Weekend Recap and the Coveted Recipe Revealed

Dear Sisters,

I can't believe that you have already come and gone! I've been looking forward to your visit for over a year and now it's over. Hard to believe. We had such a good time and I'm so grateful that you were all able and willing to come. I truly loved spending the time together with you and Dave and mom and dad. Molly, we so missed you.

Here are a few photos of our memorable weekend:

The bike ride to the beach.

Canoe Races

Mom and Dad

Paddlers Extraordinaire

 I tried to include photos from the lighthouse, but they kept inserting sideways. Huh. I don't know. Anyway, we enjoyed some fun food during your visit and several of you asked for recipes. Here's one of my faves from your visit:

Roasted Red Pepper-Basil Pesto (compliments of Bobby Flay)

You can roast the red peppers as he does. Obviously, that's preferred. If you're typically short on time (like me), you can use the jarred variety. 

• Roasted red peppers (the equivalent of two peppers worth)
• 2 cloves garlic
• 1/2 cup fresh basil leaves
• 3 tablespoons pine nuts
• 1/4 cup extra-virgin olive oil
• 1/4 cup grated parmesan
• Salt and freshly cracked black pepper

Put the peppers, garlic, basil and pine nuts into your food processor or blender and pulse until coarsely chopped. With the motor running, slowly add the olive oil and pulse to emulsify. Add the cheese and salt and pepper to taste and pulse few more times to combine.

We have used this recipe for everything from pizza sauce to a dip for crackers and veggies to a sauce for sandwiches (as we did during your visit).

I can't wait to hear what you do with it. I'm excited to share with you next week the recipe I found for laundry detergent. I wanted to test it out before I shared. After using it for about three weeks, I really like it and haven't had any problems. So, next week it is.

I had such a great time with you all and thank you for the fun visit.

Love, Kate

p.s. LOVED the tomatillo salsa you made while you here, Ames. And Dave, LOVED the stuffed jalapeno poppers you made...even it it did take me hours to recover from the heat.