It’s Pesto Day!!

When our kids were young, we had certain summertime events that we all looked forward to. A trip to Six Flags or White Water, a hike along the Appalachian Trail, etc.

Times have changed since then and one of Michael’s and my favorite summer events is “PESTO DAY”!!

Our herb bed grows AMAZING basil!! Sadly no photos, but I was in a big hurry to harvest before it started raining….. AGAIN!!

But, after I had picked the basil and trimmed off all of the “bolt”, this was what we had to work with…..

While I started the task of picking and rinsing the leaves….

….Michael was getting everything else out and ready to go…..

We usually use Pine Nuts, but this year they were scarce, and the ones that I did find were WAY TOO expensive. So, walnuts it is!

After I rinse the leaves, the are spun…..

….and placed on a drainer to dry a bit more…..

THEN THE MAGIC HAPPENS!!!

Michael starts mixing up the batches in the food processor, adding basil, walnuts, garlic, salt and pepper…..

After a bit of a whiz, he adds Olive Oil until it has this wonderful, creamy texture….

Since he isn’t measuring anything, we pour all of the batches into one bowl so that any variations will even out…..

The final step is putting 3/4 cup in each of our freezer bags…..

And….voila…..

…..23 servings of Pesto, ready to be enjoyed all through the year!!

Dinner anyone???

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A rite of summer…..

There are several things that tell me that summer is here and one of those is making Pesto!!! For some reason, basil LOVES our herb bed and we always put at least 5 plants into the ground.

Today was the day to harvest the Basil and turn it into creamy Pesto. Michael compared it to hog-killing day on the farm!!!

So, here is the day in photos…..

THE HARVEST…..

CLIPPING……

WASHING…..

NOW THE CHEF (MICHAEL) TAKES OVER…..

AT THE END OF THE SESSION……

We had fun working together to make these delights and will sure enjoy them in the middle of winter!!! It will be a sweet reminder of the warmth of summer!!