Yes, I'm still alive...

Admittedly, it's been a few weeks since I last posted. Vacations, out-of-town visitors, busy family life and all lame excuses aside, I just haven't been in the mood to cook anything worth writing about. I'm a bit of a manic cook--baking something new every week one month and then eating burgers and pasta for the next 30 days. But summer is coming and with it all the joys of fresh fruits and veggies. Surely something will inspire me soon....like a garden?

This year we're keeping our garden simple (after bigger, more elaborate plans): red peppers, cherry tomatoes and basil. We already have mint, rhubarb and parsley from last year. I harvested the first crop of rhubarb and we picked strawberries this week...that sounds promising. My mom always made the best strawberry rhubarb pies. Rich still talks about them. Maybe I'll give it a try this week. And the parsley, tomatoes and mint make me think of tabouleh salad. Mmmm. I can't wait for the basil to kick in, so I can make some more pesto to put up in the freezer. I'm warming up now. Stay tuned...