"Salsa is now the number one condiment in America..."

"Do you know why? Because people like to say 'Salsa.'"

I love salsa. I really always have, but I think part of it stems from my mission. Just to clarify, I'm not one of those crazy RMs that goes nutso about stuff people do on their missions. I don't think tamarind is that good, I still hate cilantro (tastes like weeds), and I don't think the best way to sleep is in a hammock. But I am crazy about salsa, and the hotter the better! And I do owe my knowledge of chilies and peppers to the time I spent in Mexico, and I'm happy to say that I have some wonderful salsa because of it.

Last week, I made salsa with my sister and sister-in-law, and man is it tasty!

Liz and Tiff's arm chopping tomatoes

We made it from tomatoes from my dad's garden, and used a delightful mix of fresh jalapeños

mmmmm... jalapeños

and a smoky flavored chili called "chile de arbol." If you can think of the flavor of the chilies in General Tso's Chicken, that's kinda what it tastes like. The great thing about these chilies is that if you fry them or cook them, they get a little hotter. And if you leave them in a sauce or a liquid, they will make whatever they're sittin' around in hotter. So if you use them in canned salsa, your label for the first week or so will be "mild," in a month, you will go to "medium," and in six weeks or so, you've got "melt your face off." You can't understand how excited I am for six weeks to pass by. My sister-in-law, however, will need to eat her ration of salsa quick, or she'll be dead...

This is Liz, not cringing from the heat of the salsa, but dodging salt being blown into her face by the fan behind me.

Thank goodness for sisters and sisters-in-law. Tiff provided her home to prepare the salsa, Liz brought all the tomatoes, and I just had to bring some onions and peppers, and help chop and slice, and I left with 14 jars of some top notch salsa!

You can see the excitement on my face, can't you.

In conclusion, this isn't a well written or organized blog entry. But I made salsa (well, helped anyway) and I'm really excited about it. And I'll get to enjoy tortilla chips the way they were meant to be enjoyed... and I'll have the means with which to enjoy them for six months or more...