Novel Eats

This cucumber salad is perfect for potlucks and picnics, and is a cinch to make!

A few weeks ago I made a batch of orzo with basil pesto. The recipe had originally been inspired by a recipe in a food magazine that used dill instead of basil. The recipe continued to eat at me because I was terribly curious if dill pesto would be as tasty and satisfying as basil pesto.

One day at the grocery store I grabbed one bunch of dill and decided I’d find out, for better or worse, if dill pesto is all that magazine cracked it up to be. The recipe from a few weeks ago remains the same, just the dill is different.

This post is a few weeks after the fact, but it was really so nice to be home for the Fourth of July. I started a new job a few months ago, so I am still at the beginning of accruing vacation and sick days. When I left my last job I was very sorry to see all the days I earned go (although I did get my vacation days in the form of a nice check). So now, I have to be careful how many days of anything I take, and when there is a holiday that the company gives, I find myself appreciating it so much more.

Anyway, we didn’t do anything lavish or go see fireworks, although if you look out the window in the right direction you’ll see some fireworks through some trees off in the distance (yes – we have trees in NYC!). But I did make the usual big meal, which translates to – too big of a meal for two people, but a lovely amount of leftovers for a couple or three days. We had corn on the cob (a requirement of the holiday if you ask me), homemade bread, chocolate pie, and potato salad.