Vocalizing, otherwise known as frightening my neighbors

I am absolutely convinced that in the next few weeks the police will be called in response to my vocalizing in our living room.  I can only imagine the terrible images that fill the minds of our neighbors when they hear my caterwauling from 1-2:30 pm daily...  Suffering kitten?  Seal pup bludgeoning?  Voodoo ritual?  So far no one has confronted us regarding the noise, but it's only a matter of time before I'm explaining to the friendly sheriff that "I'm singing high notes not screaming of misery" in the middle of a work day in rural Ohio...  I've seen out of the corner of my eye a few neighbors rushing past our window so as not to draw attention to themselves.  They don't want to be the next victim of whatever godforsaken activities are going on in #7...

In order to counteract the terrifying sounds wafting from our windows I've been trying to cook foods with particularly appetizing scents in the last few days.  One of these is fresh pesto.  Who doesn't love the herbal creaminess of basil combined with pines nuts and cheese emulsified with crisp tuscan olive oil?  Well, hopefully whoever they are they don't live in our neighborhood...  

One of the best things about our little house is the little plot of land I've turned into a vegetable and herb garden-it's perfection!  Currently I'm growing zucchini plants (more for the blossoms than the squash,) tomatoes, basil, oregano, and Italian parsley...  I am absolultely obsessed with my zucchini plants.  I literally go outside and count the burgeoning blossoms five times a day-I need a support group.  So, from the garden to the kitchen went some basil and it became pesto (I'm not going to include this in recipe form, but in case you don't already know it's basically 2 cups basil, 3 cloves garlic, 1/2 cup pecorino or parmigiano, 1/4 cup pine nuts in a food processor with a lot of olive oil.)

Here are 2 really simple ways to use the pesto that will make it more interesting than just putting on pasta-though that's pretty amazing in itself.

PESTO SALMON  (this smells so good while it cooks)

filet of salmon

some fresh pesto

preheat oven to 400

spread salmon filet with a nice layer of pesto sauce.  Bake until cooked through-about 12 minutes in my oven.  YUM!

HUB'S PESTO VINAIGRETTE

Heaping spoonful of fresh pesto

One nice squeeze of fresh lemon juice

Olive oil

In a small mixing bowl wisk lemon juice into pesto to break it up into a thinner liquid, then slowly add olive oil until desired consistency is reached (basically, salad dressing consistency...)

Add to green salad or potato salad or poached asparagus, or poached halibut or basically anything savory....

Happy Pesto-ing!