It's August, and that means, at least around here, that it's pesto time.

What is pesto time? It's that special time of year when everyone's basil starts growing like gangbusters. Which means, thanks to the invisible hand of supply and demand, that it's a hell of a lot cheaper than it is at the supermarket. Which means it's time to take advantage. How do you take advantage of cheap basil? I'm glad you asked. The answer is, unsurprisingly, to be found in the very name of PESTO TIME.

First, buy a shitload of cheap basil at your farmer'smarket. I got two large bunches today for a dollar each. Well, technically, a co-worker who happened to be heading that way grabbed them for me so that I didn't have to, which is even better. Once you have acquired the vast quantities of basil, simply:

• Pluck the leaves off.
• Wash the leaves.
• Dry the leaves.
• Make pesto out of the leaves.
• Freeze the pesto in ice cube trays.
• Decant the frozen pesto cubes into a zip-top freezer bag and store. 

Last year, when I did this, I had nearly a ten month supply of pesto for all my pesto needs.

Now, I freely admit that I do not have a recipe for pesto. Nor, in all likelihood, will I. It's something I eyeball, and there's nothing special about mine that would differentiate it from any recipe you could find online. Just basil, pine nuts, garlic, parmesan, and olive oil, blended in a food processor. until it seems about right.

Note that freezing pesto in plastic ice cube trays may stain the plastic or at least make you work hard to get the green out of them, so if that bothers you, buy more ice cube trays. They're cheap, and freezing things in ice-cube sized portions is a time-honored preservation method.

Some of you, upon reading the title of this post, got a song stuck in your head for hours. This is what we in the culinary world call "revenge".