Presto -- Pesto!

Friday night was predicted to be cold

Around 36 --

That is cold for Kansas in early October.

Which means that my pesto making

got moved up a few days!

For basil does not like to be cold!

And I can't imagine a winter without pesto in the freezer!

With garlic and olive oil and Anna Pump's recipe

And some walnuts

And my trusty food processor . . .

I got three jars of pesto.

Not a lot as some years

But then I didn't plant as many plants this year as I have in the past!

It will be doled out for special occasions

And no eating straight from the jar with a spoon!

Last year . . .

It was mid October before I made my pesto

And I got four jars!

In 2010, the harvest was splendid

10 jars of pesto for the freezer

And it was the first of November before I had to harvest the basil!

A warm fall, it seems!

In 2009, it was a bumper crop of basil --

Almost a dozen jars!

All put up in mid October!

In 2008, I had just started my blog,

And I shared my annual pesto making

Five jars

But it was an early picking,

A September picking

There was more to come in October

before the first frost.

I love making pesto

We adore pesto --

A spoonful in vegetable soup,

A spoonful in creamy tomato soup, 

A pesto mayonnaise made by adding a spoonful to mayonnaise

before spreading on a turkey or chicken sandwich

A couple of spoonfuls over the top of pasta

(I prefer angel hair)

And then a shower of Parmesan to finish it off.

A half cup or so poured over a block of cream cheese

makes a good appetizer,

Spread on brucheta before topping with tomatoes

We love using lots of basil in the summer

And we pick freely

Making sure that we clip the blossoms as soon as they appear.

But, perhaps our most favorite way of eating basil

is the winter pesto!