Mex-Itali Salsa

Remember the blog post about how the joyful season of Christmas sometimes feels like the insanity season? Well, that feeling struck yesterday afternoon, about a half an hour before I was supposed to leave for my daughter's house to celebrate Christmas with a family dinner.

I did Thanksgiving at my house, which meant I did the turkey, stuffing and most of the side dishes. For Christmas, I did the pies. I almost think it is less work to do the turkey part. Since we went to Christmas Tree Lane in Fresno on Christmas Eve, I had to shut down the baking center a little earlier than usual on the 24th. I managed a pie shell for the chocolate pie and a batch of sugar cookies. That meant I had the rest of the pies to do Christmas morning, as well as the green bean casserole.

That was a lot of work, especially since I also worked in two batches of candy to finish the family goodie plates. But, that was not the straw that drove the camel up the tree, to mix my metaphors. It was the salsa.

One of the last phone calls from my daughter was for a request that I make some of my salsa to go with chips before dinner. She knows I was recently a Tupperware consultant, and I had the Quick Chef and spices to make a good salsa. No problem--or so I thought.

I decided that as long as I was making it, I might as well make two batches so I have one at home. I chopped up my first half of an onion, then went to the pantry to pull out two cans of the diced organic tomatoes I like to use. I opened both cans and dumped the first can in, only to realize that I had opened two cans of tomato sauce. I immediately drained most of the sauce out of the Quick Chef, forseeing a tomato-based homemade soup in my near future, and went in search of my tomatoes. There were none.

Next plan. I got out a can of the Mexican style tomatoes that have the jalapeno peppers. I usually throw a can in my homemade chili, so I have lots of that on hand from the last time the grocery store had it on sale. I decided to try it before putting in any additional spices. I added the lime, chop-chop-chop and tasted.

Ho-ho-ho hot sauce! I nearly went through the ceiling. Way too hot, and I am not that big of a hot salsa whimp.

Okay, Robyn, time is running out and you promised your daughter salsa, so what now?

I decided to make my second batch with a can of Italian style tomatoes and use no additional seasoning. I dumped the first batch in a bowl, chop-chop-chopped my other half onion, tomatoes and the other half of the lime. At the last minute I added a bunch of garlic powder, realizing that, except for the lime, I was making a rather italian mix. Then I stirred both batches together, put half into a dip container that I knew would fit my daughter's chip bowl that she bought from me last year, and hoped for the best.

The salsa was definitely spicy, but everyone who tried it at the dinner said they liked it. This morning I tried some to see how it tasted after the flavors had a chance to blend overnight.

Ho-ho-ho hot sauce!