Step Up Into The Greenhouse

Photos were taken on 23rd June, but the post is scheduled. This, hopefully, clears up time-paradoxes.

The garden is going wild brother!  No? This isn’t my style? Oh. The garden is flourishing, a fecund productive paradise and in the midst of it all is dear Jack, honest Jack, Jack of many jobs. I’m reaping a few harvests dear reader, a few losses too, but let’s talk of the joys, of strawberries wrested from the grasp of slugs, I know they don’t have hands from which to wrest! Give it a rest. Like I say, I have rescued my berries thanks to sprays, to pellets and quick oats. As to which worked…well, I have no idea. I have my castile soap and have made my spray to tackle the insects. I boiled a bulb of garlic in water ad let it stew until cold. I topped with filtered water to a litre and added one tablespoon of the soap and half of olive oil. A quick shake and there we are, my organic spray to prevent these little blighters becoming a blight on my garden. I’m testing it in the front garden to see how it fares then I’ll use it on the strawberries.

No Matter how tidy you are, plants have a mind of their own.

I like this set up. Better than all around staging. Though I will change my mind frequently.

Not bad for a slug-eaten mess only a few months ago.

Hmmm? Oh, the title. You should know my eight foot tall, at least, greenhouse needs a nimble step to gain ingress. I imagine lots of people would faceplant in an effort to explore, but fear not. Jack be nimble and all that.  I have more basil to harvest and turn into pesto. I did notice that the basil left near the tomato plants became wilted. I found that when placed near chill plants last year it did great. I’ve moved it and I’ll see what happens. It also turns out that the Thai and cinnamon are one and the same, I’ll have to buy by the Latin name in future if I want true cinnamon basil. Still, pesto is pesto, regardless of what basil I use.

A little chilli flower has bloomed.

I think it’s a flower starting.

A Gardener’s Delight.

A pair of Roma. Edit: Dummy I am I missed the back two until now!

I have a few tomatoes coming in as you can see. I hope with better sized pots, more feed and frequent watering that I’l see a successful harvest this year. I have the space finally, I hope I’ve used it well. I’m really curious what the big chillies will be like, they, and the small ones, are saved seeds and I have no idea what variety the big ones are, they’re really large like a small banana. They don’t seem to need any support at all. I think next year I’ll build the tomato cage in advance as once it hits its stride you can’t keep it tied up and tidy. You can’t stop a plant from growing in it’s own way, I just let them go, taking suckers, dead heading and fiddling as little as possible.

The basil is going strong.

My blackberry.

Wild blackberry. Also mine.

I will have to make a few hard decisions at the end of the year. There are unproductive berry plants that need to go. The rest need to be re-potted and given more room to root. I’m saving runners as I go, not too any, just enough for me and a few others. I’d like to keep a balance between fruit and new plants. Never go into something like this trying for perfection, dear reader, you’ll never get there and you’ll miss out on so many wonderful accomplishments. Now, if you’ll excuse me I’m off to check on my cement. Yes, Jack is adding a new trade to his repertoire: Cement Slinger! See you later.

Breads Here Revisited Part 3: Microwave Breads

Now, I know, some of these are cakes, but I make most of these without the sugar, with a little salt and they make the best quick breads. There are a lot of “mug cakes”, which I do have recipes for as well, but I think of the difference thus: A mug cake is eaten from the mug, whereas the bread is removed from the baking vessel. Now I know that seems a trifle pedantic, but what makes these work so well as bread is that they can be sliced. So, let’s think of them as breads and see what we can see, shall we, dear reader?

Microwave Amaranth Flour Bread
Microwave Banana Flour Cake
Microwave Buckwheat and Rice Flour Cake
Microwave Buckwheat Cake
Microwave English Muffin
Microwave Flax Muffin
Microwave Quinoa Flour Cake
Microwave Rice Flour Cake
Microwave Sorghum Flour Bread

You could be a pain and question whether these are breads and you can feel free to do so. I’m calling them breads and phooey from me to you! What I love about these is that they take very little in the way of specialised ingredients, the ground flaxseed might not be so common, ground chia works too, but other than that it’s pretty basic. The recipes themselves feature numerous options, covering so many diets. The only catch is the egg is necessary for the texture and rise, the original recipe used banana if I’m not mistaken, but it was more of a cake, there are cakes in these too, but for this post I’ll focus on the bread. And, yes, this started as a single recipe that I adapted from another. It uses a total of eight (We’ll count flaxseed as a flour, shush) different flours. I’ve found success with so many, barring ground almonds, too fatty I think, so I can only imagine any free from flour would work here. This recipe is great for using up the dregs of flour as it uses so little. You can easily mix and match as needed. When made using only a single flour it really highlights the unique taste and texture of that flour. I usually make these in a jug ad they just pop right out so there isn’t much clean up.

