Sunday, June 8, 2008

pink salsa, a brown out, and plaid flip flops

Yesterday my husband was going to be gone most of the day and I wondered what I would do with a whole day to myself. Hmmmm. Farmer's Market!

I called up my friend Kristen to see if she would go and she gladly agreed. Seems she wanted to try making homemade salsa and she could get nice, fresh ingredients at the FM. I thought, my husband likes salsa, maybe I will make him some. So off we went.


I did not take my camera. I should have.


We bought tomatoes, jalepenos, onions, cilantro, garlic and chips. We were going to make it at my house, since I have that big kitchen, but as were were driving back, my neighbor called. The power was out in our neighborhood. The HEAT we are having here was causing some problems and so the power was out, and was going to be out for about three more hours. So we went to Kristen's apartment and geared up to make our fabulous homemade we could go into business salsa. We shoulda known better.


Let me say this: Kristen is a good cook. I am a good cook. There should be no reason why the salsa wouldn't turn out.

We agreed the we wanted a smoother salsa. Neither Kristen or I actually like tomatoes, so we didn't want it chunky. (I know you are thinking "if you don't like tomatoes, why are you making salsa?" Hush up.) So we chopped all the ingredients, put them in the blender and pressed chop.



It was pink.


Pink.


Pink lemonade pink.


See why I wish I'd had my camera?


We looked at it in horror. Well, it must at least taste good, right? Nope. Tasted like raw tomatoes with a kick of heat and garlic. We had bought enough ingredients to make two batches, so we thought some research was in order before we made the next batch.


Google is no longer my friend.


We must have looked at 20 different websites and saw thousands of recipes. Some said to cook the tomatoes or used canned tomatoes. Others said to do what we did. Confusumundo.


We decided to put our salsa in a pan and cook it. That did seem to make it more red, but it still didn't taste good. It needed salt, so I added some, then all you could taste was salt. On to batch number two.


This time we blanched the tomatoes first and then chop pedthem. We put the onions, garlic, jalepeno in the blender and chopped it, then added the tomatoes without blending them. That one seemed a little better, but it still tasted HORRIBLE. It was not good.

For fun, we took them to a barbeque some friends were having last night to let them laugh at how bad it was. And it didn't even make all that much either. After spending at least $8 on ingredients, we had maybe 3 cups of really bad, really salty, pink salsa. I did salvage the day by making some wonderful guacamole, though. My chips won't be lonely.


Oh, and I bought these pink plaid flip-flops. Summer is here! I could have taken a pic with my feet in them, but then you would have seen how badly I need a pedicure.



Aren't they cute? Target for $9.99. Fabric flip-flops. Plastic ones hurt my feet cause they have those plugs under your instep. These ones are perfect. I loved them so much I went back and bought the other pair with blue and green stripes.

And Kristen, I know you are reading this. I had so much fun with you, even if we aren't going to be the next salsa gourmets!

55 comments:

Debbie said...

Pink salty salsa? Yuck no way! Pink plaid flip flops? That's what I'm talkin bout!

Caroline said...

What went wrong? I would have thought to do the exact same thing. All I can say is...Great Value White Corn and Black Bean Salsa with some corn chips on the side. BOOYA!

Unknown said...

Girl, I can't believe the trouble you had with salsa. I made homemade salsa all the time, and I mix up all the ingredients, then use my stick blender afterwards to smooth out the chunks a little.

I love your flipflops, BTW!

Rebekah said...

Hmmm, Not sure what went wrong with the Salsa except to say that salsa needs to sit for a bit so the flavors can marry.

And yes, you should have taken a pic of the pink salsa... lol

Jennifer P. said...

I had to laugh because I don't like tomatoes either....but will make salsa! I think it's the KIND of tomato you use. And I always put a couple of tablespoons of chicken bouillion (did I spell that right?) powder in mine to help the salty but not too salty taste. And corn. And black beans. By the time I'm done it's hardly salsa....

I would have loved to have seen pictures of it. But loved looking at your new flip-flops. Uber cute!!!

Anonymous said...

Hey Sissy! I love you too and we had a great time pink salsa and all. Most of all it was great to LAUGH and hang out with you!
Love ya!
KKP

Lula! said...

Ditto to what Debbie said. Blah on the pink salsa, but good on you for the adorable pink plaid flops. I am SO searching for them at Target tomorrow. 'Cause I'm a copy cat.

Heather said...

In my opinion, salsa is really hard to make. I've tried a couple of times and had similar experiences. Your guac sound fabulous, though.

