Recipe: Sun Dried Tomato and Fresh Tomato Artichoke Pesto

Celebrate summer with this flavor-packed, healthy pesto that features artichokes and both sun dried and fresh tomatoes (recipe here).

What's going gangbusters in my kitchen garden? The basil and cherry tomatoes. Yay! What could I probably eat for the next seven days in a row? Pasta tossed with lots of cherry tomatoes, fresh basil, and this quick and easy Sun Dried Tomato and Fresh Tomato Artichoke Pesto.

A few summers ago I pretty much lived on this pasta with sun dried tomato and artichoke pesto, cherry tomatoes, and basil for weeks. I even ate it for breakfast.

While mixing up the third or fourth batch of the pesto, I took a cue from my favorite basil pesto recipe and added some fresh tomatoes. Yum. This fresh tomato version of the pesto is a little thinner than the original, with more tomato flavor and fewer calories.

Enjoy it in the original pasta recipe with cherry tomatoes and fresh basil, or simply toss it with some hot pasta and cheese, or spread it on slices of crusty baguette (my Easy Four Hour French Bread Recipe is here), or just eat it with a spoon like I often do. I'm sure you could use it in all sorts of other ways too.

If you're serving it with pasta, you can mix up the pesto while the pasta water boils, or you can make it ahead of time and keep it in the fridge. It tastes even better the next day. Enjoy!

Got a bumper crop? More Farmgirl Fare recipes featuring fresh tomatoes:

Easy Homemade Tomato Vegetable Juice (like V8 but better)

Greek Salad Pitas with Baby Spinach and Quick Kalamata Olive Tapenade

Greek Style Panzanella Salad

Mexican Jumping Bean Slaw (and Tacos) with High Kickin' Creamy Tomato Dressing

Middle Eastern Vegetable Salad (Fattoush)

No-Cook Fresh Tomato Pasta Sauce with Basil, Capers, & Kalamatas

Savory Tomato, Mozzarella, and Basil Pesto Pie with an Easy Cheesy Biscuit Crust

Quick & Easy Gazpacho (refreshing chilled tomato vegetable soup)

Saving the Harvest with No Sugar Green Tomato Relish

Still hungry? You'll find links to all my sweet and savory Less Fuss, More Flavor recipes in the Farmgirl Fare Recipe Index.

© FarmgirlFare.com, hand-picked, vine-ripened, and always full of flavor.

Wordless Weekend Dose of Donkey Cute

More donkeys? Here.
More wordless cute? Here.

© FarmgirlFare.com

Friday Dose of Jasper Cute

Have a relaxing weekend.

What a pleasant week. We've been working outside as much as possible, inspired and invigorated by this unseasonably cool weather. Fifty degree mornings in August? Unheard of. And wonderful.

This respite from the energy sapping heat and humidity has the wildlife out and about too. More below. . .

Wordless Wednesday Big Dose of Farm Dog Cute

14 more photos below. . .

Recipe: Italian No-Cook Raw Tomato Pasta Sauce with Basil, Capers, and Kalamata Olives

My version of the simple, flavorful pasta sauce made with chopped raw tomatoes and uncooked seasonings that is eaten in country houses all over Italy (recipe here).

Escape to the Italian countryside with this quick and easy No-Cook Fresh Tomato Pasta Sauce. It's the perfect way to celebrate the wonderful flavor of juicy, vine-ripened tomatoes from your garden or the farmer's market.

I've been making fresh tomato pasta sauce for years, but last summer I learned a neat trick. To make your raw tomato sauce taste lustier, spoon off some of the tomato sauce juice and toss it with the hot, drained pasta over medium-low heat until absorbed. Wow.

This recipe is made for interpretation; simply leave out or add whatever herbs or other ingredients you like or have on hand. I love Greek kalamata olives so I tossed them in; other olives would be nice too. The sauce tastes best if allowed to sit at room temperature for several hours before serving.

Sometimes I skip the pasta altogether and just sop up the sauce with a hunk of warm crusty bread. Or you could toast some baguette slices and make bruschetta. These easy Four Hour Parisian Daily Baguettes are so handy to have on hand in the freezer; they taste great, freeze beautifully, and defrost quickly. (They're also a perfect recipe for new bread bakers.)

Enjoy!

