Talking Teenagers, Tending Gardens, Making Pesto
/On today's podcast, Lisa, Rebecca, and I talk about fostering a fullness of faith in our teenagers. We speak frankly about the realities of sometimes turbulent journeys. Then, we move on to discuss our gardens in all their summer glory. And we manage to share a recipe for pesto (rumor has it basil is overtaking Danielle Bean's homestead:-). You can hear the conversation here.
Helpful links related to the podcast:
Mary Beth's Confirmation Story
Some thoughts on resources for sharing the faith with teenagers
An in depth, comprehensive, apologetics based approach.
Never too Many Children or Flowers
Pesto Recipe
2 1/2 cups fresh basil, washed and patted dry and packed fairly firmly in the measuring cup
1/2 cup walnuts or pine nuts
5 good sized cloves of garlic, peeled and pressed
1/2 cup good quality olive oil
1 pound of fettuccine, reserve 2 cups of the cooking water
2 ounces cream cheese
1/2 grated romano or parmesan cheese
Chop the basil and process with nuts in the food processor.
Combine olive oil and garlic and heat in small pan until it just sizzles. Do not let it get gold and definitely don't brown it. As soon as it sizzles, take it off the heat. You are just heating enough to take the bitterness out of the garlic. Add the oil mixture to the basil mixture and process together.
At this point, you can freeze in small zipper freezer bag to save until it's been snowing for weeks and you want to taste summer.
To prepare as a pasta meal: boil 1 pound of fettuccine. While fettuccine is cooking, blend 2 ounces of cream cheese into the pesto (this isn't necessary but it is quite nice:-). Before you drain the noodles, add two cups of the pasta water to the pesto. Toss the drained fettuccine with the sauce and sprinkle liberally with grated cheese.