To talk at length about such mundane things is a gift, dear reader. What you have here is the closest thing to a free-from sandwich bread, no crust sadly, but you can’t have everything, without using gums or added starches. They come out springy, light, different flours yield slightly varying results, but it’s pretty consistent across the board. The reason they come out so light is because of the egg swelling, reacting to the baking powder too I assume, and setting before it can fall. The flax and flour help to stabilise. There isn’t an eggy taste as you’d imagine as the egg is well cooked through when the bread is ready. This is great for making a quick meal, spread on the nut butters and jams or slather sauce and spiced meat and eat it open-faced. It’s filling, again varying on the flour used, and you’ll find you don’t need a whole lot to make it a meal. They’re best eaten on the day, but you could probably freeze them.

So, there you have it. I would have scoffed at a microwave bread if I hadn’t scarfed so many in my time. Many a time I forgot to leave out something for tea and found myself hungry and in no mood to get cooking. A quick mix up in a jug and there it is: Bread! I like recipes like these, they’re almost foolproof and if you find yourself with a free-from flour that’s lacking in uses you can try something like these and you’ll be almost guaranteed success. I primarily make them with rice flour as it’s the cheapest and least versatile flour in my cupboard. I have found sorghum delicious and wonderfully light. Quinoa works best for a cake and banana flour is slightly revolting if I’m honest.

You’ll notice that the breads I use often are pretty easy to prepare, that’s hardly surprising. I’ve lost count of how many loaves I’ve made over the years. The ease of making them has helped me stick to my diet. The variety has kept me from getting bored and fed up. I hope you’ll find something to interest you in this series, dear reader. There are other breads on the site and maybe they’ll suit you better. The reason I started this series was to showcase a few recipes and to encourage people to look at the recipe page, there are so many recipes that are sadly under-loved. Perhaps if this is popular enough there’ll be another series of posts using those recipes. I’ll see you again next time, dear reader.

Smooth Jams and Produce’s Purpose

Geranium, squash adjacent.

We’re going on a meandering maunder, a purposeless pontification, I am Jack of all the words. You are Reader the Dearest. Today we talk of food, grub, victuals, provisions, of the thing we all need. Why? Because I said so. I’m just in the mood to type, maybe I’ll even say something worthwhile, but I wouldn’t hold your breath on that one, dear reader.

Filtered.Au Natural.

I have a request, I want your opinion. I’m not really experienced enough, never will be either, with photographing food. I take photos of food, but I never touch them up or fiddle with settings. I took two photos of my dinner today, the top was taken with a food filter. You can see it makes it slightly brighter, more colourful, not very different. What I want to know is if you’d prefer to see the photos run through a filter like this, no exaggeration, just a little more colourful or if you’d rather see them as they are in real life. I can’t decide myself and since it’ll affect my readers I thought I’d leave it to you to decide. Leave your thoughts in the comments below and thanks.

The saved pansy seeds finally blooming.I think these are the new seeds. Hard to tell really.

One of the things I’ve struggled with is using everything I’ve grown, often I ended up giving away fresh produce because I didn’t want to use it. This year I grew what I wanted and what I’d be willing to try out. There are so many ways to use fresh ingredients, there’s no trick to using them, just a lot of research and ignoring the methods that don’t suit you, no matter how popular or idealistically framed. I think the key to eating so well is that I started with an ingredient and tried everything I could, no matter how absurd, how strange or how obscure. It’s easy to feel a little foolish when you’re the only one eating food prepared a certain way. Like with my nut butter amaranth, though with that you’ll have to kill me to stop me eating amaranth like that, it’s delicious. I think you have to find the best way to use the ingredients for you. Fads come and fads go, but if you can stick to eating good food, in the least processed way possible, then it’s worth any effort on your part. Maybe it sounds silly, but it can extremely stressful being the only one to eat this way.

