J-E-T-S

I have been in New York, returning to my roots. In the grand tradition of being a Cass, I have been doing some serious eating. That’s what my family does. We enjoy cooking, but more importantly eating, and I have gained three pounds in one week to prove it. Needless to say the next few weeks of this blog will be scarce as fasting is most certainly in order (is there some Jewish Holiday that can help me accomplish this?). My parents have spent the past week whoring me out to local restaurants and home cooking so as to ensure I live no older than 60 and resemble a female John Candy (their toast does fit through the door). Upon my arrival tailgating and a Jets game was in order. Now tailgating is a serious business. Every once in a while you can get away with grabbing a chicken cutlet sandwich from Rockies and a twelver if your heading to a game after work.... but when your going to a pre-season game (subs become stars i.e. Clowny), tailgating may very well be the damn highlight. GEAR UP. I was unaware of the extreme prep some people put into a tailgate, but the sewer that is the meadowland parking lot was flooded with personalized oven mitts, foldable pong tables, JETS trailers filled with every style grill, full bars, motorized coolers (so you can visit your buddy in the next spot and bring drinks!) and of course annoying fucking jet fans screaming at every unfortunate soul not wearing jets regalia. I was in awe. I was shocked. I was lovin' it.

My brother and dad had been tailgating traditionally for a few years and came equipped with a gorge charcoal grill, a fold out Velcro table, two coolers, various grilling tools, and fold up chairs as well as the back of the (there can only be one) Highlander for additional seating.

Everybody Likes Pesto

"Why do I get pesto? Why do I think I'll like it? I keep trying to like it, like I have to like it. Everybody likes pesto. You walk into a restaurant, that's all you hear: pesto, pesto, pesto. Where was pesto ten years ago?" George Costanza

PESTO PESTO PESTO- everybody loves it and you know summer is here when its getting served up by the gallon. But George is right, Pesto was never around when I was uber young...where did this green delicate delight come from. Well it came from Genoa, Italy (shocking.....mmmmm salami). The rocky fishing villages and mountain towns are excellent for growing produce, thus the abundance of BASIL, and the need to use it up. The Ligurians developed the basil based sauce because they needed dishes that used the fresh ingredients their climate most supported. Originally the sauce was used for flavoring in vegetable soup and wasn't used as a pasta sauce until 1910. Noted: Pesto in french onion soup could be good? The name came from pesto translating to pestle, as in mortar and pestle, the tool used in the traditional way pesto was made. One would use the mortar and pestle to grind up all the ingredients into a paste. I will not be doing that as my mortar and pestle are tiny and I am far too lazy. Plus, I bought a new food processor mini just for this pesto event. 20 dollar refurb cuisinart from Big Lots. I love that store. Ok so on this dreary afternoon I went on a pesto mission using my mothers old recipe and some basil from the garden to make this incredibly simple sauce.