More Farmgirl Fare recipes that celebrate garden fresh tomatoes:
Easy Homemade Tomato Vegetable Juice (like V8 but better)
Greek Salad Pitas with Baby Spinach and Quick Kalamata Olive Tapenade
Greek Style Panzanella Salad
Mexican Jumping Bean Slaw (and Tacos) with High Kickin' Creamy Tomato Dressing
Middle Eastern Vegetable Salad (Fattoush)
Savory Tomato, Mozzarella, and Basil Pesto Pie with an Easy Cheesy Biscuit Crust
Quick & Easy Gazpacho (refreshing chilled tomato vegetable soup)

Still hungry? You'll find links to all my sweet and savory Less Fuss, More Flavor recipes in the Farmgirl Fare Recipe Index.

© FarmgirlFare.com, where you say tomato, I say let's eat.

Monday Dose of Cute: Flying into the New Week

May yours be filled with lots of treats!

More Helga? Here.

More sheep? Here.

© FarmgirlFare.com, where there's nothing faster than a flock of fat sheep hurtling toward the treat trough. They're even faster than donkeys.

Friday Dose of Cute: Hot Dogs Chillin' Out

We've had over 11½ inches of rain in the past two weeks. I can hear raindrops pattering on the metal roof above my head as I type (one of the best sounds ever), and there are more thunderstorms in the forecast through Tuesday. This never happens in summer. This never happens at all. It's been wonderful. And weird.

The rosemary and lavender plants are very unhappy about their soggy feet (they're now covered with vented plastic laundry baskets in an attempt to keep them from getting any wetter), the 20 tomato plants are looking sicklier by the day, the cherry tomatoes (the only ripe tomatoes in the garden so far) are all cracking, and a lot of rain has fallen inside the leaky Shack, but otherwise things are so far pretty much fine, which is actually kind of a miracle. A lot of places are flooding.

We're thrilled that the hayfield and grazing pastures are getting so much rain after the beating they took during last year's horrendous drought. It's the middle of summer and there's still plenty out there for the sheep and donkeys to eat, with more grass growing up every day. It's hard to believe the farm looked like this last August.

On the way home from an 8-hour errand running trip to town on Tuesday, we stopped to buy 10 pounds of heirloom tomatoes and have a little visit with one of our Amish neighbors. We talked about guinea hens, growing herbs, and of course this crazy weather. I think she figured it out: "We're getting all of last year's rain this year."

As long as we aren't getting next year's rain, that's just fine.

The best part? Our beloved wet weather creek, which usually only runs for a few weeks each year during the winter and/or spring, is swooshing crisp, cool water through the farm during the heat of summer.

10 more photos below. . .

Monday Farm Photos: Have You Ever Seen A Dragonfly Up Close?

8 more photos below. . .

Friday Dose of Anonymous Beagle Cute

Have a delicious weekend.

More beagle Bert? Here.

More farm dogs? Here.

© FarmgirlFare.com, good to the last lick.

How To Freeze Blueberries & A Recipe for Easy Blueberry Bonanza Breakfast Bars

Celebrate a blueberry bonanza with this triple layer, anytime sweet treat (recipe here).

Got fresh blueberries? Eat some now and freeze some for later. Come winter you'll be really glad you did. And it's so easy to freeze blueberries. (Want to stock up on berries? Find locally grown bounty at LocalHarvest.org or PickYourOwn.org.)

Some people spread their blueberries out on a baking sheet and let them freeze solid before packing them into bags, like you do with raspberries and strawberries and blackberries to keep them from turning into a giant frozen clump.

But I've found that if you simply fill up a zipper freezer bag or plastic freezer container with blueberries and toss it in the freezer, the berries will freeze individually, allowing you to scoop them out a cup or two at a time (they're great in smoothies).

These scrumptious Blueberry Bonanza Breakfast Bars are my favorite way to celebrate blueberry season. They can be made with either fresh or frozen blueberries, and they don't have to be eaten for breakfast. I originally wrote about them back in 2006, and they've been one of my most popular recipes ever since.

Don't let the three separate layers scare you away; they come together quickly and you only need to dirty up two mixing bowls. They also freeze beautifully. With the oatmeal crust and streusel topping, these bars remind me of an eat-with-your-hands cross between blueberry pie and blueberry crisp.

