Bryan’s Ruminations
Where I think hard, try to be fair, and sometimes get carried away.I was recently craving oatmeal raisin cookies, which happen to be my favorite cookies in the whole world. After trying to ignore the craving for a week or two, I finally caved, and ventured to the store to get the missing ingredients. In addition to buying the missing ingredients, I also came across 100% whole wheat flour, which I’ve never used, so I bought some.
Continue reading Loaded Oats...
It’s been just about a month since Julie and I hosted the Third Annual Tequila and Salsa Party. This party, unlike the previous two parties, was the first to involve a broader invite list. As such, it felt much more like a “regular” party, and a lot less like a “special event.” This isn’t to say that it was a bad time, it was—it just left me wanting more. Perhaps that’s a good thing. Maybe it means we need to have a winter and summer version of the party…
Continue reading Third Annual Tequila and Salsa Party Recap...
The other day the boys and I got the taste for something sweet, but we didn’t have anything in the house, so I suggested that we make some cookies. Of course they thought that was a great idea, and I went to work finding a recipe and gathering ingredients.
Continue reading Oatmeal Raisin Energy Cookies...
I started this post on Cinco de Mayo, but got distracted, so I hope you all had a happy Cinco de Mayo! I hope you enjoyed mucho tequila, chips y salsa, and whatever else it is you might celebrate with. At work we celebrated with a potluck lunch, and another salsa contest. Just like last year, my salsa reigned supreme!
Continue reading The Salsa King 2-Peat...
For my longtime readers, you know that I had a life before running, and that I do have other interests. One of those interests is cooking, and one of my favorite things to make is salsa. I love eating it, too. In fact, I love it so much, we have a party every year, celebrating Tequila and Salsa.
Over the years I've used my coworkers as my informal taste testers for my salsa, so when a salsa contest was announced at work to celebrate Cinco de Mayo, many of them asked if I'd be entering. I've got to admit, I haven't made a whole lot of salsa over the last couple of months, and we were going to be pretty busy over the weekend before the contest, so I really wasn't sure that I wanted to enter. However, late Friday evening I decided to go ahead and enter.
As it turns out, I didn't make it to the store to get my ingredients until Sunday night, and I didn't even start on the salsa until after 9:30 PM Sunday night. Within an hour, the salsa was ready and tasting good. Monday morning rolls around and I take the salsa to work and set it out for the judging, and what do you know, I win the contest!
So now I am the proud maker of an award winning salsa! Does anyone know how to go about bottling salsa and getting it into the hands (and mouths) of consumers?
Oh, and if you're interested, the winning salsa was based on my Perfect Salsa.
For those of you who cannot get enough tequila or salsa, I'd like to remind you of my latest website: Tequila and Salsa Party. The Tequila and Salsa Party website is dedicated to, of all things, tequila and salsa--and consuming them with good friends. The website was created as a companion to the Tequila and Salsa Party, which we've held for the last two years.
The Tequila and Salsa Party website contains not only information on our annual party, but also information on tasty salsas and tequila, as well as Mexican food that goes great with both.
Make sure you head on over to the site, and subscribe to the feed for the latest in tequila and salsa.
It's late...we've got a busy Saturday...I really should be getting to bed, rather than writing this blog post. But I've just got to get this salsa recipe out of my head and stored somewhere a little more permanent.
Maybe someday I'll come back and tell you how I took all of these ingredients and turned them into this salsa:
Mmm...delicious! I think that I am very, very close to perfecting my salsa. On the heels of last weekend's success, and with the Tequila and Salsa Party less than two weeks away, I thought it was time to give it another go.
Using last week's salsa (mine, not the Ersatz Papalote) as the basis, I put my roasted tomatoes in a pot on the stove, added chipotle peppers, salt, and some water, brought the whole thing to a boil, and then simmered for around 20 minutes. While the tomatoes and chipotle peppers were simmering away, I minced up some shallot, and chopped up some cilantro. (I also roasted some garlic earlier in the evening.) After about 20 minutes of simmering, I added equal parts red wine vinegar (less than last weekend) and white vinegar to the tomato mixture, and simmered another minute. I then poured the tomatoes and peppers into the blender, added the cilantro, shallots, and roasted garlic, and chopped until the salsa was a nice smooth consistency.
Check out the final result in the picture, shown along with some homemade tortilla chips. The salsa might just be the best I've ever made--I can't wait to try it tomorrow!
My Dad's birthday was today, and I was asked to make some salsa and guacamole to go along with fajitas. Figuring that this would serve as good practice for the 2nd Annual Tequila and Salsa Party, and I never pass up the opportunity to make something tasty to share with family, I agreed. My guacamole recipe is pretty much set, with a slight variation from time to time, so the next step was figuring out exactly what sort of salsa I wanted to make.
Continue reading Making Some Salsa...
Last night, Julie and I hosted the 1st Annual Tequila & Salsa Party. We came up with the concept for this party on New Year's Eve, when we were discussing homemade salsas and drinking Patron with some like-minded friends. The idea is simple, really...everyone is encouraged to bring their own homemade salsa or bring a jar of their favorite salsa, and bring tequila for sipping and/or mixing. Including ourselves, we had 9 people in attendance, and it seems like everyone had a great time. Here's what we had at the party:
Tequila
Salsa
Food
The salsas were excellent, as was the tequila, food, and the company. We will definitely be doing this one again.