Hannah's Heartstrings

Grandfathers.

Uncles.

Father.

Brother.

Friends.

Cousins.

Thank you.

I do not say this to take away from the heroism of men, or to belittle their protection of women in any way. Nothing could be further from the truth. I merely want to point out that a girl has a job as well, and sometimes we forget it. We cannot sit idly by expecting our men to be the only heroic ones. We have a job to do.

We need heroism. It would serve us all well to let out the heroes and heroines inside us that the world has told us to put away as childish dreams. To live our heroism, with men and women each remembering their own places in the story, is what will keep the reality of our glorious fairy tale from dying.

~Hannah McMichael

olive oil
basil
oregano
parsley
salt

Yes. There are no measurements. There were some in the original recipe, but the were for a mega batch, and were very difficult to smaller-ize. So this is where you become suddenly adventureous, follow my meager instructions and just wing it. :)

Get out your food processor. Hopefully you have a decently sized one, preferably about the size of your average blender.
Fill it loosely with spinach. Add around a cup of nuts (note on nuts: walnuts are traditional. We found that almonds give it a wonderful taste. A mix of the two is even better.). Make sure you have extra nuts, cause you'll need them.
Add about 2 TBSP pf Lemon juice, 1 TBSP olive oil, and approx. 2 tsp. garlic, 1 tsp. basil, parsley and 1/2 tsp. oregano and salt. You will most likely need to add more galric and salt, but you'll need to taste it first to make sure it isn't too strong. Better to add a little and need to add more than add too much and have it taste bad. :)

Start whirling. :) You will have to stop and push down the spinach, move the nuts around and add more lemon juice if its too dry. Careful not to add too much lemon juice....little at a time...or else you will end up with slop. Add more nuts if its sloppy.

Let me just say that sloppy Pesto is a no-no. It needs to be thick enough to scoop on a spoon without flopping or dripping off. Spreadable, like peanut butter.

Process with whole thing until you get a good consistancy AND a good taste. You want it to taste slightly strong of garlic and smell good of lemon juice. That 's what I look for when I make it.

When you get it to look right and taste right, its best eaten when chilled for a while.

Pesto is sooo versitile. Eat it with crackers, on salad, in sandwiches or burgers, or whatever you want!! :D

**EDIT** I forgot that I use a little olive oil in the pesto as well. :D Recipe has been changed to include said ingredient.