Salsa Ole!

Salsa is a family favorite at our house. I learned how to make it from my friend Barbara about 30 years ago. We were 2 young couples. About once a week we got together for tacos. Barbara always made homemade salsa to with them. The recipe is especially sentimental for me now because Barbara died of cancer a couple of years ago.

Salsa can be made lots of different ways. You can trade out ingredients to suit your taste. I like using canned tomatoes because it is easy but you could substitute fresh tomatoes and you would get pico de gallo. Start by collecting your ingredients. (I'll have a list at the end.)

I thinly sliced 2 bunches of green onion. Seeded and finely chopped 1 jalapeno. I added chopped green chile. We have a store that roasts fresh green chiles so that is what I use but you could dump in a can of chopped green chiles instead.

Dump in your choice of tomatoes. I use crushed tomatoes because the work is done. I also like to add a smaller can of petite diced tomatoes for texture. We like a chunky salsa.

Oh boy! I am not fond of seeing myself on here! My daughter was my photographer. Here I am working with cilantro. I just roll it up tight and slice very thinly. I used about 2/3 of a bunch but start with less and see what you like. Not everyone likes cilantro.

Add in the cilantro.

Time for seasoning. I like Morton Nature's Seasons. I tend to be generous with the seasoninngs.

Garlic powder. (Or crushed in the jar or fresh.)

Hot pepper flakes are a way to easily add more heat. Be careful if you add them because they get hotter as the salsa sits.

I usually start with about 1/2 tsp. in the palm of my hand.

Mix it all up
Voila!

Find someone to sample it and check the seasonings. :-)

Enjoy!

My batch includes:

1 28 oz. can crushed tomatoes

1 14 oz. can petite diced tomatoes

2 bunches of green onion, finely sliced

1 jalapeno, seeded and finely chopped

1 4 oz. can chopped green chiles

2/3 bunch of cilantro, finely chopped

Morton Nature's Season to taste

Garlic powder to taste

Hot pepper flakes to taste (1/2 tsp. give or take)

A Special Gift...

Yesterday at our family get-together I got a special gift! It came from my sweet little niece Anna. (Also known as Anna Banana) When Anna was born, I made her a blanket. It was a simple tied quilt. Balerina fabric on each side, satin trim around the edge. Anna is in 1st grade now. She wrote me a note and drew a picture on the back. :-)

Anna also gave me this very cool heart shaped spoon!

I LOVE presents!

Famous Dave's Baked Wilbur Beans

My husband enjoys eating at Famous Daves. He went out on the internet and brought me home this recipe for Famous Daves Baked Wilbur Beans.
As you can see, the recipe came on this torn piece of paper. (I will print the recipe at the end of this post.)

This week I was preparing them for a family get-together. I did some pre-chopping so they would be easy to throw together. The bags contain chopped onion, sausage, jalapeno and bacon.

First I cooked the bacon. Love the smell of bacon cooking! When it's crispy, remove from grease and remove most of the grease from the pan.

Add onions, bell pepper & jalapeno and saute. The recipe said to cook the sausage on the grill and chop but I did it backwards and had it pre-chopped so when the onion mixture was about done, I added the sausage to it and sauteed a little more.

Dump in the cans of beans, the bbq sauce and add back in the bacon. Mmm mmm good. Now I ended up adding in a little brown sugar too. Recipe didn't call for that but I kind of like my beans sweet.

Famous Dave's Baked Wilbur Beans

Ingredients

8 oz. thick hickory smoked bacon

1 beef strip steak

1 teaspoon Famous Dave's steak seasoning

8 oz. smoked link sausage

2 tablespoons bacon drippings
1 cup chopped onion

1/3 cup chopped green pepper

1 tablespoon diced jalapeno

1 (28 ounce) cans Bush's Baked Beans

1 (20 ounce) bottle Famous Dave's Barbecue Sauce

Directions

Fry bacon in a skillet until crisp, drain, reserving 2 tablespoons of the drippings. Crumble bacon. Sprinkle steak with seasoning. Grill over high heat until medium, cut into 1/2 inch cubes. Grill sausage until nicely done. Slice the sausage lengthwise into halves then slice into quarters then cut quarters into cubes. Saute onions, green pepper and jalapeno in reserved bacon drippings in a skillet until tender. Stir in bacon, steak, sausage, beans and bbq sauce. Simmer over low heat for 30 minutes, stirring sccasionally. The flavor is enhanced if stored covered in the fridge for 8-10 hours and reheated just before serving.

