Tomato Pepper Salsa…A Must Try!

A little over a week ago I visited the Red Deer Farmer’s Market.  My husband and I took our daughter and were more or less just looking for something to do on a nice and sunny Saturday morning.  We were just about to exit the market and stumbled upon this booth where they were selling fresh picked peppers (jalapeno, bell peppers, Thai peppers, and so many others).  We are big fans of fresh mexican fare (which is extremely hard to come by around here), so we looked into purchasing some peppers to add to our home cooked mexican dinner we had planned for the week.

When we were browsing the peppers a little closer, we realized the vendor had variety bags of peppers that you could purchase for $5 and his own personal salsa recipe was inside for your convenience.  What a great idea!  So, we jumped on it and bought a bag for $5.  A week went by and I finally got around to making the salsa.  It made 12 cups!  So, we shared with a couple of friends and so far, it’s gotten rave reviews.  The man at the market definitely knows his salsa!  This recipe is a perfect sweet and spicy blend.  It’s DELICIOUS!

I shared a batch, kept a batch in the fridge AND froze a batch.  Highly recommend all you local folks visit him at the Red Deer Farmer’s Market (unfortunately, I didn’t catch his business name).  Here is the recipe for your enjoyment:

Tomato Pepper Salsa

8-10 C Peeled, chopped Roma Tomatoes

5 Sweet bell peppers; He recommends 2 green, 1 red, 1 orange, 1 yellow

2 C chopped onions

1C chopped Jalapeno peppers (approx 8)

WEAR GLOVES TO CHOP HOT PEPPERS!!

4 cloves garlic, minced

2 C vinegar

1 5.5 oz can tomato paste

2 T sugar

1 T salt

2 t paprika

1 t dried oregano

Put all ingredients into a large saucepan.  Bring to a boil, stir often.  Reduce heat to medium low.  Simmer for 1-2 hours, stirring often, until thick enough to coat spoon.  Fill and seal in sterilized jars.  Process in boiling water bath for 20 minutes.  Single batch makes approx. 12 cups.

Pin It!

If you haven’t heard of Pinterest.com, you need to check it out!   A girlfriend introduced it to me and I’m so glad.  I’ve discovered so many new ideas for do-it-yourself projects, hairstyles, home decor, fashion and more.  Here’s my site…

Pinterest is so easy and fun to use. Just visit their site and take a minute or two to set up a free account with them. They provide you a free page to start pinning your favorite things.   You may think this sounds a bit like a waste of time.   After all, we can barely find time to use the bathroom alone with munchkins running around right?

Well, think of it as ‘research’.  I do anyway.  I have used Pinterest for SO MANY different ideas I’m ‘researching’ online.  I love it because it’s a visual based application.   It’s a site that captures and displays beautiful photos from blogs, info sites, retail sites…you name it.

When you set up an account you will be asked to add the “Pin It” button to your tool bar at the top of your browser (don’t worry, they explain the simply way to do this).   This “Pin It” button can be used on any page, any time.  You don’t even have to go to Pinterest.com to pin something to your account.  You just hit your “pin it” button and they’ll ask you what board you want to pin it to in your account and they’ll take care of the rest.  You can be reassured that you’ve saved the URL and info you needed for future reference.

Pinterest refers to “Pins” and “Boards”.  You may be asked to set up your boards when you set up your account.  Think of the “Boards” as your categories and your “Pins” as the posts within the category.  You can add, edit or delete pins and boards anytime.

Lately, I’ve been looking into making some hair accessories for my daughter to hopefully salvage some of the funds that I’ve wasted on store bought barretts and headbands that she wears ONCE out of the house, and never back in the house.   I have been finding several crafty ideas for making my own hair accessories all over the internet.  When I see something I like and want to remember where to find it next time I’m online, I “Pin It”.   I then select what ‘board’ I want to pin it to and of course, I would choose my DIY(Do It Yourself) Project board.   This way, I’ve added it to the ever long list of projects I intend to do myself….someday. 🙂

Here’s another great example for why I think Pinterest is a must-use…Let’s say you are planning a birthday party for your son/daughter or you’re planning a get together and you are in search of some new and maybe creative recipes or decorations.  You do a few searches online and start finding a galore of information.  Rather than try and write it all down or print several pages of information, just “Pin It” and it is saved on your “Party” board, for instance, for as long as you wish.  All the sites you visited and gathered information from are now saved in one place and you can access them all from your Pinterest account.  Super easy!

And did I mention how fun this?  Be careful, because it CAN be addicting!  Highly recommend you give it a try.

Happy Pinning!!!

Sports Theme 1st Birthday Celebration

My girlfriend, Kimberly, did an amazing job putting together a sports themed birthday party for her one-year-old baby boy.  She baked three cakes, cake pops and had chocolate covered strawberries for dessert, while keeping the food menu simple and ‘sporty’ with hot dogs, chips and potato salad.  Sounds pretty basic, but check out the pictures!  She put some real creativity into everything from decorating the sweets to the overall presentation.

Tip: Rather than going out and spending $5 on a 15oz. tub of cake frosting, ask your local bakery if they will sell you some of their fresh frosting.  Kimberly asked a baker at our local Sobeye’s grocery in Sylvan Lake and got two LARGE tubs of frosting for only $4 a tub.

Great work Kimberly!

Cake Pops decorated like baseballs!

Chocolate covered strawberries decorated like footballs!

Handmade printable labels for the water bottles (just taped on) added a great personal touch!

Happy Birthday Hudson!!!