I saw those flip flops in Target and thought they were SO cute!!

Hunny Bee said...

Sissy, I just saw an ad in a magazine for creamy salsa. Guess what? It's pink. They made it that way. So you weren't so far off. Maybe you can say that you were ahead of the rest of us when you made your new-fangled pink salsa! You beat us all to the punch!

emily freeman said...

That is hysterical. I just made salsa too. Nesters recipe. She puts navy beans and black beans and cilantro and tomato and some other stuff that I forget.

Wait, google still won't let me post my comments, will it.

emily freeman said...

Oh! OH! It is letting us post our comments now! How exciting. So yeah, pink salsa.

Like the flops, btw. And just so you know...my word verification to post this comment is "lotsefx"

Lots of sex anyone?

Lula! said...

Target didn't have the flops. TOTALLY RUINED MY NIGHT. For real.

Putting the FUN in DysFUNctional said...

This cracked me up because it's exactly how I'd have approached the salsa, and tried to fix it. LOL
I love Target's flip flops!

EmmaP said...

wow - whoduvthunk salsa could be so difficult! Sounds like learning to salsa would have been easier! I did make Instant Pudding once that did not "set"... Instant, I tell you...I mean does one go wrong with that???

Great posts and congrats on being today's FB!!!

Buttons and Dots Photography said...

Funny how the flip flops are the same color as the description you gave of the salsa! Congrats on your Sits gay!

wendy said...

Happy SITS day!

I have never made salsa because I don't think I could. I made guacamole once and it was too heavy on the onion (but it was good).

LOVE the farmers' market, though!

Creative Junkie said...

I've never made salsa myself but my SIL makes it all the time ... all different kinds and it always turns out great. I'll have to ask her for her secret.

Lori said...

You had the perfect husband test there just waiting to be used. If he'd eaten that stuff, you'd know he DEFINITELY loves you!

What A Card said...

Oh dear: cooking disaster! Don't you hate that?

I can make a simple salsa (well, I love tomatoes so that helps), but just this weekend I had a huge cooking disaster trying to make moussaka. And earlier this year, I tried to make strawberry jam...it ended up as GEL-ly! Ah, the joy of cooking disasters :)

Love the flip flops, though, so it looks like the day wasn't a total loss!

Kristen said...

This sounds like it was a fun day! I absolutely love salsa and I can't wait to try making it myself. I didn't realize it could be so difficult.

And I agree with you on the fabric flip-flops. The best pair I've ever found were at New York & Co. for $9. Terry cloth ones. Delightful!

Unknown said...

I HAVE THOSE FLIPFLOPS!!!!!!!!!

Aren't they the most comfortable and CUTE things????

kmm0305 said...

I'm with you, I don't like tomatoes (or any of the other ingredients in salsa) but I do like salsa. I dip a chip in and make sure there are absolutely no salsa chunks--just juice. That's how I roll with salsa. ;)

I didn't buy those flip-flops at Target, but I did get the same green/blue striped and the black with white polka dots. I love me some flip flops!

Sisterly Love Card Co said...

I will have to agree with an earlier comment, Great Value (or Sam's Club brand) White Corn and Black Bean Salsa. So good. Or The Lime and Garlic salsa. Awesome! I am no cook and my salsa would have turned out the same way as yours did...

Debbie Y. said...

I found that I don't like chunky salsa and I don't like a lot of cilantro in mine. What I do is go to a local Authentic Mexican Restaurant and buy some of their salsa. It is the best, better than all the store-bought brands. Love me some salsa and chips. And who says salsa has to be red?

The flip-flops are too cute.

EmBee said...

"Google is no longer my friend."
Another great quote!

Salsa shmalsa. I'd go for the guacamole EVERY time!
:-)

Anonymous said...

Lovin' the flip flops! The salsa...hmm, my guess is there wasn't enough acid in the tomatoes and when mixed with the sugar in the onions...I have no idea what I'm talking about. This is why I don't try things in my kitchen. I should be more adventurous though. Good for you for trying!

nikkicrumpet said...

BIG GRIN...at least you attempted to make your own ...for that I'm impressed!

Ronnica said...

I don't like tomatoes either, but salsa I can handle if it's just right. For whatever reason, I do like it chunky. But the tomato doesn't taste like tomato, that's the key.

I like what I see...I'm subscribing. Happy SITS day!

Rhea said...

cute flip-flops!

I love that you and your friend had such a hilarious cooking session with disastrous results. see, I would cook more if I had a friend to do it with.

