Homemade Salsa Success!

I made salsa today for the first time.  Admittedly, I built up more excitement/anticipation than the salsa could possibly live up to, but it was still good. 

Not an excellent picture, but here it is.

I used this recipe from food network as a starting point:

Ingredients
3 ripe plum tomatoes (about 3/4 pound) or 1 (14-ounce) can whole tomatoes, drained

1/4 cup chopped red or yellow onion

2 tablespoons minced fresh cilantro

1 clove garlic, minced

2 teaspoons fresh lime juice

1/4 teaspoon salt

1/4 teaspoon Emeril's Hot Sauce or other red hot sauce

Directions

In the bowl of a food processor, combine all the ingredients and pulse until the salsa is mostly smooth but still slightly chunky, about 7 pulses.

Transfer to a bowl. Serve immediately or cover with plastic wrap and set aside until ready to serve the nachos.

My alterations:

I was inspired to try salsa because we received fresh cilantro and garlic scapes in our CSA this weekend.  So... instead of garlic cloves, I used scapes.  And apparently I bought the wrong kind of tomatoes, but I'm not sure how that makes a difference (I'm no tomato expert).  Finally, I don't have a food processor :)  I do have a food chopper that works really well, so I have tiny pieces of tomatoes and onions, and I really like it!  I doubled the recipe, and I'm glad I did.  I love salsa!  This recipe ended up very fresh tasting, and light. 

Eric wasn't as pleased, so he blended a small portion and added red pepper.  I wouldn't be surprised if he adds jalapeno, too.  He wanted a bit more of a "kick." 

Regardless, I would call it a successful first attempt.

Done, Done, Done, Done

Eric Graduated!

While I cannot say for certain that he's really "done" with higher education, he did complete his Master of Divinity degree from Vanderbilt!  I am so proud of him :) 

I find it hard to believe we've been living in Nashville for 3 years; they have gone by so quickly.  Even for Eric, who has worked endless hours writing, reading (literally) hundreds of books, and attending class, it has gone by rather quickly. 

Congrats, Graduate :)

This is the "Strawberries and Champagne" tent.  I have never seen so many strawberries! 

A long but lovely week

This week has been LONG.  Each day has seemed crammed full of events and activities, and with one day piling on top of the day before... well... the week gets long.  We did get to see Les Miserables on Tuesday :) 

Les Mis is Eric's all-time favorite musical.  He was excited not only to see it, but also to share it with me.  We had a great time, tried out a new Thai restaurant, went to pick up our tickets and realized we were incredibly early due to us thinking the show started at the "doors open" time.  Oops!  So we walked a few blocks and split some ice cream from a little home-made ice cream shop :)  Then went back and did indeed enjoy a spectacular show!  When we got home a little past 11pm, I did selfishly comment I would like to see it again, with a show that starts at noon so I can be fully awake! 

On Wednesday Jeff and Andrea stopped by for dinner.  What a welcome surprise!  They were flying home from a visit to Texas and had a layover in Nashville.  It was really nice to have dinner with them.  In moments like those, I do wish I lived closer to family.  I would love to visit with our loved ones on a more regular basis.

Thursday brought a special visit with friends of ours where we got to hold and love on precious new born twins!  So fun!  The girls were born on Tuesday, are so tiny, but are doing great.  They even got to go home on Friday!

And yesterday brought with it 6 hours in the car all for a 15 minute interview.  I had scheduled myself to work a half day (until 11:30), but my substitute never showed up.  So I stayed until 1:00 before I split my class amongst other teachers and took off.  Eric and I drove across the state for me to interview with the Credentials Board for my District License with the Nazarene Church.  This is my 2nd renewal, so apparently they weren't concerned, and the interview lasted all of 15 minutes.  We then got in our car and drove home.  It was nice to meet some of the pastors on our district, but I'm not gonna lie... it seemed a bit ridiculous to spend our afternoon/evening driving all for 15 minutes that seemed like it could have taken place through email. 

Needless to say, I'm thankful to be home this morning with nothing pressing today.  In a little while we will go to the Farmer's Market to pick up our basket of fruits/veggies from our CSA, but I look forward to that, along with an afternoon of NOTHING :)

Community Supported Agriculture

Through various means of inspiration, Eric and I have slowly been changing our diet.  We're trying to be more aware of where our food comes from to both a dietary and economic degree.  Two of our more substantial efforts have come in the form of where we shop.  We're now getting eggs from some friends with backyard chickens, purchasing all of our meat from the local farmer's market (ie. local, homegrown), and getting fresh produce from our CSA (Community Supported Agriculture).  Here's a little blurb on CSA:

Over the last 20 years, Community Supported Agriculture (CSA) has become a popular way for consumers to buy local, seasonal food directly from a farmer. Here are the basics: a farmer offers a certain number of "shares" to the public. Typically the share consists of a box of vegetables, but other farm products may be included. Interested consumers purchase a share (aka a "membership" or a "subscription") and in return receive a box (bag, basket) of seasonal produce each week throughout the farming season.

We "ordered" our CSA several weeks ago and have been anxiously awaiting the season's start.  Today was that day, folks!  We're thrilled to have the veggies and excited for the nutritional value.  Now we just need the recipe's to accompany our new variety of greens.

We purchased a small share.  Here's our first basket:

Included Today:

Swiss Chard

Deer Tongue Lettuce

Radishes

Strawberries

Tatsoi

Lemon Balm

Sage

Each week will have a slightly different variety.  Today was week one of twenty.  We've been told next week's will have more strawberries (it's still the beginning of the picking season) and strawberries are always welcomed :)  Today's lunch, compliments of Eric, included this wonderful salad topped with egg, pecans, radishes, fresh strawberries and fresh pineapple.  YUM!  He also found a recipe for Browned Tatsoi Pasta for later this week.  I'm so glad he's my husband!

And we also picked up these lovely flowers at the farmer's market this morning :)

When the days are long

Some events that made our weekend long:

• spilling dirt in the freezer (a whole plant)
• cooking your fork in the microwave
• mornings without coffee (or when coffee comes late)
• when the GPS sends you in the wrong direction, then says "make a u turn"

And some events that made our weekend more enjoyable:

• celebrating Eric's completion of his MDiv degree with dinner at Germantown Cafe
• Night Market at the Farmer's Market
• first hand-picked strawberries of the season
• homemade strawberry shortcake
• spending time with friends, both old and new