If you only have a small blueberry haul (maybe because you ate half of them in the car on the way home), you could try the Just Peachy version or the Apple Blueberry version, which call for just two cups of blueberries each. Or use your imagination and what you have on hand; Farmgirl Fare readers have reported delicious success making these bars with blackberries, frozen cranberries, stewed apricots, and raspberries. Enjoy!

Thanks so much to all of you who take the time to come back and report on my recipes. And thanks for pinning them on Pinterest too.

Hungry for more than blueberry bars? You'll find links to all my sweet and savory Less Fuss, More Flavor recipes in the Farmgirl Fare Recipe Index.

Monday Dose of Cute: Ready to Jump into a New Week?

It's gonna be great.

More Jasper? Here.

More chickens? Here.

© FarmgirlFare.com, where somebody promised you Jasper's story ages ago and then totally forgot to deliver. It's actually a fairly short story, so hopefully I'll get around to telling it soon. Meanwhile he's pretty much taken over the farm.

Friday Farm Color: Pretty in Purple Coneflower Pink

Have a lovely weekend.

Echinacea is one of my favorite plants. It's an easy to grow, no maintenance, heat loving, cold tolerant, drought tolerant, long blooming, self seeding, pollinator attracting, poor soil loving, insect resistant perennial that's pretty much impossible to kill. It also happens to be one of the most popular medicinal herbs in America.

But most importantly, it's beautiful, especially since the flowers look different at every stage. More about growing echinacea here and more echinacea photos here.

© FarmgirlFare.com, where less time tending flowers means more time snuggling cute critters (and baking bread).

Wordless Wednesday Dose of Chicken Cute

11 more photos below. . .

Tuesday Baker's Dozen Dose of Seven Donkey Cute

Let's roll.

Much to their delight (not), our herd of donkeys has been living out in the (well-fenced) front field with the sheep. This command decision was made, without consulting the donkeys, for two reasons: to give Donkeyland a rest and allow it to hopefully reseed itself, and because the seed stems on the grass in the front field grew up so high this year (yes!) that the sheep were afraid to venture very far out in it. This meant that a lot of good food was going to waste.

Enter seven tall and fearless longears.

In retaliation for being wrenched from their homeland and imprisoned with a bunch of woolly beasts, the donkeys have been spending much of their time hiding out in their secret donkey clubhouse, a darkly shaded area of cool bare dirt at the edge of a small ravine and under a giant cedar tree, away from the riffraff and gnats.

If you try and sneak a peek into the clubhouse to make sure all seven donkeys are still alive and well, they give you dirty looks and then gallop haughtily off into the brush.

When we first moved the donkeys out front, they would spend a lot of time standing at the gate that leads out of the field and up to the barn and the house, like they were waiting to be rescued or released, though Joe said it might have been because the nearby fly trap kept the gnats away. (We've been using these regular size and big bag non-toxic Rescue fly traps around the farm for years; they stink but they work great).

As we were leaving the farm yesterday to run some errands, the donkeys were once again lined up at the gate, staring us down as we approached. Joe said, "When I came out earlier I told the donkeys to stay up here so you'd be able to see them." Three and a half hours later we returned home to the rear view of the exact same scene.

"How long did you tell them to stay there?"

I don't know what was going on this morning, but when I hiked out front to check on everybody, the donkeys all piled out of the clubhouse and came over for scratches and pets. They tanked up on water, licked some salt, nibbled some minerals and diatomaceous earth (you can read about the many ways we use this wonderful, all natural stuff around the farm here), took turns taking dust baths, checked out the grass, and totally ignored the sheep. I snapped more pictures of them than I've taken in the past month.

12 more photos below. . .

Monday Dose of Farm Color: Double Delight

Double rainbow over the hayfield (it was brighter in real life, but you can just make out the second one above the first).

Did you have a good weekend? We were thrilled to get over two inches of much needed rain in the past 48 hours, with a chance for more in the next few days. Woohoo!

I'm loving the break from my daily sweat-drenched watering sessions in the kitchen garden, though they're much more enjoyable since I bought some of these awesome, ultra light (made in the USA!) Water Right hoses two years ago. What a difference. I used to dread watering.

