Sorry it's been so long since I've given an update! I've been busy visiting all of the area high schools presenting Youth Tour to the juniors; it has brought back memories of Mrs. McAdoo's speech classes (holla back if you remember those, lol!) The only new thing we've done (actually just Corey) is built shelves for his garage. They're nothing fancy to look at and they weren't that hard to build so I didn't even take any pictures :)



We're debating on whether we're going to put a fence up in the backyard first, or finish the master bedroom. I want to finish the bedroom first because, well, we're in it every stinkin' day and I'm getting a little tired of using the top of a lamp as my nightstand, haha! On the other hand, we need a fence so we can just let the dogs out without having to keep an eye on them and because come spring I'll have vegetables growing and I don't want critters coming up eating them. Did you notice how I assume I'll have vegetables growing? There's a 90% chance it will be a total bust. You know me and my lack of patience. I typically put my efforts into something that produces results pronto, but I do need to learn to be more patient, so I might as well start off light by trying my new-found patience with a few seeds and some dirt. This may have a disappointing ending :) 


Yesterday was my awesome big sister's birthday and the 'rents came up from Big Stig to spend the weekend with us! Dad had sent me a recipe for salsa from a Mexican restaurant we used to eat at all the time in Wichita, KS when we lived in Wellington, KS and wanted me to make it. Turns out it was AWESOME. I don't remember the salsa from this Mexican restaurant, but mom & dad do and they said it was spot on. It's mild enough for those who don't have a tolerance for spice, but if you eat enough of it, it can get spicy. I like how it uses all fresh vegetables; no canned tomatoes or sauces. YUM!

Here are the ingredients:

8 roma tomatoes, diced (MUST use roma tomatoes, this is important!)
1/2 white onion, diced
1 1/2 cloves garlic (I used 1 big clove and 1 small one)
1 serrano pepper (jalapeños are too mild, habeñeros are too hot)
1/2 bunch cilantro, chopped fine (including stems)
1/2 bunch green onions, chopped (green & white parts)
1 lime or 1/8 cup lime juice (microwave limes for about 30 seconds then roll on a cutting board before cutting and squeezing them to get more juice)
1/2 tbsp salt
1 1/2 tbsp cumin
1/2 tbsp chili powder
1/2 tbsp garlic powder
1/2 tsp pepper
1/2 tsp sugar (not shown in pic. Oops :) )


After you dice the tomatoes, throw 1/3 of them in a blender with garlic cloves, serrano pepper, salt, cumin,
chili powder, garlic powder, pepper and sugar.


Don't forget the lime juice.


Blend until it is a pinkish, orangish, brownish thick-looking liquid.

Toss the remaining ingredients in a large bowl (the other 2/3 of the diced tomatoes, white onion, green onion and cilantro).


Add the blended mixture and stir well.


And there you have it! Seriously fresh garden salsa.

One thing I LOVE about this recipe is if all goes according to plan, I will be able to go out to my "garden" in the future and pick all of the ingredients (with the spices already being in my spice rack) and whip up fresh salsa in no time! In fact, in a week or two it'll be time to begin planting the tomato and pepper seeds!

Something else we made this weekend that was sooooooooooooooooooooooooo good: fried ice cream. Have you ever had El Chico's fried ice cream? If not, you're missing out. Luckily, there are a couple of different (and easy!) ways to do this at home:

For true fried ice cream, roll a scoop of vanilla ice cream in a cinnamon/sugar mixture (1/2 tsp cinnamon to 2 tbsp sugar) and crunched up frosted flakes. Hard freeze for a few hours. In a deep fryer, heat oil to 350° and place frozen ice cream scoops in basket. Drop into hot oil for 2 to 3 seconds. Top with honey/chocolate syrup/caramel/whatever-floats-your-boat, whipped cream & a cherry! Voila!

Another way to fix this is to fry a tortilla in hot oil for about 1 minute on each side. Remove from oil and sprinkle cinnamon/sugar mixture on top. Roll a scoop of ice cream in crunched up frosted flakes and place in the middle of the tortilla, top with honey/chocolate syrup/you-get-the-idea, whipped cream & a cherry. It's like a sopapilla topped with crunch ice cream. Yum! This is what it will look like:


It is extra awesome if you pair it with a glass of blackberry wine. This wine is from the Summerside Vineyards in Vinita, Okla. on Route 66! We tried a sample at the OKC Home & Garden Show last weekend and had to get a bottle; it's SO good!

That's pretty much all I have for now. Hopefully it won't be 2 1/2 weeks before I update you on what's going on :)

Cheers!