Buy Pesto Ingredients from the Farmers Market!

I'm pretty stoked about this:

Farmers Markets boost local economies:
http://www.lansingstatejournal.com/article/20110804/NEWS01/108040331/-1/RSS13

There's a special farmers market today on the front lawn of the Capitol building from 10-3. Stop by for lunch and local goodies! For more details, check out http://www.miffs.org/.

We bought some heirloom tomatoes yesterday, holy cow. What flavor! Can't wait for tomatoes to start falling from the sky (or the vine I suppose) so we can make some serious salsa. Meanwhile, they make a great addition to sandwiches with cucumber slices, raw kale, pickles, banana peppers, and homemade pesto (from all the basil in our garden!).

Willow's Garden Basil Pesto
Ingredients:
2 cups basil
3 cloves garlic, minced
1/3 cup walnuts
1/2 cup parmesan cheese, grated
1/3 cup olive oil
salt and pepper to taste

Directions:
Pulse walnuts in a food processor until finely chopped. Add basil and pulse. Add all other ingredients and pulse until everything is a fine, spreadable paste. Scrape the sides of the processor as needed.

Yeah, it's that easy to make pesto (and large amounts of it, too). Pesto also freezes very nicely, so instead of paying $3.50 for a tiny 3oz jar of pesto during the cold months, you can freeze a huge jar of it now and have it allll winter long.