There are tiny, little trace elements of spring green under the remains of snow in the bottom of the garden. If you scape carefully you might be rewarded with a handful of snowdrops or even some gaudy crocus. The first indications of spring are starting to emerge, despite the perverse pleasure winter has had in extending its stay. There is a little corner in the side yard that gets sun, and is sheltered from the wind by the garage, and there you can see some white striped crocus leaves. Ha! Take that, Winter!
Botticelli’s painting Spring (La Primavera) is littered with flowers and symbolism. It is a large, lively allegorical painting with nine figures almost floating in an orange grove. In it Botticelli has painted 500 separate plant species and almost 200 different kinds of flowers. It is a celebration of love and spring. You can see myrtle, oranges, hyacinths, iris, periwinkles, violets, anemone and cornflower blossoms among the many plants depicted. He even wove some strawberries into a head wreath. (These are spring plants that bloom in Tuscany in May, so we still have a little time to catch up.)
https://www.uffizi.org/artworks/la-primavera-allegory-of-spring-by-sandro-botticelli/
As promised last week, yesterday I sowed about three dozen lettuce seeds in two straight rows in an old window box planter on the back porch. I have 464 seeds left. I want to see if I can improve my ROI. I paid about $5 for the seeds, which I am comparing to $4.09 I almost paid for a bag of pre-washed organic salad greens last week. I have planted heat tolerant loose-leaf lettuces, because I probably should have started a couple of weeks ago. If I get two salads out of this experiment I will be ahead of the game!
I was puttering around my humble container garden, having a seed catalogue-induced fantasy about how great it is all going to look in a couple of months. Surely the new hydrangea will be blooming, and there will be lettuces enough for Peter Rabbit. In that dreamy state I thought that a little taste of Italy was just what I needed. Airfares being what they are these days, I opted for a homemade Italian pesto. Luckily, it was time for a basil harvest.
I have four basil plants in a big pot out back, and another smaller plant on the windowsill over the kitchen sink. Sometimes I like to just crumple a leaf and smell warmer weather. This fiction comes to you courtesy of Bon Appétit magazine. Just look at that color. Practically chartreuse! It is an early spring in a mouthful of pasta with garlic and Parmesan cheese.
https://www.bonappetit.com/recipe/ligurian-pesto-with-spaghetti
We have just gotten back from a stroll through the Uffizi Museum, where we wandered among the Botticellis and the beauteous Donatellos, and now we need to offset Stendahl Syndrome and feed our springtime appetites. Delizioso!
The photo from the Bon Appétit test kitchen looked so beautiful. And inspirational. But instead of spaghetti or linguine I used some fresh (although I had stashed it in the freezer last week) sausage. Some days I will do almost anything to avoid a trip to the grocery store. Imagine how great it will be when the lettuce plants are ready for harvest!
Here are some other spring-y variations:
https://www.bonappetit.com/recipe/pasta-with-pistachio-pesto
And who says that pesto is limited to adorning pasta?
https://food52.com/recipes/5014-grilled-bread-with-thyme-pesto-and-preserved-lemon-cream
And here are some great ideas for freezing pesto! You can keep a few cupsful of Italy on ice, to bring out at whim. Or when you cannot fathom another trip to the store.
https://www.simplyscratch.com/2013/08/homemade-basil-pesto.html
“There is no technique, there is just the way to do it.
Now, are we going to measure or are we going to cook?”
― Frances Mayes, Under the Tuscan Sun
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