diff --git a/History.txt b/History.txt
index 947f56c8..e4b7dacf 100644
--- a/History.txt
+++ b/History.txt
@@ -4,7 +4,6 @@
   * Minor Enhancements
     * Added post categories based on directories containing _posts [github.com/mreid]
     * Added new date filter that shows the full month name [github.com/mreid]
-    * Make post's YAML front matter available as post.data [github.com/remi]
     * Merge Post's YAML front matter into its to_liquid payload [github.com/remi]
     * Restrict includes to regular files underneath _includes
   * Bug Fixes
diff --git a/lib/jekyll/site.rb b/lib/jekyll/site.rb
index 433c754a..0a74fc23 100644
--- a/lib/jekyll/site.rb
+++ b/lib/jekyll/site.rb
@@ -54,7 +54,12 @@ module Jekyll
       entries = entries.reject { |e| File.directory?(e) }
 
       entries.each do |f|
-        self.posts << Post.new(base, f) if Post.valid?(f)
+        if Post.valid?(f)
+          post = Post.new(base, f) 
+          post.content = Liquid::Template.parse(post.content).render(site_payload, [Jekyll::Filters])
+          post.transform
+          self.posts << post
+        end
       end
       
       self.posts.sort!
@@ -86,10 +91,15 @@ module Jekyll
         (e != '_posts') and ['.', '_'].include?(e[0..0]) 
       }
 
+      # we need to make sure to process _posts *first* otherwise they 
+      # might not be available yet to other templates as {{ site.posts }}
+      if entries.include? '_posts'
+        entries.delete '_posts'
+        read_posts(File.join(base, '_posts'))
+      end
+
       entries.each do |f|
-        if f == '_posts'
-          read_posts(File.join(base, f))
-        elsif File.directory?(File.join(base, f))
+        if File.directory?(File.join(base, f))
           next if self.dest.sub(/\/$/, '') == File.join(base, f)
           transform_pages(File.join(dir, f))
         else
diff --git a/test/source/index.html b/test/source/index.html
index b3cc7556..493fce7c 100644
--- a/test/source/index.html
+++ b/test/source/index.html
@@ -5,8 +5,18 @@ title: Tom Preston-Werner
 
 h1. Welcome to my site
 
+h2. Please read our {{ site.posts | size }} Posts
+
 <ul>
   {% for post in site.posts %}
     <li>{{ post.date }} <a href="{{ post.url }}">{{ post.title }}</a></li>
   {% endfor %}
-</ul>
\ No newline at end of file
+</ul>
+
+{% assign first_post = site.posts.first %}
+<div id="first_post">
+  <h1>{{ first_post.title }}</h1>
+  <div>
+    {{ first_post.content }}
+  </div>
+</div>
diff --git a/test/test_generated_site.rb b/test/test_generated_site.rb
new file mode 100644
index 00000000..56e5e422
--- /dev/null
+++ b/test/test_generated_site.rb
@@ -0,0 +1,21 @@
+require File.dirname(__FILE__) + '/helper'
+
+class TestGeneratedSite < Test::Unit::TestCase
+  def setup
+    clear_dest
+    source = File.join(File.dirname(__FILE__), *%w[source])
+    @s = Site.new(source, dest_dir)
+    @s.process
+    @index = File.read(File.join(dest_dir, 'index.html'))
+  end
+  
+  def test_site_posts_in_index
+    # confirm that {{ site.posts }} is working
+    assert @index.include?("#{@s.posts.size} Posts")
+  end
+
+  def test_post_content_in_index
+    # confirm that the {{ post.content }} is rendered OK
+    assert @index.include?('<p>This <em>is</em> cool</p>')
+  end
+end
diff --git a/test/test_site.rb b/test/test_site.rb
index ccfd4117..bde6a008 100644
--- a/test/test_site.rb
+++ b/test/test_site.rb
@@ -27,4 +27,4 @@ class TestSite < Test::Unit::TestCase
     
     @s.process
   end
-end
\ No newline at end of file
+end