Fed at last, fed at last, thank god almighty, I'm fed at last.

I've been sick for the past week, which means I've not been eating well or enough. Lots of cold soba, pancakes and rice and beans. Well thankfully, I feel better and Eiko dropped off three huge bags of fresh basil she picked up from a farmer we got to know when I was going though my licensing ordeal (from the farmer: big bag = 100 yen. from the grocery store: ten leaves = 100 yen). The gift was not only to make me feel better, but to apply subtle pressure for me to make her more pesto (she doesn't have a food processor or a blender...). She came over last night for a two person pizza party (which we do every month or so) and I made her make the pesto herself. It turned out great! While she was doing that, I made some basil-tofu ricotta (from Vegan with a Vengeance), which is like drugs it's so good. We topped the pizza with our two basil creations, tomato sauce, shredded komatsuna, eggplant and garlic. I almost always put eggplant on pizza because once it gets soft in the heat of the oven, it has a really nice bite to it - something like cheese but altogether more pleasing. The flavor of the eggplant is all ninja-like, it hides so well, so even if you're a hater, you'll enjoy it.