Friends, I was positively desperate for some creative time in the kitchen last night and am glad I put my foot down to putter and cook.

I'd gone to the market earlier and picked up a gorgeous bunch of fresh carrots with an excess of feathery green tops as well as a can of coconut milk for no good reason except that it was on sale. When I got home, I came across the lone ghost pepper I'd bought last week.

Jack is fascinated by ghost peppers' second-place ranking on the Scoville heat index. You don't often see ghost peppers around here, so when I saw it, I snapped it up for fun. He circled it warily for a few days before deciding exploration, much less a straight taste, wasn't worth it.

As I made dinner for the boys and then started on our squash-based side dish, I noodled on the carrots and coconut milk and it being Monday which I like to try and make meatless.

Risotto!

I washed and spun the carrot tops as well as the greens from a bunch of radishes I'd bought for Oliver.

Pesto!

And then it all coalesced into a coconut-carrot-ginger risotto with a bit of heat from the ghost pepper and a cool, colorful bit of zip from a fresh carrot top pesto.

I was thrilled. This dish is hearty but not weighty, comforting but still sunny. I loved enjoying the small bowl of leftovers today for lunch.

Gawd, y'all, I spent most of the morning on the couch. Whatever crappy bug I have is the pits. Also the fact that it was in the 40s last night and will be again tonight. Really mid-May? At noon, I picked Ol up and took him to his swimming lesson, which is outside in a heated pool and during which I wore a scarf. Again, really? Fun though, and afterwards, I managed to eat a small salad and get together a lovely dinner for my grands. Then I had my first real wind in days, got a lot done for my parents' 40th anniversary party next week and made some homemade peanut sauce (like, starting with peanuts that I roasted), dinner AND that cocktail about which I dreamed last weekend. Y'all, the Lidocaine is good!

I steeped coconut milk with fresh ginger and habañero, a dash of cinnamon and two demerara sugar cubes. Then I strained and chilled that and ultimately shook it hard with vodka and ice, finished it with a splash of Cognac and a bit of orange zest. Voila!