Teddy Bear Counts

19 bears waiting to be sewn.

24 bears, sewn, curves clipped, turned inside out, stuffed.

(With Marilyn's help!)

6 of those 24 have the opening hand stiched shut.

5 completed. Still. :-(

Crafting for a Family Get-Together

This weekend we are having a family get-together. My niece from Virginia is coming out with her husband and children for a few days. Her husband has a conference here. I enjoy doing something "crafty" for these get-togethers. I decided to make "sour cream" shape containers with candy and decorated water bottles this time.

Yesterday I was coughing my head off so I sent Katy to Michaels for some scrapbook paper for this project.

Here are the general directions for making these containers. This is a VERY forgiving project. You can adjust the size if you like. Also, if you make a mistake along the way, (and I did on atleast one!) you can still make it look ok.

You can do these without the crimping but it really does add to the look of the project.

Kind of fun how a little paper and tape can add to a party!

It's Been Awhile....

Just checking in. I know it's been awhile.

Today I am headed over to my friend Marilyn's house. Last Tuesday Marilyn had surgery on her foot. 5 months ago she had surgery on both hands. Healing hands make it extra difficult to manage the crutches that she is using right now.

Marilyn has volunteered to help me stuff Teddy bears. Yee haw! I am tired of working on Teddy bears and Marilyn is looking for something to kill time besides TV and reading. I am grateful for her help! My husband calls this a win win situation. :-)

I will try and take pictures of her/us working. However she is as bad as I am about picture taking at this age..... We're not as cute as we used to be. We are, however, just as much fun!

Project Teddy Bear

At church I am a behind the scenes person. I am naturally kind of quiet, preferring to help plan & create, set up for an event.....and then disappear! This project is for a preschool fellowship in the fall. It will be a pajama party. No sleepovers, just everyone in their pjs. I am working on 50 Teddy Bears to use as a favor for the event. I did a similar project when my girls were young.

15 years ago I drew on the Teddy bear faces and stitching lines by hand using a permanent marker. I am happy to have a new and easier technique this time. Did you know you can print on fabric in your computer? I am SO excited about this way of doing it!

The process is simple! You will need freezer paper.

1. Cut a piece of freezer paper to 8 1/2 x 11 inches.

2. Iron the piece of freezer paper, shiny side down onto the back of your fabric.

3. Now cut your fabric around the paper.

4. Run it through your printer. Easy peasy!

The paper peels right off when you are done. I did leave it on for cutting because the stiff fabric was easier to cut on.

I was concerned that it wouldn't be colorfast. I had several reject bears so I washed one of them. (Takes me several "trys" to get one looking right, with the lines in all the right places.) It came through the wash fine. The only thing that washed out was the red. Now this bear only has black and red so if you're going to print lots of colors on a project and you want it to be washable I would probably make a tester.

The bears are simple. I think they will be a fun hand out!

And the Winner is.....

Ok friends, don't get too excited. I'm not really giving anything away. Just wanted to let you all know that (with your help) I have chosen a blog button! #2 is the winner! Easiest to read for sure!

Thank you Katy for designing for me!

Thank you to The Redhead Riter for understanding that oh so confusing html stuff and turning it into a cute little button you can grab!

Now y'all go grab my button and give me some free advertising. Ha ha.

Imput please!

My daughter, Katy is helping me design a button for my blog. Ok, she is doing all the work, not just helping me. I'll tell you that because I know she'll read this and have something to say about it if I take the credit. :) Anyway I need your help choosing. She has designed 4 buttons. Leave me a comment and let me know which ones you like the best.

#1 - Hatboxes/photo

#2 - Hatboxes/drawing

#3 Old Fashioned hat lady photo

#4 Old Fashioned hat lady drawing

Thanks for your imput!!!