May 28, 2008

Salsa for the First Try (and It Burns!)

I'm always a big fan of salsa,
It's like an inseparable companion for my roasted chicken and tortilla chips,
And everytime I go to a Mexican restaurant,
9 out of 10 times I'll ask for extra salsa.
Even during grocery shopping,
I just can't take my eyes away from jars of those red spicy goodies.
But one thing always stop me from buying salsa,
The size of the jars are usually too big,
There's no way I can finish them before the expiration date,
Mmm....that leads to my only alternative,
Make my own salsa!

Ingredients?


1 Jalapeno (peeled, seeded, chopped)
1 Serrano pepper (peeled, seeded, chopped)
3 medium to large sized tomatoes (peeled, seeded, chopped)
1 tablespoons of chopped red onions
3 tablespoons of chopped onions
1 small bundle of cilantro (chopped)
1/2 lime juice
Salt

How?

Turn on the broiler and char the Jalapeno and Serrano pepper,
Remember to turn the pepper once a while to make sure all sides are slightly charred,
Remove from the broiler and let it cool for a little bit,
Peel the skin off (it should come out easily), scoop out the seeds, set aside.
My hands were burning while handling those spicy little green things,
Even after washing my hands for like 5 times,
I can still feel the heat,
Mmm...use less pepper if you can't handle the heat,
And that applies to both your taste buds and hands.

Meanwhile,
Prepare a pot of boiling water,
But don't dip your hands in it,
It won't help to remove the burning sensation from the peppers!
Instead of your hands, please toss in the tomatoes and bring to a boil,
Drain out the water and rinse the tomatoes with ice cold water,
Again, peeled the skin off and scoop out the seeds.

Now it's time for chopping,
Chop off the tomatoes, Jalapeno, Serrano pepper, red onion, onion, and cilantro,
Mix them together and add 1/2 lime juice,
Sprinkle some salt,
Give it a quick stir,
Add more salt or lime juice if desired.


Not bad for the first try,
Let's go find some roasted chicken and tortilla chips!

Cindy's Rating: 7

May 25, 2008

Memorial Day Weekend Part I: Black Dumplings!?!

First day of my Memorial Day Weekend,
Decided to go down to San Diego and do some sight-seeing,
But this trip won't be complete without food,
So we found thing weird, bizarre Chinese black dumplings around La Jolla-


The chef must be really good at wrapping dumplings,
Not only the tips are pointing up exactly like a Chinese gold ingot,
*To see what is Chinese gold ingot, click here.
It also got a ripple-shaped design in the middle!
Okok, you got me (I hope so, otherwise you're extremely gullible),
Those are actually wild seals around Children's Pool in La Jolla,
There are many of them on the sand, I mean a LOT-


And those seals sure know how to enjoy a Saturday after by taking a good old nap-


This one was yawning-


And he is my favorite, look at that innocent face-


Besides my Chinese black dumplings,
I also took some pictures during sunset,
Photoshoped this one, lucky me, the birds just flied over when I took the shot-


Wish you all are having a wonderful Memorial Day weekend there,
More scenery pictures to come!