Sweet Baby, Herbs, & Dinner

Do I ever need to post another photo? Ever?

I know I'm not as productive as I used to be, but hey-I don't care. I could just sit quietly and stare at that precious baby face all day long. I seriously waste HOURS each week, just squishing myself horizontally alongside this tiny fat cheeked baby, watching her sleep. Her fat rolls are delicious....the chubby legs, the little dimples at the base of her fingers, the cheeks that rival a squirrel's. I love this baby so much it hurts.

P.S. Let me remove the word 'waste'. I meant to say 'indulge'.

A quick lunch today. We woke up at 78 degrees...ug. It has been rapidly plunging as of sunset....it's now 56 degrees..yay! That feels decadent here in Texas.

Lunch: Tomato soup...sautee 4 garlic cloves in a drizzle of olive oil until soft, add one huge can of petite diced tomatoes, add 1 tsp chopped rosemary and basil, add 1 tablespoon cream, then puree with immersion blender

-homebrewed porter

-sandwich---on rye: pastrami, brie, chopped black olives, whole grain mustard, red onion, fig jam

-pickle. Unnegotiable.

I've been participating in the nation wide food co-op called Bountiful Baskets for a while now. This week, I got a $10.00 Herb Selection, and it was AWESOME! I got a ridiculous amount of basil....like----it filled my kitchen sink. I have no idea how to measure that....it was an unreal amount of basil. I made a ton of pesto, then chopped the remainder up and put it in ice cube trays.

I got about 2-4 cups of sage, thyme, marjoram, cilantro, dill, and rosemary. This is the thyme I oven-dried.

I'm drying the dill and rosemary by just clumping them with a rubber band and air-drying them. I started the dill in the oven, but it was saying 'no'.

I dried most of the herbs in the oven. I washed them, then patted them dry, then spread them out on baking trays. I put them in the oven at the lowest temp for about 3 hours, checking every 15 minutes to make sure they weren't burning. I cooked them 'til they were dry. (Thanks to Tayelor for directions.)

After they were dry, I separated the leaves from the stems of marjoram and thyme. For the sage, I crushed it in a mortal and pestle. I'm storing all of the herbs in air tight glass containers.