Planter

The tall spiked grass is called syngonanthus or Mikado.

Basil Oil

2 C. basil
1 C. olive oil/safflower oil

Combine basil and olive oil in a blender. Puree the mixture until smooth.  In a saucepan, simmer the olive oil and basil puree over medium heat for 1 minute. Pour the heated mixture through a fine-mesh strainer into a measuring cup to remove the basil and allow to cool.  Use measuring cup to pour into bottles.  Basil oil is perfect tomatoes and cheese, or toasted bread.

Banana Ice Cream

Peel and freeze 2 bananas.  Place frozen bananas in blender.  They will go from frozen gravel to banana puree in about 2 minutes.  Banana puree is good with chocolate, peanut butter, nuts, sprinkles, all sorts of things, and they are diary free. Enjoy!


More recipes

Fancy Italian Soup

1 package hot Italian sausage
1 box of tomato basil soup
1/2 lb cut green beans
1 can your favorite beans (I am re-hydrating cranberry beans because I'm cheep)
1 package frozen vegetables, or any leftovers in the fridge. I had a carrot.
1/2 box small pasta shapes

Cook Italian sausage in your soup pot.  Remove from pot, cut into chunks, then return to pot.  Add soup, beans, vegetables, and a small amount of water.  Add cooked pasta to soup (or pasta will soak up all your liquids). Season to taste (garlic, pepper).  Serve with bread sticks and pretend you are having a fancy Italian lunch at your favorite restaurant.

Your cost to make (excluding Parmesan cheese and bread sticks) about $6.50 for 4 servings. Add a bag of salad to complete your meal.

DIY Sprinkles

Chocolate	Colored
1/2 C. powdered sugar	1 C. powdered sugar
3 Tb. cocoa powder	1/2 tsp salt
4 teaspoons vanilla infused vodka	1 egg white
2 teaspoons water	1 tsp flavor extract
(Just be sure it's 6 tsp. liquid, total)	food coloring

Instructions:
1. Mix powdered sugar with cocoa (for Chocolate) or salt (for Colored) very well. Add the liquid and mix, incorporating everything. You'll get a thick but workable frosting like mixture.
2. If you want to create multiple colors, distribute white frosting between separate bowls. Now add the food coloring. I recommend that you add between 2-3 drops of color, then whisking together, before add more. Continue until you’ve reached your desired color. Put your icing into a plastic sandwich bag, removing as much air as possible, then tying shut. With a scissors, snip a tiny, tiny hole into one corner of the bag. Or use a pastry bag with a #2 round tip.
4. Lay a piece of parchment paper down on a flat surface, then squeeze long straight lines of icing onto the parchment paper. Make sure the stripes don't touch.
5. Let dry up to 24 hours undisturbed. If you used mostly vodka as the liquid, this will dry faster, as it will if you live in a warm, non humid place. If you use water or your home is colder, this will take more time. Let it dry until you have hard sticks that flake off the parchment paper easily.
6. Pick up the side of the parchment paper, and start rolling it, so that the sprinkle sticks detach from the parchment paper and end up in the middle. Make a pile of all the sprinkle sticks, making sure they all are facing the same direction.
7. With a non serrated knife, cut the pile of sprinkle sticks into little sprinkles, each about a quarter of an inch long.
These now are your sprinkles. Use as you would any other sprinkles. Keep them in a dry place. They don't spoil.

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