Oh, Buffalo Tom, how I love thee. Okay, okay, so summer really isn’t over just yet but with the cool weather we’ve been having (no Dog Days here, no sir!), it feels like it. And if cooler weather there be, then I really ought to do something with that huge bag of Italian parsley I harvested from my herb garden.

Like make pesto, for example.

Let me tell you: the batch I made yesterday barely made a dent in that bag of parsley. But the LSC and I are trying to devise ways of storing it long-term so as to possibly give it out for Christmas gifts. I have read about freezing but not sure how that would work in glass jars. If you’ve got suggestions, I am all ears. If you want me to send you a batch, I have ears for that as well. It turn out lovely, though; I am thinking of making parsley-basil pesto because I have tons of fresh basil, too.

I keep promising to make cookies for my husband. I mean, it’s not like he’s hurting for anything sweet—he’s gotten blueberry cakes, cherry bars, etc. But after a box of commercial oatmeal chocolate-chip cookies lingered in our pantry for a week, I wondered if I could find a recipe and make my own. I remember being very fond of the ones I could get at Whole Foods in Atlanta. I could never ration myself when it came to those ginormous soft cookies. Well, another favorite food site, Everybody Likes Sandwiches, had an interesting recipe for them. What I love so much about that site is that it’s so readily accessable, simple and easily vegetarian. If I had to recommend a site (other than mine, of course) for vegans and vegetarians, that would be the one.

I made these cookies HUGE. In fact, I think I should have made them smaller but I sort of got carried away. Obviously, my husband has no objections. You can fully expect these cookies to be gone by the end of the weekend.

The interesting thing about the cookies is that they contain no egg and according to Kickpleat—the pseudonym of the awesome lady who runs ELS—if you sub the Earth Balance for the butter, then they are entirely vegan. (”No need to make them vegan for me, thanks,” remarked the LSC last night.) The resulting cookie is crisp and yet wonderfully chewy. I fall on the chewy side when it comes to cookies; crispy cookies are well and good but give me a chewy cookie anyday. And honestly, they are dead easy to make.

Oh, and here’s a poutine from last night’s softball outing.

Parsley Pesto

adapted from Big Oven.com

4 cloves garlic

2 cups stemmed Italian parsley

coarse salt

1/4 cup walnuts

1/2 cup freshly grated Parmesan

2/3 cup olive oil

salt and pepper, to taste

In a food processor place the garlic, parsley, pinch salt, walnuts, and cheese. Process until they form a paste. Gradually blend in olive oil, taste adjust your seasoning if necessary.

Chocolate Chip Oatmeal Cookies

from Everybody Likes Sandwiches

1 c butter
1 c brown sugar, lightly packed
1 t baking soda
1/4 c boiling water
1 t vanilla
1 3/4 c flour
1/2 t salt
2 c oats
1/2 c dried coconut
2 c semi sweet chocolate chips (I used milk chocolate)

Cream the butter with the sugar until well mixed. Dissolve the baking soda in the boiling water and add it to the butter/sugar mix, followed by vanilla. Stir together the dry ingredients and add it slowly to the creamed mixture. Mix well. Stir in the chocolate chip (or mixture) and combine. Form small balls, flatten a little, and bake at 350 degrees for 12 to 15 minutes.