Bug Eyed Moments @kktspecial - Tumblr Blog

I pulled this recipe from two different places. One is from www.thekitchn.com and the other is from the The Essential New York Time’s Cookbook. Aside from that, I kind of went by the seat of my pants for this. I’ve wanted to make pesto for days when I had bought too much basil for a different dish. With that in mind, I bought my half cup of pine nuts, bursting at the seams to get started, went to grab my basil…and boom. Rotten. Whoops. Of course. So I went on a hunt to get as much basil as I could for as little cost as possible. Surprisingly (or not) the best value was a beautiful potted bunch from Trader Joe’s. Yeah, I could have gone to a farmer’s market but transportation is kind of an issue right now so that wasn’t quite in the picture. Whatever.

Moving on.

I researched the shit outta this but end up pretty much following just the NYT recipe and added parmesan. And in retrospect, I’d have preferred to leave the cheese out, but my girlfriend prefers it with. If, and when, anyone decides to try this out, taste it pre-cheese and make your own decisions.

1/2 cup pine nuts 3/4 cup extra virgin olive oil 4 ounces basil, stemmed (about 5 cups loosely packed leaves) 2 cloves garlic, coarsely chopped 1/2 teaspoon salt, or to taste

1/2 cup grated parmesan cheese (optional)

(Remember I didn’t quite measure out my basil. Honestly, I’m terrible at guessing and I just said the hell with it and took all but the smallest stems of basil from my plant. The recipe turned out well so it must have been about the right amount.)

1. Toast dem pine nuts over medium heat. It only takes about 3 minutes. Learn from me and when they say ‘shake and stir the pan until golden brown all over’, KEEP shakin’ and stirrin’. K good. I burned mine but it turned out ok so don’t over stress.

2. Throw everything into a blender or food processor. I got excited because I had never used a food processor so that’s what I used. This is the part where I’d say try it without cheese, taste, then throw cheese in if you’d like. Just don’t forget the cheese has some saltiness so if your pre-cheese concoction seems to need salt and you want cheese, add the cheese before adding salt.

3. Blend the shit out of it. Blend until it won’t blend any more.

Boom done. Makes about 1 cup.

Note: This is one of those recipes that don’t seem to care about process of how shit is mixed together. The thekitchn.com recipe makes it seem kind of complicated with mixing half, slowing pouring oil, etc but I said fuck it and went for the easy route. If anyone ends up doing a comparison, of the two manners and has a suggestion, send it over! Hell, if I end up changing my method, I’ll let y’all know. Deal? Deal.

To store dat pesto:

I put mine in a cute lil’ jam jar we had finished. You can use it up and keep it in the fridge, or you can pop it in the freezer and it’ll keep for months that way. Now, if you’re like me, you’re a bit greedy, you want to use it now AND freeze it.

SO GUESS WHAT I FOUND OUT. YOU CAN STORE PESTO AS ICE CUBES.

Ok. So its not ice, but you get it. Fill your ice cube tray with as much or as little of your know delicious smelling sauce. If you care, use water first to get an exact measurement of how much each compartment holds. Usually its about 2 tablespoons.

Either way, make sure there’s a thin layer of olive oil at the top of your pesto just enough to cover. Without it, it can get brown and nasty. Or so they say. I won’t lie, I haven’t tested it. But I believe them. However, with how I made it, I didn’t need any extra oil.

So. There’s that. Enjoy!

Love, Kat

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This is where I'm at.

I have had a crush on her for as long as I had known her, which by that point was about 6 years. We had gone to college together and she always swore never to visit me in New York (she lived in Minneapolis) while I was dating someone. The stars finally aligned and we both happened to be single enough for her to come visit. She was in town for 5 days and, according to her, it was only a few days before she knew she had to ask me out, no matter what. I always assumed it was never going to happen, as I refused to do long distance, and refused to have an open relationship, something she engaged in regularly. I figured she'd always be 'that person' who was just my distant, unreachable crush. The night before she was to leave, I was getting intimidated because she was getting really intense and I couldn't understand why. In the wee hours of the next morning, we were rolling around in bed, just chatting, and she said something along the lines of wishing she could claim and protect me from even 1000 miles away. My heart stopped and I remember shrinking into myself, in disbelief, and whispered all quiet and shyly (not a thing I'm known for), 'well you could, if you wanted.' She took my face and made me look at her, 'do you mean that?'. 'Yes,' I replied, still not fully comprehending the situation. This aching feeling of wanting her for six years was coming to a head. She started kissing my face, following each one with a 'Hi' or 'Hello.' Finally she stopped and I asked what those were for. She said 'those were 31 kisses, one for every morning until I get to see you again.'

Are you kidding me!? People don't make this shit up. I melted.

She had refused to ask me the traditional 'will you go out with me' and instead read right through my bullshit and fought for 2 and a half days to get me to see what she was asking. It was the only way I'd have taken her seriously. I'm a pragmatic romantic who wants someone to see me and push me. Because of her, I never realized how much I relied on myself, even within a relationship. Because of her, I am the most confident in myself that I've ever been.