Papa the Goon

Dating back to the late 1980s, it's been a serious tradition in my family to grow massive amounts of basil and harvest them just before the first frost for a day of pesto making. This is very serious business. Originally we would just make the occasional batch and would have to purchase basil. Then, we started growing it because it grows very easily and heartily from seed, which is cheap. Then, we realized that pesto freezes quite nicely. So we started growing more. The year I was 16, we grew two full 12-foot rows of basil. After I left home, Lilly once planted four rows of basil. They couldn't even harvest it all. I remember Jim once commenting that we had enough pesto in the freezer to have one container a week through June.

We're giving the family of origin a run for its money. Jon was up til nearly 6 a.m. processing all this.
I spent $33 on pine nuts. We use pine nuts instead of walnuts because they are the appropriate nut to use. Also, he is a goon.