Basil Salt — The Garden Was Good This Year

Cicadas at sundown. The hollow loud as a foundry. Worked at the construction company in Lexington this week. The body holds. Most days.

Connie at the vet clinic, four shifts this week. Her back is tired. She does not say so. I see it. Mama is 86. She is the toughest person I have ever known. She still cooks every day in the company house in Evarts.

Tomato sandwich for lunch — heirlooms from the garden, white bread, mayo, salt. Summer in a sandwich.

Travis called Tuesday. The landscaping company is busy. He sounds tired in a good way. Amber called Sunday. Things are good. James sends his regards.

I went to bed at nine. The wood stove still warm. The dog at the foot of the bed.

My back was tight after the wood-splitting Saturday. Took an Aleve. Slept eight hours. Got up.

Drove the truck to the dump Saturday afternoon. Saw three deer crossing the road on the way back. The mountains have been giving back this year.

Sunday service at Harlan First Baptist when we go. Pastor preached about Ruth and Boaz. The choir sang. Connie wore her gray dress.

Read the paper at breakfast Tuesday. The county news is not great. The mines have not come back and they will not come back. The young people leave. The hollows empty. We stay.

I split a half-cord of wood Saturday. Slowly. The back does not let me work fast anymore. It got done. The wood was for the smokehouse.

Travis sent a photo of Earl Thomas riding on the mower with him at a job site. The boy is wearing a Hensley Landscaping T-shirt that's too big. Three generations on a mower. I saved the photo.

Connie read aloud from a novel Tuesday evening while I worked on the bench. Some Appalachian writer she had picked up at the library in Whitesburg. The voice was the voice of where we live. We listened together.

Amber sent the kids' school photos this week. Nadia is taller every year. Marcus has Amber's serious face. Little Betty has Mama's eyes.

Drove to Pineville for parts Wednesday. The hardware store man knew me. We talked about the weather and the price of feed. Forty minutes for a five-minute errand. That is rural Kentucky.

I went up to Earl's grave at the Evarts cemetery Saturday. Brought a beer. Drank half. Poured the rest on the dirt. Some traditions are mine alone.

I sat on the porch with bourbon at sundown Friday. The fog rolled into the hollow the way it has every fog of every year. The porch was the porch. The bourbon was the bourbon.

Connie cut my hair on the porch Tuesday afternoon. She has been cutting my hair for forty years. The barber in Pineville cannot do what Connie does, which is also love.

Connie made jam Saturday afternoon. Wild blackberries from the patch up the hollow. Twelve jars. The pantry is filling for winter.

I sat at the kitchen table Tuesday night working on the recipe project. Mama's soup beans. I cannot get the words right yet.

Worked on a basement remodel job in Lexington. The work was good. The pay was good. The body is tired.

The creek was running clear Sunday afternoon. I watched a kingfisher work the riffle. Did not move for an hour. Some Sundays the watching is the worship.

I checked the truck oil Saturday. The mileage on this truck is criminal.

The dog — old Beau, fifteen years old — slept by the wood stove all afternoon Tuesday. He used to be a hunting dog. Now he is a heating pad with opinions.

That tomato sandwich — heirlooms from the garden, white bread, mayo, and salt — is about as close to a prayer as I get on a Tuesday afternoon. But this summer I started making a basil salt from what’s coming up alongside those tomatoes, and it changed the whole thing. It’s the kind of small, quiet improvement that fits right in with how Connie and I try to do things: careful, deliberate, nothing wasted. The garden was good this year. Might as well honor it.

Basil Salt

Prep Time: 10 min | Cook Time: 0 min | Total Time: 10 min (plus 1–2 hours drying) | Servings: About 24 (makes 1/2 cup)

Ingredients

• 1 cup fresh basil leaves, packed
• 1/2 cup coarse sea salt or kosher salt

Instructions

1. Combine. Add the fresh basil leaves and coarse salt to a food processor. Pulse 10–15 times until the basil is finely chopped and thoroughly mixed through the salt. The mixture will look slightly green and damp.
2. Dry. Spread the basil salt in a thin, even layer on a parchment-lined baking sheet. Let it air-dry at room temperature for 1 to 2 hours, or place it in a 200°F oven for 20–25 minutes until fully dry and crumbly.
3. Break it up. Once dry, use a fork or your fingers to break up any clumps. The salt should flow freely and look bright green flecked throughout.
4. Store. Transfer to a clean glass jar with a tight-fitting lid. Keeps at room temperature for up to 3 months. Use on tomato sandwiches, eggs, grilled vegetables, or anywhere you’d reach for plain salt.

Nutrition (per serving, approximately 1 teaspoon)

Calories: 0 | Protein: 0g | Fat: 0g | Carbs: 0g | Fiber: 0g | Sodium: 960mg