After Rahul and I went for a bike ride to the Peralta Community Garden and back,

I cooked up some polenta:
3 cups water
1 cup polenta
1/2 tsp salt
1 chicken bouillon cube (I figure it's OK as long as I'm just using it up)

I spread it on waxed paper in a baking dish and let it cool in the fridge. In the meantime, I turned my tomato soup into sauce:

Sliced up a couple handfuls of fresh button mushrooms.
Browned them in olive oil.
Threw them into the soup with a handful of dried oregano.
Added a handful of fresh basil leaves, minced with the mezzaluna.

Then I sliced the polenta into squares and fried it in butter and oil, poured sauce over the top, added some sprinkles of vegan mozzarella, and melted the "cheese" in the microwave.

I ate some delicious black seedless grapes for dessert.

USA Today takes Marcella Hazan to Olive Garden
http://www.usatoday.com/money/mds048.htm

YUMMY heirloom tomato soup:
3 lbs. heirloom tomatoes, peeled, seeded, and chopped
1 yellow onion, chopped
Salt
Pepper

Saute the onion in a saucepan till soft.
Add the tomatoes and simmer for about 25 minutes.
Puree.
Add salt and pepper.
Eat.

I also made pesto, which I haven't tried yet:
2 cups basil leaves (I added stems and flowers... trimming the basil plants back)
1 tsp minced garlic
1/3 cup grated Parmesan cheese
1/3 cup pine nuts
1/2 cup extra virgin olive oil

Blend.

I stirred in a bit of lemon juice--it doesn't seem to have helped; the pesto seems brown today. No salt yet.