Beef vacuum sealed with fresh herbs, tossed in a rice cooker, filled with water, with a slow cook setting.

A batch of Buckwheat Fruit Puree Scones.

I was reading a post today from a Coeliac charity that are working to bring in gluten free staples to shops, you know what those are. I’m not getting into the problems, nutritional and otherwise, with some gluten free products, but it always hits me how alone I am in the diet I follow. It’s a pain at times, but it really has shown me just how much ac be done with food. Not in the clickbaity way either, like hiding vegetables in cheese and more cheese with a side of cheese. There are so many options open to us, but perhaps you’re like I was. I grew up with staples that weren’t always healthy, they were decent home coked meals for the most part, crap for the other, but the shocking thing is how hard it is to break away from that comfort zone. It’s part of the struggle I had with weight and the successful weight loss. here’s nothing so disheartening than being asked, over and over, what that is, why are you eating that, etc. Being told they’d never eat that as if their way is the only right way. I’m happy to say I never fell into the extreme camps either, the ones who stick to one food and declare it’s magically curative properties. I just appreciate food for what it is. I keep it varied. I try anything, and I mean anything, I ate a nasturtium off the plant, it’s disgusting by he way, just because it was okay to eat. I think a lot of people have issues with foo that they’re unwilling to see. Maybe I’m wrong, but offer anyone a yellow strawberry and more often then not they’ll ask if It’s edible. Me? I’m eating halved strawberries, fresh from the plant, the other maggot ridden half is in the neighbour’s garden. He won’t notice.

Don’t talk about maggots? Welcome to organic gardening!

Just wait until I get my castile soap.

I’m preparing for my surgery again, slower his time as I have more than a week. We keep getting free duck eggs so I’m using them in baking. I’m told they’re great for baking, they’re really thick. I’ll make up breads and nearer the time, all going well, I’ll organise it into bags. I’ll also put what I learned from eating the cold dinners into practice. I just want it over and done with, dear reader. The hardest part is that no one really understands how hard it is to live with all this skin, they talk about clothes, while I’m just thinking of the relief from discomfort, from pain, from so much. Getting a bit too serious here. Quickly! Slip on a banana peel! Waka waka!

These taste terrible and are really invasive.

I love playing with my camera.

I like setting myself a challenge with new ingredients. I buy them on impulse and I refuse to waste them. I bought kangaroo meat, which can be absurdly tough. I tossed it in the rice cooker like the beef, with some fresh rosemary and it was decent. I wouldn’t do it again, but it was fun to try at least. Whenever I see a new fresh ingredient in the shops I’ll grab it and then figure out what it is. I’m almost certain this is why I’m contemplating growing my own pumpkins next year. It is a shame that there’s so much I can’t eat. I was looking at mint jelly, but a lot of the recipes have vinegar, which I can’t tolerate, but I was poking through my Uncle’s old Jam and Preserve book, it’s about twenty five years old. In it there’s a herb jelly recipe based on apple jelly. You can just add the herbs at the end for some of them, so I might try a batch of sage and maybe cinnamon basil. Just going to make small portions, but it sounds like fun.

I bet you thought I was joking about the pointlessness. Hah!

The moved roses are starting to get some fresh growth.

Not bad for a root section.

I’ having a lot of luck with the greenhouse plants this year. The basil isn’t struggling like other years and I have tomatoes starting. Even the large chillies are starting to flower. The bell peppers have come on a lot, even after the slug damage, they’re about a foot tall, maybe a foot and a half. I know the right sized pots, added compost and fertiliser are playing a huge part, but I also believe that it’s the heat being more even and batter contained that’s helping too. I’m curious to see what the chillies will be like as they’re saved seeds. Both the small and large are. The small chillies took an age to start last year, maybe they’ll grow faster with the heat in the greenhouse. Everything moves forward, dear reader, I just have to give them all the care I can in the here and now. Okay, that’s enough from yours truly, see you later.

