Avocado Pesto – Vegan Recipe

This avocado pesto is really quick and easy to make. I ate it with spaghetti for lunch, and then by the spoonful after my plate was empty. Pesto is essentially greens + nuts + oil. Some people add cheese, but you don’t need it, because dairy production is cruel and nothing tastes as good as animal rights feel (see what I did there?). Once you grasp this (greens + nuts + oil = pesto), you will find it increasingly easy to make fresh pesto when the occasion calls for it. I added avocado to this because I didn’t have that much oil to hand and I did have some rapidly ripening avocados. The avocado made it very creamy and the flavors mingled like your favourite party guests – and it also brightened up a grey Berlin winter day.

Shout out to a dear friend of mine Carol, who literally spoon fed me my first taste of avocado back in 2003!

RECIPE:

Equipment you will need:

  • blender / food processor.
  • knife and cutting board.
  • spoon to scoop out the avocado.
  • garlic crusher (or a fork in a pinch).

Ingredients:

Note on ingredient amounts: I didn’t actually measure when making this, so these measurements are an estimation. Please keep an eye on the consistency and taste throughout.

  • 2 x large ripe avocados, flesh scooped out. (if you avocados are not ripe yet, put them next to some bananas and be patient.)
  • 3 x garlic cloves, crushed.
  • lemon juice, at least one lemon or 4 tbsp.
  • 100g rucola / rocket / argula
  • 50g basil (optional, just add more rucola if you don’t have basil to hand)
  • 100g ground almonds
  • 50g walnuts
  • 2 tbsp cold pressed olive oil
  • sea salt to taste
  • dash of walnut oil (optional)
  • finely sliced red hot chili pepper (optional)
  1. Place the avocado flesh in a blender, add all the other ingredients, except for the olive oil and pulse until every ingredient has become acquainted with each other but retains it’s own shape.
  2. Taste with a teaspoon and decide if you need to add more of anything. If it is too fluid in consistency add more ground almonds.
  3. Pour the olive oil in and pulse until the pesto is smooth enough.
  4. Serve it with spaghetti, on bread, as part of a salad, or simply eat it with a spoon. Should be served and eaten immediately as avocado discolours quickly. Shouldn’t be a problem though.

***

walnut parsely pesto vegan

Note: If you don’t have a blender, but do have a pestle and mortar, then you should already know what do do! To the left is some walnut parsley pesto I made by hand. It was tasty, however it definitely involved some physical labour.

We played a concert in Hildesheim

We played a concert in Trillke Gut in Hildesheim as part of the aktionstage gesellschaft_macht_identität. That was fun. Then I danced until 4am and did apfel schorle “shots” while Dave got his beauty sleep. Also fun. Then got up the next morning and went for a walk in the forest. Fun…until we got lost in the forest and almost missed the train back! Zoiks! And then arrived back in Berlin to catch a last glimpse of the sun shining so strong. Ahhhh why can’t every weekend be like this!

Here are some shots of Dave just before the concert and us on stage. Check out Dave – he’s all style!

david murphy, berlin, you're only massive, singer, frontman

You're Only Massive, hildesheim, aktionstage, konzert

xo midi grrrl

Tempelhof Panorama

If you have read this blog before, you will know that Tempelhofer Feld is one of our favourite places in Berlin, (click here for the last video shot we shot there).

Recently we were privelaged to go there with a friend from Cork City, and make a full sized panorama GIF.

 

This is a big file, so give it a minute to load:panorama

 

In other news, we are writing about a dozen new songs at the same time, plus looking for a new microphone for vocals.

See you soon!

 

DM

Listen to song sketches from upcoming Midi Grrrl EP

Thanks to everyone who pre-ordered the Midi Grrrl EP. It is so heartening to make a record, knowing that some people have already pre-ordered it. A huge thank you. Until the record is finished, here are a few short song sketches for you. Nothing close to full songs, and some of them won’t make it to the final cut, but it might give you an idea of how synth heavy this record is going to be!

xo midi grrrl

Listen Up! Festival

Listen Up! Festival is coming up this weekend. It’s a two day music festival “to change the rules” and I am so excited for this weekend of super talented musicians, super interesting workshop leaders and a panel discussion on the theme of “arty berlin – who is it for?”.

I’ve been working on the festival, which is funded by the Berlin Music Board, since June and this is the home stretch…at this point I am all strung out! I have to do physical activity to relax my mind and body. I have had so little time to do music and approach it like a sweet stolen treasure. So the other day, whilst waiting for the kettle to boil, I played a little synth and recorded this messy sketch below. It was a sweet short burst! Maybe you’ll hear one of the tracks in the flesh and in the fullest when the festival is over.

Until then, it would be wonderful to see some old and new faces at Listen Up! this weekend. I will be there from the start to the end, at the concert in Gretchen on Friday, the workshops and panels on Saturday and the concert in Südblock on Saturday night. And honestly, the line up is the bomb! Check it out here.

xo midi grrrl

listen up, berlin, kreuzberg

Violent Vickie played in Kreuzberg.

Violent Vicky

Violent Vickie are an amazing synthpop/riot GRRl band from Oakland, California currently on tour through Europe.
Their influences are Bikini Kill and the Beach Boys, and their sound is frantic fast paced 4/4 electropop.
Perfect for dancing, perfect for crowd surfing!
They use multimedia elements in their live shows such as projections and stripper poles.

We went to see them in Kreuzberg on a stormy monday night.
Whether it was ionically charged atmosphere, or the innumerable support acts, by the time Violent Vickie took the stage, every person in the awkwardly shaped Waterloo venue was jammed to the front, craning to see.

Watch the whole gig here:

Their song “Drugs” talk directly to the audience,
and “Beauty Store” speaks out against the pressure to conform that oppresses us all.
But, it is in songs like “Money is Mine“, as band comes into dialogue with each other,
that the show begins to rocket.
Tension is released for the band, but not for the audience, who won’t let them go,
unlocking the rare quadruple encore achievement.

The Violent Vickie 2013 European Tour continues in to the UK this week:

1. August: Retro Bar, Manchester.
2. August: Bar 1:22, Huddersfield
3. August: The Dublin Castle, Camden, London
4. August: The Hope Pub, Brighton

Here is the Facebook, Bandcamp, and Website for Violent Vickie.

summr samplr + concerts in erfurt and berlin

summer music, 2013, free download, free music, berlin music, music berlin, berlin bands, you're only massive

We have some gigs coming up and so decided to release a
free music summr samplr of six tracks, old and new!

Right click –> –> HERE to download the zip file with 6 mp3s.
We hope you enjoy listening and dancing!
If you like what you hear, our vinyl records and mp3 downloads are available here: shop

Upcoming concerts:

  • Freitag, 19th July, 10pm, Erfurt.

Polyfantasiaball as part of the polyfantasia woche 2013

  • Saturday 10th August, Berlin.

as part of (ex best) friends fest, at bei ruth, ziegrastr.11-13, Neukölln.
This is a smoke-free event with eight bands:

starting at 3pm. with food, cake and haircuts. It is sad that the wonderful ex-best friends are calling it a day, but this will be a beautiful kiss-off. See you there.

xo

Midi Grrrl