Okay, there’s a chance this miiiiight be an unattainable recipe right now. Because apparently scape season is about 3 seconds long.

What’s a scape, you say?

They are in the garlic family and we got the LAST BAG at our local organic market, Rooftop Hot. It’s within walking distance of our house and I need to start going always.

The knowledgeable owner of the store (and grower of the scapes!) recommended roasting them or making pesto. So we did both. Night 1: 400 degrees with a little olive oil, salt and pepper. They sort of have the texture of roasted asparagus, and the cooking mellows that sharp garlic taste a little bit.

The following week my SIL and her boyfriend were coming over for dinner so I decided to use the rest on pesto! She’s vegan so I fell down the vegan rabbit hole and made zucchini noodles and vegan ice cream which was TO DIE FOR and I will share it soon.

The main difference for vegan pesto is using nutritional yeast instead of cheese. You can find this in the health food section of your grocery store, and I’m pretty excited to experiment with other uses for it. It’s used as a cheese substitute in a lot of vegan recipes but I’ve also heard of people putting in on popcorn so some day soon I’ll try it plain. For now it still looks like fish food to me.

If you have a plethora of basil this summer season 1) give it to me because somehow I keep killing my basil plant and 2) make pesto. Traditionally pesto is basil, pine nuts, garlic, parmesan, and a buuuunch of olive oil. Pine nuts are a little pricey in my opinion so I typically use walnuts, pistachios, or even sunflower seeds. Whatever I have kicking around.

I still used a lot of basil in this pesto, and definitely no extra garlic because those scapes were very pungent when raw.

I served it with freshly baked sourdough, obviously. And a few days later stirred the leftovers in with orzo and roasted veggies for a clean-out-the-crisper dinner.

This is a recipe that makes you wake up the next morning with garlic taste in your mouth, even after eating dinner and dessert, then brushing/flossing/mouthwashing and sleeping for 8 hours.

But it’s worth it.

And much more importantly, that same night was when Sydney was encouraging us to get a puppy. She has a golden doodle and is a grade A dog mom. We’ve been talking about it for a while but haven’t pulled the trigger. While they were here, we went on Petfinder and I found this pup who I immediately fell in love with 1) because she’s beautiful 2) her name was listed as “Baby Louise” and 3) her bio said she hates cats. ME TOO, GIRL.

I didn’t think we were going to get her and then last week I was in VA Beach all day for work. I thought it was weird that the GS kept texting me for updates on when my flight was landing, when I actually got to my car to drive home from the airport, etc. but when I walked in SHE WAS HERE.

I cried. Best surprise ever. I am so obsessed with this dog. She is not only obviously gorgeous and adorable but she’s so sweet and mellow and I just love her. So if you follow me on social media prepare to be annoyed with the number of pictures and videos I’m going to post of our Baby Louise.

Pesto and puppies. That is all.