Raspberry Jelly

There’s no waste as the pulp went into the compost

I’m still learning how to properly make Jam, dear reader, but I think at this stage I’m willing to share a recipe with you and I feel confident that you’ll have success with it. I used this wonderful recipe as a guide and also the back of the Jam Sugar. Now, my version isn’t vegan, but I’m making the Jam that my Uncle used to make and I want to learn it the same way. There are many ways of making Jams, I can’t cover them all and I’m just learning myself, so I hope you’ll bear with me. I was lucky enough to be gifted some red and yellow raspberries, also some tayberries, which I planted some of in the hopes (Albeit slim) they’ll sprout, and thought some jelly was in order. I don’t like seeds as they just jam (Heh) into every single part of my teeth so I went for a jelly, which is confusing as jelly here is the gelatin set foodstuff, and very hard to find in stores. Which is another reason I’m making jelly, I like making foods you can’t buy or buy easily. Jam isn’t complicated, there’s a balance in the recipes, like all candy or sweets, sugar is a fickle ingredient, but if you take your time and practice you should be fine. I’m using the jam sugar here because it’s nearly a guaranteed set. In future I’ll be trying different set jams, apple is the forerunner, blackberries when they come into season.

That’s actually a candy thermometer , but the batteries are dead and I’m no good at using it.

There are a lot of steps and the final one is what I’d like to talk about. The sterilising method is up to you. I’m using my uncle’s method and I’ve found it useful, but you need to look at the methods available and decide for yourself and your storage timetable. Be safe. I’m using fresh raspberries, with a few frozen, but I don’t see why all frozen wouldn’t work just as well. I’m currently battling slugs in my strawberries, spittle-bugs too, more on that when I mix up my organic insect spray, so I will be working with mostly frozen fruit in future. The strawberries are so tender, there’s no trace of bitterness whatsoever. I’ll beat the bugs and hopefully make them into something special. The goal of yellow jam is still ongoing to.

The jam was jammy.

There are a few ways to test for setting. I like this one the frozen plate is fine by me. So, how did it taste? Did it set? Was it rock hard or jiggly like jelly? Did you even doubt ever wondrous Jack? I did, but apparently it turned out perfect. Thick and smooth. Really, really sweet, but that way you just need to use a little. You could use this jelly as a filling in baking to impart a lovely raspberry flavour, perhaps in a bakewell, eh? I’m currently looking at herbs in apple jelly, for savoury and sweet uses, but that’l be a later post. Involving methylated spirits. No, not in the jelly! It’s a way to test for the pectin in jellies, also a way to make pectin stock. See, your forever friend Jack isn’t as green as he is cabbage looking. I’ll see you again later, dear reader.

I wasn’t sure what the wax lids did. They slightly meld with the jam and keep air from spoiling it. You don’t need them, but it never hurts.

Ingredients

500g Raspberries
450g Jam Sugar
2 Tbsp Butter

Method

1. Wash and prepare fruit. Place a small plate in the Freezer.

2. Add Fruit and Sugar to a large bottomed pot, filling no more than 1/3 full, and mash using a potato masher.

3. Cook uncovered on a low heat, do not let simmer, until Sugar has dissolved. Run spoon down the bottom of the pot to see if any Sugar crystals remain.

4. Place a metal sieve over a glass bowl and pour the mixture into the sieve, scrapping the pan as needed. Return the juice to the pot and return the pot to the heat.

5. Place the sieve over the pot and press the pulp through the sieve using a metal spoon until all possible pulp has passed through. Stir the mixture using a silicone or wooden spoon.

6. Add Butter to pot and bring to a rolling boil. Boil for 4 minutes, stirring as needed, then remove from heat and remove the plate from the freezer. Drop a little of the Jam onto the plate and if it firms up and is tacky to the touch then the Jam is ready. If not boil again for another minute and retest until Jam consistency is right.

7. Wet Clean Jars and heat in the microwave for one to two minutes until dry. While they sterilise soak the lids in boiling water for a minute or two. Pour the warm Jam into the prepared Jars while they’re hot and over with a wax lid then screw on lids and let rest at room temperature overnight.

8. Store in a cool dark place and refrigerate once opened.

Two are gifts. I’m saving the small almond and cashew butter jars so I can foist jam on people if it’s terrible.

