Hi you guys.

This is what it looks like outside this morning.

And this is what it looks like inside.

Yeah, I decided to make those coffee cake muffins from Friday again.  I wanted to take prettier pictures of them for you.  Here they are:

I also thought I’d take some prettier pictures of the “Musicians, Memories and Morsels” the cookbook that I am GIVING AWAY (!) to one lucky reader in two weeks.  See here to find out how to enter!

And then I wanted to give you a recipe for salsa, in light of the fact that it’s Superbowl Sunday (which is kind’ve a big deal in our house.  Except for the part where we’re Steelers fans.  That’s okay though.  We forgive them).

Here’s a story about the salsa:

After my hubby and bought our first house together, I took it upon myself to start my first garden.  My folks are the most avid gardeners you can imagine, and though I had very little interest in doing any actual gardening, I liked the idea of growing some plants in my yard.  And so it was that I ended up with six little tomato plants from my local farmer’s market.

Apparently I did a pretty bang-up job of growing my first garden, because that fall, I couldn’t harvest my tomatoes fast enough.  We ate tomatoes sliced, still warm from the sun, sprinkled with black pepper and a whisper of sugar, we made pizza sauce, pasta sauce, triple decker sandwiches oozing with sharp cheddar and mayonnaise.  With dozens of tomatoes still hanging low on the vines, I needed something that would use up a large proportion of them without allowing them to go bad.  Salsa seemed like the perfect solution.

I’ve been making this salsa at least once a year since, and if I run out of it mid-winter, this recipe is so delicious that I’m still more inclined to buy a bunch of tomatoes from the grocery store and make it again than to buy a jar of pre-prepared salsa.

Here’s what you need:

8 cups tomatoes, chopped

1 ½ cups onions, chopped

1/2 cup green pepper, chopped

1/2 cup red pepper, chopped

1/4 cup fresh cilantro, rinsed carefully and chopped

2/3 cup red wine vinegar

1 tbsp salt (or to taste)

1 tsp. black pepper

sugar, to taste, if desired

Here’s what you do:

​Combine all the ingredients in a large pot and bring to a boil.  Reduce the heat and simmer until all the veggies are cooked through.  Now is the time to do a taste test to see if it’s salty enough.  I often add a dash of white sugar to lessen the acidity a little, but that’s up to you.

​Meanwhile, you’ve sterilized about 6 2-cup mason jars and their lids in boiling water.  Once the salsa is cooked, ladle it into the jars and close the lids.  If you’re planning on keeping your salsa for a while, you may want to now place the jars in a boiling water bath for 10 minutes.

​Enjoy!