My son recently came out of school and informed me that we had to buy basil. Thrilled that this greeting was far less hostile than some of the greetings I get at pick-up (typically ranging from nothing on a good day to a shove or a proclamation that I’m not going to let him to something-or-other on a less good day), I asked him why. He said that his class had made pesto in Garden class, and he wanted to make it at home.
I was happy about this, though his enthusiasm doesn’t always pan out. Last year, he wanted me to buy chard because they’d grown and tasted it at school. Not surprisingly, he liked it as little when I bought it for him as he had liked every time before that. And when he wanted celery, I was happy to buy him some. He hated it, just like he always had. But I understand the excitement of producing it yourself and having it under a different set of circumstances.
Gardening Class in Elementary School!
My son goes to a public school, but it has a lot of elements that go far beyond your typical public school. Parent donations go a long way, including funding a garden and even a teacher for Garden. Each class goes once a week. Students might plant seeds, weed, water, or harvest. They usually also get some sort of lesson relating to how plants grow or how to use what they harvest.
Getting the Pesto Ingredients
We needed to purchase fresh basil and garlic. The timing was good, as my son was a bit sick. We needed something to do after school that didn’t require much energy, so we borrowed my parents’ car and went to a nearby supermarket for two bunches of basil and one head of garlic.
When we dropped off the car at my parents’ house, we took further advantage of their kindness – without asking, of course, since they were out of town. We took the rest of the ingredients we needed, including olive oil and chopped pecans, which were the closest substitute we could find to pine nuts or walnuts. We also took the remainder of a bag of Italian shredded 5-cheese blend to substitute for parmesan cheese.
Making the Pesto (1 Week Later)
We delayed the actual production of pesto due to my son’s illness. Since he had barely eaten for several days by the time we assembled the ingredients, I asked if he wanted to wait to make the pesto so that he could enjoy it more when it was ready. He chose to wait.
A few days later, when he was eating more normally, it was time to make the pesto. He got out the blender and the ingredients, assembled the blender, and plugged it in. I peeled a head of garlic and cut off the end, but he did the rest. He took the basil leaves off their stems and put them and the other ingredients in the blender, including carefully pouring in the olive oil.
My son said they’d used a hand cranked vegetable processor at school, so we didn’t know what setting to use on the blender. We decided to pulse it. He pulsed the blender and alternated pulsing with using a very long drink mixing spoon to stir.
For some reason, the head of garlic remained completely intact. He took it out of the blender and minced it with a knife on the cutting board. As a left-hander who didn’t have much knife experience, he looked kind of awkward, but he did a beautiful job. Then he put the minced garlic back in the blender and pulsed another few times.
He poured the pesto into a container, and I had the privilege of cleaning up. If anyone has any tips for washing olive oil-based foods off of dishes and utensils, please let me know! Olive oil is so greasy!
Results: Taste and Emotions
We both thought the pesto was delicious. Warning for those of you who are foodies: we’re not connoisseurs. We like most foods, even if they’re not traditional or perfect. But the pesto was tasty, the texture was nice, and it had been made with love and pride. We didn’t have it on pasta or any other food you might associate with pesto. Dinner included swai, sweet potato, watermelon, and zucchini. There was enough left over for a few more meals.
It was nice to see my son proud of himself for a job well done. He told his grandparents about it, and even got to show them it while he was eating lunch while video chatting with them.
My son feeds off of himself. If he feels guilty or ashamed, he gets angry with himself and makes it worse. He can work himself up into a terrible state. On the other hand, when he’s proud and in control, his best self shines through. That was a beautiful gift of this pesto experience.
How do you let your kids be their best selves?
Pesto Recipes
| Traditional Pesto Recipe | Our Pesto Recipe |
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Instructions
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Approximate nutrition information per 1/6 of recipe: 180 calories, 18 grams of fat, 3 grams of saturated fat, 10 mg cholesterol, 2 grams of carbohydrates, 1 gram of fiber, 0 grams of sugar, 3 grams of protein
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