Playing With Pictures

A bonus post today, dear reader, I’ve finally bought a new camera. A bridge camera, to be used exclusively on bridges. No? Okay, I’m know, it’s what I’ve been looking for for a while. I was having such trouble taking a photo that wasn’t blurry that I thought it was time to take the plunge. Now, I will say that I’m not taking this beyond snapping a few photos here and here, I’m no photographer and have no aspirations to be any better than being able to take a decent photo. It’s a Sony DSCH300, so far it’s pretty great, but it eats batteries. It’s just what I needed so I’m happy. Now, I’m going to pester you with photos, I’ve been like a huge child, running around with my camera and snapping everything in sight. I did often wonder how people took photos that didn’t look awful, I guess get a better camera was the answer. I’m not going to be using filters, I’m not experienced enough to use them to highlight what is there and any auto-filter might present a skewed view of the end result of a recipe.

I have been having trouble with the site in Firefox, I’ve switched to Chrome so hopefully that’ll sort out some of the issues. If anything is off that might be why. Now, let’s see what we can see.

Breads Here Revisited Part 2: Quinoa Flour Bread

Waltztime. I’d swear it was supposed to be a different colour.

I did the introductions in part one, dear reader, so I’m sure I’ll be forgiven if I just skip straight to the bread this time. It is surprisingly hard to think what information is pertinent here. If there’s anything you’d like to see in greater detail then do let me know. I’m just Joe Average writing about bread I eat, this isn’t a complex dissertation, there aren’t any rules or set pieces I’ll just try to fill these posts with the most useful, interesting if failing that, titbits I can think of.

Quinoa Flour Bread

This bread was a more complex creation, it started the same way I try all breads. A simple water, fat and flour bread. Over time, how much I’ve honestly forgotten, it was morphed into one of my proudest creations. You can see the original on the recipe page, small, brown, dry looking then when you follow the link to the update you’re met with a golden loaf, looming large as life and twice as tasty. This bread had to be worked out, it needs a greater hold than the buckwheat did. The eggs and flax  aren’t optional additions here, they’re vital. What makes it interesting and unique is that it takes a large volume of liquids and even when the batter is ready is very runny, yet when baked it’s firm with just a slight spring. The interior has a pleasant sponginess, without feeling soggy or half-baked as some free-from breads can. I’ve never found why quinoa flour makes such an impressive bread and, not to toot my own horn, I’ve never seen one like it either. It’s one I’d say will please even the fussiest free-from eaters. It’s its own bread, it’s not an imitation or a facsimile, this is a quinoa loaf an original loaf. The only consideration is that it needs a well greased non-stick tin as it can adhere easily.

The quinoa’s absorbency is probably part of the reason this works so well, that’s why I coupled it with the flaxseed, the ground flax providing hold as well as holding more moisture. The baking time is quite long. It can take up to an hour for a large loaf, though I prefer this in small loves as this does have a crusty exterior, not very thick, but very contrasting to the interior. It can be cut warm if you’d like, but I let it cool as it’s much nicer when fully cooled. The one thing that makes this even more special is that it can be toasted and when toasted, or fried in oil or butter, the bread become so crunchy, there’s just a slight bit of spongy bread left inside a crisp shell. I’ve never made another free-from bread that does this. It can even make French Toast with ease. If Buckwheat is a healthy cornerstone then this skirts the edge of unhealthy, the bread itself is wholesome, but some of its better applications will involve butter, lots of butter. For the more health conscious you’ll be pleased to know that even plain this is delicious, there’s a taste that’s unique to the quinoa flour. I have found roasted flour will result in the best flavour. It pairs extremely well with eggs for some reason. As with most of my breads it freezes perfectly.

So, that’s al I can say about this bread. As quinoa flour can be more expensive I do tend to use it sparingly. It’s what’s often referred to as a comfort food for me. A long week, filled with food preparation, can be finished with a few slices toasted and topped with some poached eggs. It’s further proof that we sometimes only see the tip of what’s possible with free-from baking. I don’t claim to be a stand-out, or an exceptional individual, I just like to see what these flours can do and quinoa has proven itself second only to buckwheat. There are numerous quinoa flour recipes here, but I return to this one the most. Maybe you’ll give it a try and it’ll be a favourite of yours too. I’ll see you next week.

Peace.

