Whoa...

Okay - not sure what everyone else uses to view/create blog posts, but I use Blogger (is that ghetto?  Or even the right name for it?) and it recently changed on me.  Whoa.

I have no "official" pictures, but I thought I'd share a few fun little ditties I created in the kitchen a few weeks ago.

Derby Pie 
What is Derby Pie?  It's delicious, that's what =)  It's a Kentucky twist on your typical Pecan Pie...the twist coming from chocolate.  Sign.me.up.

I can't take credit for this recipe - I completely stole it from the internet after doing multiple Google searches.  This one caught my eye for some reason, and I've now made it several times.  Each time has been absolutely divine =)

Here's the recipe...

...and a picture

...drool...

I used the first version of the recipe listed and omitted the bourbon.  I'm sure it would be just as good with the bourbon, but I didn't have any and to be honest, didn't really miss it.  I love this pie =)

Now, for the next recipe.

Test-o Best-o Pesto!
What?  What the heck is this, Nicole??
Let me explain.  I made a boo-boo when I bought pecans for the aforementioned Derby Pie.  I'm slightly moronic and while I was at the grocery store, I seemed to think that 1cup of pecans = 1 lb of pecans... 

...um...well...I can now tell you that 1 cup pecans is definitely much much < than 1 lb of pecans.  Oopsie.

So I made my pies and had oodles of pecans leftover.  What to do?  I ate a few here and there on yogurt, popped a few as a snack, froze a bunch...but I really wanted to USE them in something.

So I decided to make pesto!

I really don't do pesto that much, but it's pretty easy.  I think a 'typical' pesto has pine nuts, herbs, olive oil and garlic, but you can really make pesto out of anything.

I didn't have any herbs, but I had recently purchased a big bag of spinach and a big bag of arugula.  And I had my pecans.  Okay...food processor to the rescue!

This thing is my fave kitchen tool =)

I added a bunch of pecans,

several huge handfuls of spinach and arugula,

some salt, lemon juice,

and drizzled with olive oil...

...and voila!  Test-o (because this was totally a test...) Best-o (because this stuff was fantastic...way better than I expected it to be!)  Pesto!

It's actually so good, I've been eating it as a dip, too =)  Seriously...dipping some Triscuit Thin Crisps in this stuff...yummy.

Have you made any boo-boo's in the kitchen that turned into something fantastic?