Making basil pesto

Since my basil plants were on the verge of bolting I decided it was time to make basil pesto.   I had just pinned a recipe from Pinterest and was inspired to try it out.   The recipe I used was from the Heather Bullard website, click on the link to see her recipe.

I made the pesto according to her directions and it turned out great. I then made a couple other batches with a few changes as I was running out of ingredients. 


Here are a few of the changes I tried, successfully and non-successfully.

I substituted walnuts for pine nuts and even though it changes the flavor a bit the walnut pesto is still delicious.
I ran out of olive oil and tried substituting grapeseed oil. This definitely changed the taste of the pesto and left it a little bland. The olive oil does add flavor to the pesto.
I found it is important to use a real grated hard cheese, such as Parmesan. My last batch I was running out of "real" Parmesan and substituted a store brand "grated Parmesan" that is a softer cheese.  The texture of the pesto changed and got a little gooey.

'til next time...

The downside to Pinterest

Can there be such a thing??  I mean, I haven't yet heard any stories of a family starving to death while mommy pins away but I am sure there have been some close calls. 

The problem with Pinterest is that there are just So. Many. Daggone. Cool. Things.  And frankly, sometimes it is more fun to collect ideas rather than actually do them.  I have looked at enough kids crafts and activities to keep my kids busy through college. 

And recipes....if I randomly picked out one each day I could probably have our meals planned for the next few months. But like I said, it is easier to ogle recipes and pin them than to actually fix the meal. 

All that being said, I love Pinterest and I'm sure I will continue to find ways to justify the amount of time I waste on the site.

'til next time...