We're slowly getting back into the swing of things after a whirlwind 10 days of plane travel and cross-country road tripping (Joe), stocking up on a ton of groceries in the big city and getting 10 inches of hair lopped off (me), enjoying the company of a hard working houseguest (Joe's older brother, who hasn't been here in 6 years and who managed to squeeze in two fun bread baking lessons in between helping Joe with the enormous job of cleaning out the spring boxes), and stuffing ourselves with lots of wonderful homemade food (everybody). It's been crazy hot and humid, but that's sum, sum, summertime.

Wishing you a wonderful start to your week!

Want to see more of this place?

Farm landscape photos 2011

Farm landscape photos 2012

Farm landscape photos 2013

© FarmgirlFare.com, the eyes to the sky foodie farm blog where we're hoping that tonight's supermoon won't be obscured by cloud cover like June's was, but if the clouds mean we're getting more rain, then so be it. We'll just raise a champagne toast to the ceiling and use our imaginations.

Recipe: Not Too Sweet Lemon Rosemary Zucchini Bread

A moist zucchini bread made with less sugar; lemon zest and fresh rosemary add a flavorful twist (recipe here).

Got zucchini yet? I know some of you do, because How To Freeze Zucchini and Summer Squash & My One Claim to Fame is the most popular post on Farmgirl Fare right now.

It's easy to freeze zucchini for winter, but you could also make an extra loaf or two of this scrumptious Lemon Rosemary Zucchini Bread and freeze it instead.

If you're up to your ears in zucchini and bored with the same old cinnamon zucchini bread, you're going to love this favorite recipe from last year. It's not a savory quick bread, but with less sugar than many zucchini bread recipes, plus some whole wheat flour and olive oil, it doesn't feel like you're eating cake for breakfast. (Not that there's anything wrong with eating cake for breakfast.) It also makes a delicious afternoon snack.

The flavors of the rosemary and lemon are pleasantly subtle, but you can bump them up if you like. This bread tastes even better the next day, will stay moist for several days, and freezes well. I like it best sliced, toasted, and slathered with butter. Enjoy!

P.S. 100% Whole Wheat Coconut Zucchini Bread (made with unsweetened coconut) and moist and healthy 100% Whole Grain Carrot, Raisin, and Zucchini Bran Muffins (made without bran cereal).

© FarmgirlFare.com, wishing we were up to our ears in homegrown zucchini!

Monday Dose of Random Critter Cute

The only thing sweeter than a bird hitching a ride on the back of a sheep? Three birds on one sheep.

I didn't get around to putting together a Friday Farm Fix last week, but it wasn't for a lack of cute. Here are nine favorite four-footer shots taken around the farm during the past week (sorry, no chickens). Hover your cursor over each image for a description.

More photos below. . .

Thursday Dose of All-American Cute

Happy Fourth of July!

Wishing you a wonderful day surrounded by good food and those you love.

More Jasper? Here.

More farm cats? Here.

More about growing those gorgeous Dragon Langerie beans? Here.

P.S. The wild turkeys are out strolling around the hayfield today, celebrating the fact that it isn't that other American holiday.

© FarmgirlFare.com, made in the USA, available around the world.

Recipe: Confetti Crunch Coleslaw with Creamy Lemon Caper Dressing

A healthy, crunchy slaw that's made with green and purple cabbage, green onions, carrots, and sweet peppers and tossed with a tangy lemon caper dressing.

Love coleslaw but tired of the same old mayo-heavy recipes? Liven—and lighten—things up with this colorful, flavor-packed version of an all-American classic.

This tasty, low fat slaw is made with yogurt and a lot less mayonnaise than many traditional coleslaw recipes. It goes well with all sorts of summer meals and is perfect for bringing to potlucks, picnics, backyard barbecues, and buffet parties. I love having a bowl in the fridge for a healthy snack or the fastest dinner salad ever.

Recipe below. . .

Recipe: Big Bite of Fresh Basil Herb Dip & Salad Dressing

This simple, healthy dip is packed with fresh basil, parsley, chives, and garlic (recipe here).

The basil plants in my kitchen garden are growing like mad, the chive patch is still thick and lush, and I just picked five pounds of gorgeous green beans. It's time to mix up some Big Bite of Fresh Basil Dip.

Having a batch of this flavorful, herb-packed dip on hand in the fridge makes it easy to bypass the sweets and grab a healthy snack of fresh summer veggies instead, although it also tastes great with pretzels and potato chips.

