Articles and Recipes — Recipe

Pesto refers to a mixture pounded in a marble mortar and pestle.
The pesto most often referred to here in the United States is basil pesto, more formally known as Pesto Genovese. While the most common recipes call for heavy use of cheese, nuts, and oil, in the original form it would be a blend of mostly basil, a small handful of nuts and cheese, and just enough oil to bind the sauce. If we are looking at pesto in this traditional way measuring would be by handfuls and pinches.

For our home cooking purposes, I looked at many recipes and decided on my measurements with a view to heart-healthy measurements. I disregarded many recipes that called for large portions of nuts and cheese. In small portions, olive oil and pine nuts have the health benefits of unsaturated fats.

I have so much basil growing in my herb garden I decided to make a large batch of Pesto Genovese in my food processor. Here's my recipe:

3 - 4 cups basil
3 -4 cloves of garlic
1/2 cup parmesan cheese
1/3 cup of pine nuts
1/2 cup oil
Pepper and salt to taste

Add the first four the ingredients to the food processor.
Pulse in short bursts, looking for a coarse texture.
Add the oil in halves or thirds. Use only enough to bind the mixture.
Keep the blending to a minimum - just till it comes together. Over-processing will give you a bitter flavor, and the basil will lose its lovely green color.

A note on salting your pesto, consider the way you salt your pasta when you boil it, as that will affect the final taste of the dish. You can always add a little salt before plating.

I store extra pesto by freezing tablespoon portions in an ice cube tray and then transferring the frozen cubes to a freezer container. Or in a small glass jar in the refrigerator with a thin layer of olive oil protecting the top from oxidation.

To serve, toss a tablespoon or so of pesto on 1/2 pound of warm, freshly drained pasta. I reserve a cup of warm pasta water and add a little bit to thin the sauce and separate the pasta strands. Add a few fresh basil leaves and a sprinkling of Parmesan.

Visit our Instagram account to see our video tutorial.

Let us know in the comments if you like our recipe.  

American Flags, parades, fireworks, picnics, families, friends, and nostalgia - these are some of the memories that I have of the Independence Day 4th of July.

Family picnics were integral events in my family. I recall elaborate events on my grandparent's lawn, surrounded by a meticulously pruned hedge, the backyard had lawn chairs and tables laden with perfect cool finger foods. Radish roses, curled carrots, and celery sticks cold from the refrigerator. In other years picnics were hosted at my Aunt and Uncle's, and there we were allowed to have sparklers, and the older children lit firecrackers. And I recall many, many years when picnics were hosted at my parent's home. Happy memories of helping my mom make macaroni and potato salad, and watching my mother make her famous baked beans.

My mother had that knack of cooking without a recipe so when we wanted to recreate these awesome baked beans she was tasked with writing it out. Mom always made these in the cool of the morning, and then they would cook and keep warm for the rest of the day, so cooking times are hard to pin down. Mom always cooked a crockpot full, that contained 7 pounds of baked beans + 2 pounds of bacon, they were delicious, and leftovers never lasted long.

A few important notes - always fry and drain the bacon, and always cook the onions. I have made these with Bush’s Baked Beans - any variety should work. These two companies beans are gluten free.  

I have cut Mom’s recipe in half, but feel free to scale back up. 

5 Quart pot with lid or crock pot
4 cans -28 oz B&M Original Baked Beans 
5-6 large onions, sliced and sautéd 
1lb bacon, cooked, drained, and diced
5 tablespoons ketchup
5 tablespoon brown sugar
3 teaspoons dry mustard

Oven method: Add all the prepared ingredients to the 5 quart pot, baked in an oven at 350F until bubbly. Then bake for an hour stirring occasionally. Reduce oven heat and keep warm. 

Crock Pot method: Add all the ingredients to crock pot, cook on high for 1-2 hours then keep warm. 

Either way the beans should be cooked until thick and bubbly. 

We wish you a festive 4th of July! 

With warm wishes for your home,
from the husMait home kitchen.

Supplies list:
fry pan
5 quart pot
Stainless Steel Measuring Spoons
Stainless Steel Knives 

It’s rhubarb season, which lasts from April to July in most places. The warmer the climate the shorter the season.

My memories of rhubarb go back to spring and my teenage years when I picked rhubarb from the back garden, where I recall it growing all summer long. Rhubarb pie is one of the first pies I learned to bake and was my dad’s favorite. 