What I’ve Learned in Three Years Growing Basil: A Rough Guide

Absolutely nothing. I’m joking, but the temptation to just post that remains. Seriously though, I think there are a few pointers that I can share to growing many successful harvests of basil. These are just anecdotal tips from your forever friend Jack, nothing more than the summation of my experiences. The reason why every guide here is rough is because I’m constantly learning and the me sharing my experiences in the here and now will be a very different person in the future. There does have to come a point where I’ve learned as much as I can, but you can never be sure. So whether you’re new to basil an old hand or just vaguely interested in these little herb, here are a few tips, in the now ubiquitous list format, for getting a large, healthy and delicious harvest. I’ll even point out a few tips for pesto, I’m still new-ish to pesto, but now I’ll only make it using he freshest herbs, my own in other words. I never ate it before I couldn’t eat any commerical pesto so take my tips as you will.

Basil Tips:

Not too Tall.

You’ll enjoy watching you basil get bigger and bigger, but one of the problems is that when it grows very tall is that it can get weak stemmed, if you’re not cutting it and letting it bush out the basil can end up wobbly. The other issue is that when it reaches it’s maximum height it will start to flower and as pretty as they are you don’t want them spoiling the taste of your basil. Either pinch them off or just cut below them. What you want is a basil that isn’t too tall, has no flowers and has leaves from everywhere on the stem.

Light prune, heavy prune.

Now this does assume you have basil ready, whether you buy it as a seed, like Jack, or you buy it from the shops and propagate it via cuttings, like last year’s Jack. The best way I’ve found is alternating between light harvests, small amounts taken with careful hand, and heavy harvests, large amounts taken with rough cuts. The idea is that you do need to keep basil pruned, removing the light, small leaves when healthy is great as you can use them, rather than letting them wilt, this will let the plant feed itself and grow. For heavy the best time is when there’s too much top growth, way too many leaves, you can just cut it down a few inches, at the growth node of course, and the plant should have sufficient leaves to grow again. The best way to determine the stage is by how many leaves are on a stem. If they’re mostly empty then you don’t want to take too much. All crowded and hen it’s time to take a heavy hand. Basil is tough, but smart pruning means you get more out of each plant.

Feed when scraggly.

Like you and me, dear reader, plants need to feed to grow. The thing about herbs is that they release their flavoursome oils when they struggle, the less for it to draw upon the better tasting it is. So naturally feeding isn’t advised, but you should do it. Huh? Bear with me. You want the basil to be at it’s peak when harvesting, just wet enough to be healthy, the smell will spread throughout any room,  it’ll taste best then. After a few harvests you’ll want to add a little plant feed, this will help the plant grow again and stay strong. The only issue is that the taste will be almost non-existent while the nutrients are in the soil so don’t over-feed it or use slow-release pellets. A little liquid feed is all you need.

Consistently Warm.

Now this pertains to Ireland wacky weather. I had basil last year in a plastic greenhouse that was just ready for harvest so I let it until the next day, the next day’s weather was a cold snap and the basil wilted and died. Now that I have a well insulated greenhouse that holds heat better, and keeps out some of the cold, there’s a world of difference in my basil. You might be best to keep your basil indoors if you don’t have a greenhouse. It’s very disheartening to see basil just die suddenly. I did find the Thai a tougher basil, but that may have been a fluke.

Pesto Tips

Not too smooth.

I use to blend my pesto to a smooth consistency and I feel that that’s a disservice to the basil. I find that a rough blend, where the nuts are just broken up and there are few shreds of leaf left gives  much better texture and even improves the taste. You’re not disguising stems or hiding poor quality leaves, this is your harvest and you should use it the best way possible. I don’t recommend using the stems, they’re okay when very young, but become rubbery in time and eventually woody when the weather changes to cooler temperatures.

Not too much oil.

This is more of a preference, but if you are freezing, and topping with oil naturally, then I find making a thick paste, topping it before freezing leads to a pesto that clings perfectly an doesn’t end up with pasta that’s floating in oil. I love oil and rich pasta dishes, but I think the freshness is where pesto shines, overwhelming the basil is a mistake I’m glad to say I no longer make.

Mixing and Match.

I’ve mentioned that I grow a few varieties of basil, the sweet is the most versatile, but the others offer a unique taste in dishes. The issue I find is that some overwhelm while others fail to stand out enough on their own. I’ve found that mixing the Thai (They call it cinnamon on the packet, but it’s Thai) with the dark opal gives the Thai’s aniseed a slight undercurrent of something sweeter, the lighter flavour of the dark opal is still present, more so thanks to the contrast in flavours. It’s also helpful if you just don’t have enough basil to make pesto, a little Thai with sweet is really fun and different ratios make really different pesto.