The very self same kid who will not let a strawberry pass his lips without academy award-worthy theatrics (clutching at his throat, gasping, spitting, BLECH!), found a new, and wholly unexpected, love this weekend.
Pesto*
Of all the things! Now, don't get me wrong, I think there are many things to love about pesto, but if you'd asked me, if you'd held up a strawberry and a bowl of dark green oily goo, and asked me which one my three year old would prefer… well, I just never saw this coming.
He loves the whole process. The picking (though this did nothing to help him love strawberries),
the whir of the food processor and the licking of the bowl! (He. LICKED the bowl, people!),
pouring into jars and scraping it over bits of english muffin.
He can't get enough. In fact, I have to fetch him out of the freezer (where our 4 lovely jars of green goodness reside) several times a day. I also have to beg him every time he goes out into the yard not to pick anymore basil, at least for now.
"Please, honey, let the plants rest just a little while," I plead. "Leave them a FEW leaves. I promise, we'll make more when they grow a little." – this is my story, this is my song, begging him to leave the basil, all the day long…
And so, that poor little finger, the one who had no more pesto to scrape out of the bowl, the one banished from picking basil, found it's way into the Father's Day coconut cream pie. (recipe here. Although, I added a double batch of homemade whipped cream to ours 
Do you see that little smudge down front?
What's that they say about idle hands???
Yep.
Pesto:
2 cups fresh Basil leaves (pack 'em in there)
1/4 cup grated Parmesan Cheese
1/2 cup Olive oil
3 TBSP pine nuts (walnuts will work too)
3 garlic cloves
Put the basil in the food processor and chop well.
While the processor is going, alternately add in a little bit of each ingredient (a little cheese, a little oil, 1 TBSP of the nuts, one clove garlic, and repeat) until you've added it all.
{ 23 comments }
I never thought a child would eat pesto; now I have to try this recipe. I would finger swipe that pie too.
How funny! My son was exactly the same way – loved pesto, hated strawberries. There’s hope on the strawberry front, though. When he turned 4, he announced that since he was 4 now, he loved strawberries. He grabbed some from the fridge, started eating and has never looked back. Now, each birthday he tries to add one formerly hated food to his repertoire. It has even been mildly successful.
I almost had to lick the computer screen! That pie looks so yummy! And you can’t beat that picture of Ryder w/ his finger in the bowl and the pesto on his tummy.
Tristan is my picky eater, he eats bread and cheese and not much else. This weekend he ate a teaspoon of kosher salt out of a jar I keep by the stove. He loved it. Maybe I should try some pesto.
Oh, what a riot!
I’m singing “This is my story” now. heh heh
I guess there are worse songs to have stuck in one’s head, eh?
My daughter, from the day she could eat real food, loved pesto. We blame her love on me eating it a lot when I was pregnant but I guess that isn’t the same for you. I do love pesto too.
My son LOVES pesto too! Of course he will also eat every last strawberry he can get his hands on, but I’m proud of him liking the pesto! One of his other favorite foods is guacamole… we would feed it to him with a spoon as a baby when we went out to eat at the local mexican place. Now they just bring us a bowl of it when we sit down, because both of my kids would live off of it if they could!
We tried an argulua pesto recipe from the CSA and it turned out awful. Try, try again.
Oh my goodness — that pie looks incredible. Do you have a recipe for that too? Where do you find time to make such creations?!
That’s awesome. My daughter loved sushi at age 3, algae wrapper and all. I say algae, because I don’t like it and my husband makes it regularly. I like to bug him with the algae wrap comment. Fresh basil is the best!!! We pick it and put it on homemade pizza with feta crumbled over the top. Yum! My kids won’t eat that though. More for me!!! Your pie looks great!
Kids are certainly silly about what they eat…I was a kiddo who only ate veggies and fruit over chocolate any day..but something changed now! Fresh pesto looks yummy–my basil plants are about ready to give me some leaves so I think I’ll put that recipe to good use. The coconut creame pie looks absolutely delish, I’m sure there aren’t any leftover pieces, right?
Oh we love pesto around here too! And I’m loving that pie. I HAVE to make it this week!
I hated Pesto until recently, i have a new found respect for it. There could be worse foods he could be addicted to?! This post is totally cute BTW!
Kids amaze me. My one year old hates goldfish, animal crackers, and hot dogs but loves dill pickles. Go figure.
Aww. The pie looks amazing.
Garlic is so good!
I’m going to try that pesto recipe! Your basil looks so fresh! I love your blog and I just subscribed to it!
Wow! That coconut cream pie looks dreamy! My husband abhors anything even remotely coconut, so I pretty much lust after it anytime I see it…and if we order dessert out and don’t split (a rarity), I make a point to treat myself, because I love it!
Thanks for the “This is my story” reference–it really made me smile!
looks delicious
I absolutely LOVE your basil song!
I absolutely LOVE your basil song!
I absolutely LOVE your basil song!
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