And, your neighbor totally rocks, calling you to let you know about the power outage. That's a good neighbor!

Jamy said...

I feel your pain. I've tried, twice, to make salsa. Key word being TRIED. Both times it turned out awful! You wouldn't think salsa would be a complicated thing to perfect, but it must be. Cute flip flops! I actually like the plastic ones. I had some brown ones that I LOVED (also from Target) and the plug between the toes completely broke! Came straight out of the shoe last week. I'm so bummed!

Melissa Lester said...

And you even made a special trip to the farmer's market for fresh ingredients! At least you got some good laughs with a friend over it, and maybe your friends at the BBQ gave it better reviews than you did?

Melissa said...

I love homemade salsa, and I made it one time and it was really chunky. It was not very good either. Pace Picante is just as good!!

♥ Becky ♥ said...

Pink salsa?? Now that one would have been great to see in pictures. :-)
The flip flops are adorable. I live in flip flops all year round. Even in the rain, just can't seem to let them go.

Hope you have a great SITS day!!!

Jenni said...

I make home made salsa all the time, but I can't seem to make it without making guac. Mmmm. Now I may need to go make some today. Sorry yours didn't work out, but sounds like you had a grand ol' time anyway. Cooking with someone is always more fun.

Michelle said...

This is why you never leave home without the camera. Would you believe I bought a new camera for the express purpose of taking potential blogging pictures? Ok, not really but I do use it for that purpose frequently ;)

Party of 5 said...

lol Let me know the next time you want to make salsa. I have an easy peasy receipe.

Congrats on your SITS Day!

Tabitha Blue said...

The flip flops are cut... I'm sure even cute while you're carrying your pink salsa. Sounds like a terribly fun day!

S Club Mama said...

I'm must kind of impressed you wanted to make salsa. I've heard it's hard to make. I buy mine!

Mercedes said...

I am sure it still tasted better than my salsa.

AJ @ A Little Bit Nutty said...

I can't make salsa either. So don't feel bad about that. My FIL can and it's the bomb! Cute flip-flops... I love all things pink!

mrsmouthy said...

At least your salsa wasn't from NEW YORK CITY!!?? (Remember those commercials?)

Bar-b said...

you ended up matching the salsa to your flip flops...nice one. By accident you say?? sure :)

happy FB day...off to read some more.

Alison said...

I wish I could make homemade salsa, but after reading this, I probably won't because I can't figure out where you went wrong!

Andie said...

I'm afraid to even try to make salsa! I commend you on your bravery!

Shannon said...

I like to cook, but I would never think to make my own salsa! ha!

And flip flops are da bomb! Any color, any style... I can never have too many pairs!

lynn said...

Happy SITS day!
I so can't cook, that sounds like something that would happen to me! Love the flip flops.

Melanie Dickens said...

I don't like Salsa but I have tried to make it. Can't...it never turns out. Hmmm. Maybe the tomatoes know that we don't like them.

Just Lisa said...

Oh, I SO wish you had taken your camera! I would have loved to see pink lemonade salsa!

Amy said...

I am a flip flop lover allll the way! I love the farmers market too. It's been awhile since I've been, but I need to make it there soon.

Anonymous said...

I blend my salsa too, but I usually use canned tomatoes, also I add some lime. When I use fresh tomatoes, I usually remove the seedy gooey part, then dice them. I always add lime. It needs to sit usually, tastes better.

Your pink salsa made for a great post though, and I love the flip flops.

Live.Love.Eat said...

Too bad it didn't come out good because that woulda been a good name for it - Pink Lemonade Salsa.

WheresMyAngels said...

I never cook but was thinking of trying to make my own salsa sometime, but after reading this, forget it! I'll just keep going out to eat it and getting sick (since I am allergic to cilantro).

Rachelle Lynne said...

If you add a bit of vinegar and lemon juice to your "pink" salsa it will bring all your flavors together. ;) I LOVE making homemade salsa. And yes, you must let your ingredients "marry" a bit before you taste it or it will taste like crap.

Just say Julie said...

Funny! My neighbor's make homemade salsa, but I am just fine with Uncle Albert's courtesy of Wally World! I know my limits :)

Rela Pantaleon said...

I wonder what made it pink?

Anyhow, same as phatmom - I add vinegar or lemon to it.

Also to give it a thick look, you can add in tomato paste or tomato sauce from the can. BUt that will defeat the fresh ingredients, wouldn't it? Maybe use organic canned tomato paste or sauce - lesser evil???