Home Grown, Homemade

I bought this basil plant in February, during the Before Times.  When kids come in the summer, it's fun to cook with basil, and it always gets eaten.  But no kids came this year.  I used a few leaves for one meal, but pretty much this plant became a third companion for us at the table.  Maybe a little unwieldy, but we managed to work around it.  Last week I bought fresh tomatoes, and with two onions and a lot of fresh garlic, I made my own tomato sauce.  Today, I cut down the basil plant, dividing the leaves in half.

One of my pandemic goals has been to clean out the basement freezer.  I knew there was a container of frozen tortellini.  Today that tortellini came upstairs.  I cooked it, topped it with the cooked sauce, basil and Parmesan cheese.  Ben had seconds, is all I can say.

I have been told on good authority that I can dry basil in the sun in my house.  My fingers are crossed.