You can thin it out with a little milk or buttermilk to make a flavorful salad dressing, or you can pack it in a pita (homemade perhaps?) with some greens and chopped vegetables. If you let the dip chill for at least a few hours before serving (or overnight) it'll taste even better.

Any way you serve it, it's a celebration of the season. Enjoy!

Love dip? More Farmgirl Fare fresh recipes:

Easy Homemade Low Fat Buttermilk Ranch Dressing

Hot Swiss Chard Artichoke Dip

Low Fat, Full Flavor Fiesta Cottage Cheese Veggie Dip (and going on factory tours)

Really Easy White Bean Pesto Dip/Spread (and my favorite pesto recipe)

Refreshing Radish Cream Cheese Dip with Parsley, Scallions, and Feta

Quick Refried Black Bean Dip with Tomatoes, Onions, and Cilantro

White Bean Artichoke Dip with Rosemary, Pecorino, and Kalamata Olives

P.S. Growing (and Using!) Your Own Fresh Herbs: My Six Favorite Varieties (chives, basil, Greek oregano, lemon thyme, Italian parsley, and lemon balm), plus all my basil growing posts.

© FarmgirlFare.com, where we dip it, dip it good (and Devo and I will now be spending the day together).

Tail End of the Week: Get Your Friday Farm Fix #32

Welcome to the Friday Farm Fix, a sporadic series where I share a random sampling of what's been happening around the farm during the past week (sometimes actually on Friday). Just joining us? You'll find all the previous Friday Farm Fix posts here and here.

Marta and Daisy snoozing in the creek bed shade during the heat of the day.

Wondering what was happening on the farm this time last year? Check out the Friday Farm Fix #16. (It's so nice to still have grass in the fields this year!)

Hot, hot, hot. That pretty much sums up the first week of summer on the farm, with each day hotter and more humid than the next. We all spent the week just trying to beat the heat.

Thursday night a huge thunderstorm crashed and boomed around us for most of the early morning hours, bringing high winds and a much needed 1½ inches of rain. Thankfully it's a little cooler today, and there's a gorgeous breeze blowing. We may even get some more rain tonight.

After 18½ years in Missouri, this San Francisco Bay Area girl still isn't used to the noise and ferocity of thunderstorms, especially at night. A few years ago I learned that the Pacific coast is one of the few places that doesn't regularly experience thunderstorms. The rare appearance of thunder and lighting was always a big deal when I was a kid. Now I just whimper and snuggle up to my hunky farmguy Joe, then lie awake worrying about things like big trees falling over and how badly (and in how many places) it's raining inside The Shack.

The best part of the week was the daily sightings of a young doe and her spotted twin fawns in the hayfield. This graceful trio has been coming out of the woods near the house each evening, but now we're seeing them in the afternoons too. Mama strolls through the grass, alert at all times, while the babies scamper and play around her.

All week we've been calling each other on the radio announcing "Doe and twins alert! Doe and twins alert!" (These handy little two-way radios are one of our best farm purchases ever; we've been using them every day for years.)

In other (much less cute) wildlife news. . .

18 more farm photos and the rest of the weekly recap below (hover your cursor over each image for a description). . .

Wednesday Dose of Cute: The Next 30 Days of Yoga Session Starts July 8th!

Get happy, do yoga (no mat required).

Have you been wanting to try yoga, or wishing you could establish (or restablish) a regular yoga practice at home? Marianne Elliott's 30 Days of Yoga: A Lifetime of Well-Being brings the benefits of a yoga class into your own home, and it works. I've taken the course twice, and it really did change my life.

The next session begins July 8th, and registration is open now.

Marianne is an author (her book, Zen Under Fire: How I Found Peace in the Midst of War, was just released in the U.S.), yoga teacher, courage cultivator, and human rights advocate and consultant, as well as a former human rights lawyer in New Zealand and a United Nations peacekeeper in Afghanistan. She created 30 Days of Yoga for herself because she struggled with her own home yoga practice, and her approach is grounded in a radical form of self-kindness.

30 Days of Yoga is a lovingly crafted online course to help you develop and sustain a home yoga practice that adds self-care, kindness, and a greater sense of well-being to your daily life.

