Homemade Kitchen

{Bouquet of basil}

I have an old kitchen surrounded by a few new appliances. At some point I hope I'm able to update the the cabinets, the floor, and the sink.  I am someone who spends a great deal of time in my kitchen and it's a hallway kitchen so it's not easy for anyone more than me to be in there.  The next two days will be the toughest days for me and my kitchen as I get ready to make a big batch of salsa and a big batch of pesto.

Every year my mom shares her garden bounty with me so I may turn it into salsa and pesto; two items I love to have all year around for pure food happiness. Even though it's an all day process and hot.  My husband is a great help with the salsa part and I love that.

I've been looking for a good new pesto recipe that doesn't use pine nuts. So expensive, those pine nuts. I found a good one on Epicurious.com that uses pecans. If you want my salsa recipe check out this fabulous post with a tiny Groovy Girl front and center.