Hi friends!

I just wanted to let you know that I posted a couple of killer Cinco de Mayo Recipes over on Examiner.com. I’m more than a little bit obsessed with the Cowboy Caviar Salsa recipe, and I made Mex and I the homemade margarita recipe last night and I have to say, it’s a winner. I really don’t like that bottled sour mix stuff, so there’s none of that here. Just tequila, triple sec, and lime juice. Yum!

I drank two.

I’m not ashamed!

It was research!

The salsa recipe is just fantastic. See how pretty?

And it tastes awesome. I’m not sure what else I can tell you about it, except that it’s going to win you some new friends, it’s so good.

So go check those recipes out. There’s still plenty of time to grab some ingredients on your way home from work and whip these up for your fiesta tonight.

Don’t say I didn’t warn you about the addictive nature of the salsa though. It’s like crack.

The recipes are here!

Happy Cinco de Mayo!

It’s very, very rare that I don’t feel like cooking.  It’s usually one of my favorite parts of the day, but the past few days I’ve been experiencing this crazy “I don’t want to cook” feeling.  So there have been many pieces of toast with almond butter, egg sandwiches, veggie burgers, packets of granola, and sliced apples consumed for full meals.  I’ve also eaten out a few times in the past couple of days.  This is probably normal for a lot of people, but for me it’s definitely the exception to the rule.

On top of my “meh, I just don’t know what I want to eat/make” attitude, I’m trying to use up a lot of the ingredients that have consumed my cupboards lately.  And I missed the farmers market yesterday.  In order to use up ingredients which I’ve had on hand for months, I need the be creative, and that just isn’t there right now.

I’m determined to get myself out of this rut today! Here is my game plan:

• I hope to at least make a big batch of granola, which always seems to make the apartment smell awesome which makes me hungry, which makes me want to cook more.  I hope to post an approximation of the recipe I generally follow real soon.
• I have several cookbooks that I don’t open nearly enough.  While I hardly ever use a recipe when I’m cooking, in my opinion it is a great source of inspiration when you are in a cooking rut.  I’m going to try something new today!

My Reading List for Today

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I will now show you a few things that I’ve eaten recently that have been super tasty.  Good looking food should help me get in the cooking frame of mind, right?

Whole wheat mini bagel, hummus, grape tomatoes, fresh mozzarella, fresh (homegrown!) basil, mixed olives, and grapes

If you read the caption, I’m pretty sure you don’t need me to tell you how this tasted.  Nom.

I also ate some crack salsa made by the person who introduced me to the stuff.  Amazing.

And finally, I made bruschetta for the same party where the salsa was consumed.  I bought the tomatoes from the farmers market the day of the party, and boy oh boy were they tasty.  Since I’m a sweetheart, I’ll give you this very complex recipe for bruschetta.  Aren’t I the nicest?

Bruschetta

Ingredients:

• Tomatoes
• Basil
• Garlic
• Olive Oil
• Salt
• Balsamic vinegar (optional)
• Crusty Bread

Directions:

1. Chop upsome seeded tomatoes.  Throw them in a bowl.
2. Pour in some olive oil, enough that it coats the tomatoes and some pools in the bottom of the bowl.
3. Chop the basil, don’t get fancy with the chopping, just rough pieces, and add to the bowl.
4. Slice a few cloves of garlic in half and put them in the bowl as well.
5. Season with salt and the vinegar, if you want, and set aside for an hour or so.
6. Slice the bread into 1/2 inch or so pieces (don’t freak out, it doesn’t really what size/shape, just big enough to hold the tomatoes and not too thin that it gets super crispy, and not too thick that all you taste is bread).
7. Spray on some olive oil, and put them in a hot oven for a few minutes.  You don’t want toast, you want very lightly browned tops.
8. Slice another clove of garlic in half, and rub it over the bread.
9. Top with the tomato mixture.
10. Consume.

*****

Yup, definitely feeling the inspiration coming back now.  :)

I talked Philip into having a pre-4th of July BBQ at his house on Friday I wanted to get a few friends together for some fun, but mostly I just wanted to cook for people!

Here was my part of the menu (there were burgers and dogs for those that eat that sort of thing):

Crack Salsa aka Cowboy Caviar w. Baked Scoop Chips

Crack Salsa!

I posted the recipe here. Gone in a flash.  Everyone loves this stuff.  Make it for a party and everyone will come.

Marinated Vegetable Skewers (red and green bell pepper, zucchini, yellow squash, red onion marinated in balsamic vinaigrette, skewered, and grilled)

Vegetable Skewers

Veggie Burgers (Store-bought, thrown on the grill and topped with mustard, ketchup and relish.  Not fancy or even remotely homemade, but really tasty anyway)

Stuffed Portobello Mushrooms (cleaned portobellos, grilled gill-side down, then flipped and topped with a combo of cream cheese, tiny bit of blue cheese, lots of fresh spinach, and sliced artichoke hearts) This was AWESOME! I’m definitely going to make a vegan version w/ Tofutti cream cheese and maybe olives in the place of the blue cheese.

Festive Phyllo Shells with Custard and Berries (Store-bought phyllo cups, filled with a yogurt-custard and topped with sliced strawberries and blueberries) These were gone in minutes!

Bellini Champagne Punch (peach juice, ginger ale, raspberry ginger ale, triple sec, cheap sparkling wine, sliced peaches) Big hit- even with the guys!

Bellini Champagne Punch