There are three different 30 Days of Yoga courses to choose from: the standard version (which I did), one for total beginners, and one for people who think they're too busy to do yoga. The standard version lets you choose from several different yoga practices to suit your needs and goals.

Each course includes daily e-mails and weekly podcasts from Marianne, plus additional special practices, access to a special course site, and an e-book containing all the written materials from the course.

You'll find plenty of support and encouragement (and meet some really neat people from around the world) in the private 30 Days of Yoga Facebook group, which you can remain a part of after you finish the course. You can also request a personal yoga buddy for the 30 days (I'm still good friends with mine).

All the details, including a link to three free sample videos (the yoga for bloggers is wonderful!) are here.

Marianne says that a little bit of yoga every day will not only keep you well, it will also help you stay clear, connected, and courageous—all qualities you need to do your great work in the world. I totally agree. 30 Days of Yoga might be exactly what you need. I know it was for me.

© FarmgirlFare.com, where, as demonstrated here and here, yoga is for everybody.

Monday Dose of Cute: Monday?

Might as well face it.

Wishing you a wonderful week!

More donkeys? Here and here and here.

© FarmgirlFare.com, where seven longeared somebodies think they haven't been getting nearly enough treats while living in the summer front field location of Donkeyland, but their rounded bellies say otherwise. (Plus the treat-crazed sheep living out there with them launch a full-blown donkey treat attack whenever they see the bucket—and it's 21 against 7.)

A No Mayo Tuna Sandwich Recipe with Artichokes, Lemon, and Fresh Basil

Lemony Tuna and Artichoke Cooler-Pressed Picnic Sandwiches with Fresh Basil (recipe here)

These Lemony Tuna and Artichoke Cooler-Pressed Sandwiches are perfect for summer—and they aren't just for picnics. Tuna packed in olive oil is combined with marinated artichoke hearts, lemon, and fresh basil on crusty baguettes (homemade perhaps?) for a scrumptious tuna sandwich made without mayonnaise.

They travel well, taste delicious, and can be made several hours ahead. I even like them the next day, when the lemon flavor is more pronounced. They're perfect for toting on picnics or hikes, to work, or just out to the backyard.

They're also the perfect way to celebrate the first homegrown basil of the season, especially if it's just a little harvest. Enjoy!

Love fresh basil?

It tastes great in herbed yogurt cheese.

Or try this Big Bite of Basil Herb Dip or Salad Dressing.

All my basil growing posts are here.

What to do with purple basil and my favorite basil pesto recipe here.

© FarmgirlFare.com, where sandwiches are a way of life.

Tail End of the Week: Get Your Friday Farm Fix #31

Welcome to the Friday Farm Fix, a sporadic series where I share a random sampling of what's been happening around the farm during the past week (sometimes actually on Friday). Just joining us? You'll find all the previous Friday Farm Fix posts here and here.

Beagle Bert still likes his chicken TV.

Wondering what was happening on the farm this time last year? Check out the Friday Farm Fix #15. (I miss not having all those baby chicks around this year!)

Happy first day of summer! We spent it recovering from cutting the third—and final—section of the hayfield. It's been sweltering this week, which is great for the hay but rough on the hayers.

It felt ironically appropriate to be lugging 148 square bales of hay from the field into the barn on the longest day of the year, since that itchy, exhausting, sweat-drenched job always makes you think that the day is never going to end, especially if you aren't as young as you used to be (which is why we broke down last year and bought a 25-year-old round baler to help out).

But it also feels really good to be done with haying for the year, and to have a nice crop of hay in the barn. The 330 square bales—which we're figuring as 300 since some of them are really light—along with the 26½ big round bales from the second cutting, plus 43 high-dollar square bales of alfalfa leftover from last year, should (knock on wool) be plenty enough for the coming winter and next spring, no matter what might happen.

In comparison, two years ago we put up just under 900 square bales (and had plenty of hay and more sheep), and last year we didn't put up any hay because of the horrendous drought.

This year's hay all looks pretty good, and it's such a relief to know that even if the fields burn up in a summer drought, or the cool season autumn grass doesn't grow, or we get extended periods of early snow on the ground, or there isn't enough rain and the grass gets a late start in spring, the donkeys and sheep will still have plenty to eat. You never know what Mother Nature is going to throw at us.

20 more farm photos and the rest of the weekly recap below (hover your cursor over each image for a description). . .