cinnamon
• 1/2 teaspoon ground nutmeg
• 1/3 cup water
• 1 heaping cup cooked and mashed sweet potatoes (a bit more than a cup, more like 1 1/4) * I left mine a little chunky so the bread would have some texture to it.
• 1/2 cup chopped pecans or walnuts (optional, I didn’t use them) I suspect coconut would be good in this, maybe golden raisins.

* The original recipe called for white flour and 1 cup cooked sweet potatoes, but I used whole wheat so I upped the sweet potatoes a bit so it wouldn’t be too dry.

You can either boil the peeled, chopped sweet potatoes or roast them. Your choice. While I’m sure roasting them takes this to the next level as sweet potatoes get downright caramel-y when they’re roasted, I was impatient and boiled them and it still tastes like perfection.

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees F (175 degrees C). Combine flour, baking soda, salt, cinnamon and nutmeg, set aside. In a separate bowl, combine sugar and butter; mix well. Add eggs and beat. Stir flour mixture into egg mixture alternately with water. Stir in sweet potatoes and chopped nuts.
2. Pour batter into greased 9×5 inch loaf pan. Bake for about one hour.

Weekend Recipe: Sweet Potato Bread is a post from: For Me, For You

I don’t quite know where to start with thanking all of your for your heartfelt, touching, honest, wise, amazing, holy crap where did you all come from comments on my home post. And emails. And tweets. Not only did you give me so much to think about, but I’ve never felt less alone in my life. Good god, you guys, we are all in the same boat in life! I do want to point out for some of you who sounded like you may have thought I’m feeling pretty bummed out right now, but I assure you that I’m not Charlie Brown-ing up the streets of LA lately. When people ask me how LA is, I respond, “great!” because life here is totally a-ok right now in the grand scheme of things.

Things that are good, things that feel right in my home right now: jaw dropping sunsets, a strong, delicious drink and a boyfriend who makes you the best sandwiches in all the land.

Have a drink with me? It’s been a long week, and this is my very favorite, ever:

Maple Sour
2 oz whiskey or bourbon (I prefer Makers Mark, or Knob Creek)
1/2 oz lemon (if you use a meyer lemon [yum], use a little more as it’s not as sour)
1/2 oz maple syrup (if you are a whiskey newb or wuss, use a little more)

Pour over ice in a cocktail shaker. Shake the shit out of it. Strain into a glass. Garnish with a lemon peel if you’re fancy, huh/have too much time on your hands/are trying to impress someone. Be careful, they are dangerously delicious.

If you don’t drink, and/or still need a little pick-me-up, watch this.

Friday Bits? Maybe next week. Have a wonderful weekend!

Home, continued is a post from: For Me, For You