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Last weekend I went apple picking with Annie and Sam in Natick. There I acquired four different varieties of Nature's toothbrush. They were so tasty! Post adventure I was perusing Papa Googs (Google) to learn more about different kinds of apples and was sad to learn than Googling "apples" just brings up pages of crap about iphones and mac books. Thank God I eventually found AllAboutApples.com. It includes information on all apply varieties grown in the U.S., including several with neat names like Swiss Limbertwig and Xavier De Bavay. It also made me wonder if the Yellow Transparent apple is in fact transparent. How crazy would that be? That's how exciting my life has been lately.

Last night I made some pesto and spaghetti sauce to freeze for the winter. As much as I like to cook, I'm also a big lazy ass. I've been known to eat Chef Boyardee beeferoni straight from the can, cold. This way I can put in some effort now and lazily enjoy good homemade stuff later.

Project number one was pesto ice cubes. What would you need to them? Basil, pine nuts, garlic, olive oil, parmesan (optional), a food processor or blender and an ice tray. At first, I didn't drizzle extra olive oil on top and I realized the frozen pesto blocks wouldn't come out of the tray. I defrosted and tried again but it'd be best if you drizzled with olive oil the first time.

Project number two was a variation of my signature spaghetti sauce. Ususally I do the mire poux thing and use lots of red pepper flakes but I forgot both last night, hence the "variation". Emily and Veronica were still really excited about it so I am including the recipe here:

1 big or two tiny onions, sautee in butter (F olive oil!)
2 sausages, taken out of their casings (my favorites are sweet or spicy italian chicken sausage)
garlic, half a bulb (with the way I chow garlic I better have a healthy ticker)
1 green pepper
italian seasoning (oregano is most important)
1 bay leaf
fresh basil
1/2 glass of red wine
1/2 a beer
large can of stewed tomatoes
fresh tomatoes
1 can of tomato paste
water

Sautee onions first, then add sausage and Italian seasoning, then the wine. Let that hang out for awhile, then add everything else. Cook that baby down for at least an hour and presto! It smells so good in your kitchen people think you're a good cook. I let it hang out in the fridge overnight and then pureed it in the blender this morning. Let me know when you want to come over for spaghetti!

And here are some songs for you to enjoy this weekend.

Wyatt introduced me to Grooveshark. It's somewhere between Pandora and imeem but I like it better than both of them. I'm going to start using it for sharing songs on here but let me know if it doesn't work for you.

1. "Vegetables" by the Beach Boys, Off Smiley Smile
Thanks K Momma for finding my new theme song, with its chomping and random water sounds. "I love you most of all, my favorite vegetable..." Smiley Smile was considered a failure when it came out in the 60's but clearly it worked for some folks, namely Panda Bear. When I listen to this album I totally understand where Animal Collective and Panda Bear's solo stuff came from.

2. "Ego" (Remix) by Beyonce, featuring Kanye West
This song is so dirty but so awesome.

3. "Stadiums and Shrines II" by Sunset Rubdown
An oldy but goody off of Shut Up I Am Dreaming, the guitar in this song is so triumphant. Singing loudly along with Spencer Krug is always fun but this one in particular is a solid pick me up.

I'll leave you with this killer beard picture of the Beach Boys.