Fast forward to heart-healthy eating and fewer people at home to eat a pie and I need my rhubarb fix in a different way.  I was really pleased to find this recipe for Strawberry Rhubarb Crisp from  Once Upon a Chef.  I decided to try her recipe because of the simplicity of the ingredients and the added pecans and oats in the topping. 

I was also very excited that this was a quick recipe to assemble and would be easy to transport to a picnic or beautifully elegant to serve at a dinner party. 

I did make two changes - first I substituted gluten-free Namaste Perfect Flour Blend and second Miyoko’s European-style vegan butter. This recipe calls for a 2-quart baking dish, I used my 9.5 inch Pyrex pie dish which worked fantastically.

The two-part method is easy. First, wash and cut your fruit. Then mix the fruit well with granulated sugar, cornstarch, and vanilla in a large bowl. Transfer this to the baking dish. 

Second, create the topping by combining flour, brown sugar, granulated sugar, salt, and cold butter in a medium bowl using a pastry cutter. Then stir in the oats and chopped pecans. Spoon this mixture over the fruit. 

The crumble smelled delicious as it baked and the topping came out crispy and browned with lovely bubbly fruit beneath.  We ate it simply as it was. Adding whipped cream or ice cream would have been heavenly! 

Equipment used: Our Bowl Sets are currently on SALE June 2021

Today we welcome Mallory, of The Crassy Cookie, as host and writer of our blog.

You can find more recipes and great ideas from Mallory at her website and Instagram accounts. 

I'm sharing with you two things today:

1. My favorite chocolate buttercream recipe and 2. A sweet deal! 🎉

This is the richest and fudgiest chocolate buttercream and it's super easy to make it. I make all of by buttercreams in a stand mixer but for this one, I always use my trusty hand mixer. Here's the recipe:

·3 cups powdered sugar
·3/4 cup Dutch processed cocoa (@valrhonausa is the best)
·1/2 teaspoon of espresso powder
·1 stick of unsalted butter, softened
·1 teaspoon vanilla extract (I use @rodellevanilla always)
·3 to 4 tablepoons of heavy whipping cream
·pinch of kosher salt

In a large bowl, beat the butter and salt on medium speed until it becomes creamy. In a separate bowl, whisk together the powdered sugar, cocoa and espresso powder. Slowly add in sugar mixture with the butter, mixing on low speed. Alternate between the heavy whipping cream and sugar mixture until it's fully incorporated. Mix on medium-high speed for about 1 minute and make sure not to over whip. This will be a thicker buttercream but you can achieve the desired texture by adding more cream.

These stainless steal measuring cups are from @husmait_home and I love everything about them! The shape, weight and sturdiness make these a gem to bake with and hold accurate measurements. Use code CRASSY21 to get 15% off any purchase at Husmait.Co 

We are grateful to Mallory for sharing her talents with us!

With warm wishes for your home, from the husMait home kitchen. 

Here in the husMait kitchen, we look for a great treat that will satisfy our sweet tooth and have some redeeming qualities. We found this recipe posted over on Instagram, and it looks so moist and delicious, not to mention the recipe had simple ingredients and was easy to follow. Baking Envy, Flourless Orange Cake 

Assemble all of your utensils: knife, cutting board, pan, measuring cups, measuring spoons, mixing bowl, blender and 8 inch round cake tin.

Assemble all of the ingredients: oranges, sugar, almond meal, eggs, vanilla essence, and baking powder.  Then follow the recipe linked above. 

The recipe calls for whole oranges, which are boiled and then processed in a blender, unfortunately, the oranges I used were a bit pithy and left a slightly bitter flavor in the cake. For that reason, I would take the time to peel the zest and cut the pith away from the fruit before boiling it. Another slight change I made was to cook the remaining orange/sugar water down until it was beginning to be jammy. That made a wonderful glaze that remained on the top of the cake instead of disappearing into the cake.  

Everyone here loved this cake's excellent taste and texture. The use of the almond meal was sheer brilliance as it adds a luscious texture and flavor to the cake. To add a professional finish to this cake I would add some candied orange tweels to the top.

This would be a lovely cake for an afternoon tea or formal dinner dessert as you can bake it up to three days in advance, storing it in the refrigerator, or frozen for six months remembering to leave the glaze off until you are ready to serve it. 

If you bake this cake let us know how it turns out, and go give Chloe, over at Baking Envy a review as well.