my favorite salsa recipe to date...

Roasted Serrano and Poblano Salsa

Summer to me starts when I make ice cream and salsa, not together of course! So I am sharing a salsa recipe.

This is by far my favorite salsa experiment. I don't love hot and spicy, but I do like flavorful and it seemed like last year's crop of jalapenos from my dad just kept getting hotter and hotter, so I was giving away jars and jars of salsa and not enjoying much of it.

 I don't think I have ever cooked with Serrano peppers and this recipe definitely changed my mind about them. My uncle lives in the country about an hour away from our new house and came by the other day and left me some goods from his garden...a bag full of tomatoes, some well over ripe, a bag full of peppers and a huge  eggplant. So I worked in my new kitchen and came up with this.

It is so good! A gentle heat on the back of your tongue...just enough for me to enjoy it and not be running for a glass of water!

Recipe

3 poblano peppers

5 serrano peppers

2 onions

2-3 whole garlic cloves (I didn't have any, but you could definitely use it)

10-12 small medium tomatoes

1 can of diced tomatoes (2 cans of water)

olive oil

salt

pepper

parsley

In a large dutch oven, add a couple tablespoons of EVOO. Add all the fresh peppers, tomatoes, and onions. (Wait on the garlic or it will burn.) Let cook and brown, then add canned tomatoes with juice and two cans of water. Now add garlic and seasonings and let come to a boil and simmer til everything is cooked. Add more salt to taste. Put hot mixture in a food processor and pulse til you get the consistency you like. This made four medium sized jars. 

Enjoy!

I'm linking up (finally!!!)

with the following blog parties!

full plate thursday

foodie friday

Our home sweet home...

I get this question a lot...but you just renovated your kitchen, why are you moving??? (And I did enjoy it for almost 2 years!)
Sometimes when you are a parent, you learn quickly that it is NOT all about you. I have two little people and a husband who I also share a home with and our old home just wasn't working for us anymore. We bought the old house 3 years ago when our oldest wasn't even walking...he barely crawled, so he was rather compliant:) 

In the last year, we have had issue after issue and it became apparent that something had to give. So we decided to put our house on the market...the amazing thing is we never did. We sold our house to our neighbors! We lived in a conservation district and I emailed my neighbor if he knew anyone interested in buying it. He emailed me back, asked for my realtor's  information and later that week I would find out that his son and dil wanted it (they lived with him) and the week after that, they bought it! We found our new home the day we were waiting for them to come back with a reply to our counter offer. They gave us the price we wanted. We made an offer on our new house and had the option periods differ by 3 days, so we'd have a couple days in case we had to deal with something. 

It was a God thing by all standards. Even my realtor, who is a fellow believer said there is no other way to explain it, but God wanted y'all out of that house and in this one!!! 

So back to the, it's not all about you theory...my sweet big boy stopped sleeping through the night about 9 months ago. He was afraid or uneasy about going in his room...he'd ask Daddy to sleep with him or come in our bed...needless to say we were weary and frustrated. My little boy is super active. He was an early walker, runner, crawler, and got into everything and was getting sick quite often. Our old house needed a lot of 'stuff' that we didn't want to invest in right now and really couldn't afford to. It had a small back yard with full sun, and in 105 degrees, that just wasn't working for us...

So our newer house was built in 1966 when walls were better insulated:) and it is brick...that alone cuts the heat and the energy bill in half! 

It's a family home with four real bedrooms that my sweet almost 4 year old adores...proof??? He put himself in his bed the second night we stayed here and slept til 7am!!! Can I get an AMEN???

our dining room

We also have a yard!!! with trees!!! and shade!!! and green grass!!! If you've been in Texas lately, the green grass is a little unusual!

the island

I do love my kitchen here. It has a cook's layout with a HUGE island for prep and seating! I look forward to planning out tablescapes and muffin tin meals in the near future, but I need to buy a new tripod and I can't find my usb cord:) so I took some pictures with my iphone, but they are so grainy, and picasa isn't working with me right now...so I'll try to upload, but if not, I will take some real pictures tomorrow in the light! It's a work in progress and as you can see I still have stacks of pictures to hang! I'll keep posting as I keep doing! I hope I find my usb cord tomorrow!

my sweet boys!

I'm back...finally!!!!

Don't expect pictures just yet...I have to find my camera! We moved in this past weekend and have a few days left to clean out our old house. My boys LOVE their new house and yard and rooms and beds...even though those aren't new, my almost 4 year old thinks they are and loves it all! We are very happy and blessed despite moving in 106 degree weather. We survived and I have found most of my stuff to start enjoying life here very soon! I have missed reading your blogs so very much. Our DSL got disconnected 2 weeks early and then took me an hour on the phone today to get registered....fun times...but I'm so glad things are up and running so I don't have to go blind trying to read on my phone.

blessings to you all!

still cooking...

I'm still cooking, but I won't be posting much in the next few weeks. God willing, we sold our house and bought a new house...so I'll try to post recipes, but all my extra plates and muffin tin goodies are being packed away! This week's recipe is Spanakopita Meatloaf. Stay tuned!

Happy Mother's Day!

I'm writing this late in the day, but I wanted to wish my mom and all you other moms out there a wonderful mother's day!

I can honestly say that my mom is one of my best friends. We butt heads often, mainly because we are competitive women, but also because we are a lot alike. My mom always claims she is not strong, not brave or not capable of many things, but I would beg to differ. My mom held my leg and my hand when I gave birth to my firstborn. She was there by my side again with my second. She has listened to me cry in frustration from middle school drama to college exams and heartaches to colicky babies and she ALWAYS had some words of wisdom to share...ALWAYS. 
I can only pray that God gives me the same good advice to share with my boys when they come crying to me.

My mom has guided me and encouraged me in all my endeavors from teaching to moving across the ocean to a former communist country to getting married and to becoming a mommy myself.

I love you, Mom! Happy Mother's Day!

May Day celebration

My mom made this beautiful layered cake with food coloring and cream cheese icing! We combined Easter, May Day and my birthday for our luncheon last Sunday.
 It was delish and pretty too! 
Here is a link to the recipe if you want it!

I'm linking up with 
Miz Helen for Full Plate Thursday! 
and
Designs by Gollum for Foodie Fridays

Mommy I want something to eat....muffin tin monday!

a 'springy' snack for my sweet boys. They shared roasted turkey, colby jack cheese and strawberries. The car Easter eggs had animal crackers inside!

These cups were from World Market last year when they were half off and the mini forks are from different sets I got on ebay from Japan. My mom bought the eggs from Sam's.

playing with the bag is always more fun...

Adrian shows Andrew how to wear it as a purse...like Mommy!

I'm linking up with Muffin Tin Mom for Muffin Tin Monday!