Today was one of those days when I really didn’t want to get up.  Last night I was at a Livingston Taylor concert.  He was in town to perform at a fundraiser for the high school.  I’ve never understood the extreme appeal of James Taylor.  Liv, however, is class.  He’s always been my favorite.  Not just within his family; there’s really no one to whom I’d rather listen.  Gifted musician, funny as hell and has that extra something that time doesn’t change.  We splurged for the VIP seats that included a “champagne artists reception…”.  He graciously made his way over to us.  Having advance notice you’d think I might have considered a few deep, meaningful or witty things to fall back on for conversation.  Unless you knew me, of course.  Then you’d just groan and shake your head.  You’d know that we had a private conversation about…the weather.  Yup!  Then I sat in the front and grinned at him for the rest of the night.  The High School Chamber Chorus also performed quite well. They have been asked to perform at the opening for summer Olympics in London, which is why they were fundraising.  Liv introduced one of his students, Matt Cusson, who was also a very gifted artist with a great future.  Sorry kids, I was really just there to see Liv. 

Champagne receptions don’t bring out the more responsible side of me either.  Today found me escaping work earlier than expected.  I drove home mentally cataloging the tasks awaiting me.  So many jobs and so hard to prioritize…so when I got home I grabbed a bucket and went straight to the laundry room…that’s a lie.  I took that bucket straight outside to forage.  I’m so irresponsible.  But a great forager! I found out that those pretty leaves that were popping up last week have become a lush garden of garlic mustard.   I also found more dandelions.  Lots and lots of them.  Oh my. After looking online, I found a great idea for herbal pesto by Susan Weed (great name!) of http://www.susanweed.com. The recipe can be done with a variety of greens.  First I gave them a good cleaning.  Lots of things out in the woods don’t belong in pesto.  Then, I put some olive oil, sea salt and garlic (not too much, the garlic mustard is there too) in my trusty old (very old) food processor.  After whizzing that around a bit I added the greens.  They chopped up very quickly.

I wasn’t sure if it smelled like pesto should at this point, but I’m not planning to cook it tonight so I held off on adding the cheese or nuts yet.  My anonymous child (they’re not sure they like being mentioned by their stalker mom) passed through the kitchen and thought it smelled good.  That’s promising! It says in the recipe that if you top it with a bit of olive oil this stuff stores for ages in the fridge.  I’ll give it a try over the weekend.  Maybe I’ll try that pasta recipe too.  I wish I could forage for eggs.  If only we had chickens….