Holiday Weekend Plans?

[gjmalcyon]

By summer's end, whatever basil is still in my garden, I usually cut the branches off the main stem, and stuff them in a ziplock freezer bag, squeezing out as much air as possible, then toss it in the freezer. Then during the winter, I pick from it to toss in pasta sauces just before serving so the leaves can rehydrate. It's not "fresh" basil per se, but still 100x better...and fresher tasting than those nasty dried flakes from a shaker.

Thanks for that idea - I usually have a crap-ton of basil going when the first frost hits.

I have a vacuum sealer, so I'm going to try vacuum sealing it.

I've also kept it going for weeks in a vase like cut flowers - it'll sprout roots and keep going as long as it has water and sunshine.

 

[crank]

We planted about half the number of basil plants that we used to plant. Still have pesto in freezer from last year. Plenty of caprese salads and tomato basil salads this summer and maybe we will make some more pesto this weekend.

W have a great Italian deli about 1/4 mile away. Think I'll walk over and get a ball of freshly made mozzarella tomorrow and make a caprese salad to go with the steak we plan to grill.

 

[Balderdash]

Still have pesto in freezer from last year. Plenty of caprese salads and tomato basil salads this summer and maybe we will make some more pesto this weekend.

Same.
Anything that comes off the grill goes well with Pesto Pasta.

 

[Balderdash]

I’ll be doing a side job for an old friend. Last weekend I tore out the wall tile and tub in his bathroom, plumbed in a new diverter, leveled the studs, installed a new tub, and hung hardybacker boards. Sat will be new tile from tub to ceiling, Sunday, grout and caulk….done. He got a few quotes from a couple contractors that all came in around 6K for this little job. I told him to tell them all to pack sand and that I can save him thousands while still making decent coin for myself, and most important, doing a much better job than any of them would have done. So Labor Day weekend will be….labor indeed. Monday I’ll be on my kayak fishing…w/ a cooler full of cold beer.

Hope today went well.
Whatever happens with tomorrow, do not postpone the kayak plan !

 

[Midnight Toker]

Hope today went well.
Whatever happens with tomorrow, do not postpone the kayak plan !

Ugh...just got home (6:30 pm....started at 8:30 am.) 90% done hanging the tile. I didn't pick out the tile, and was thrown for a loop. 24x 8" tile, glass accent strips. Those extra long rectangular tiles are never 100% flat or have perfectly level edges, so there was constant level checking, spacer readjusting, and occasionally popping off a tile to either add or take away some mastic so all the grout joints are nice and smooth. If the center of a full tile was bellied out a bit, I'd pull it back off clean off the mastic and save it for cuts.

F 24" horizontal tile!!! First of all, I can't even cut one in 1/2 of my wet saw because the tile bottoms out on the arm of my saw! So I had to cut every other row's starter pieces by hand w/ my angle grinder...which I hate doing because it doesn't leave a clean edge where it needs it most. So....today was a pain in the ass, I'm beat, but I'll make damn sure this bathroom winds up being the showpiece of the house! (Will up a few pics tomorrow.)

It's margarita time!!!