Did you ever have a VCR?  Do you remember when you would try to get to a certain point on a tape and hit the fast forward?  You could watch all the characters move super-fast and it was almost as fun as watching the movie.

The challenge was always getting it to go exactly to your exact stop point.  You go back and forth….back and forth….back and forth.  And you usually don’t get to the point you want to be at so you just stop and watch time go from there.

I feel that is the way life is right now.  I look at the calendar and the date is later in the month than I want it to be.  How is it the middle of September?  Where did August go?  What about summer?  Can’t I just press rewind and go back on the counter a few weeks or maybe pause to enjoy the happier moments?

For me, my time lately has been absorbed by the “Little Garden that Could.”  I go out to pick a couple of tomatoes for dinner and the next thing I know I am out there for a very long time and come in with 7 pounds of produce.  (I’m sure my neighbors have been laughing at me and my big yellow bowl tromping to the side garden every day.)

I’m not complaining because it has been so much fun but on the same note, I feel that I have lost a lot of time.

I’ve been trying to rewind a little this week and the plan isn’t exactly working the way I want…kind of like an old VCR. I go back to catch up on one part…and then I’m falling behind. I push fast forward and things are just lost.  If I keep up at this rate I’m going to regret missing something else and be in an evil cycle of not moving onward and always hitting rewind.

Going back keeps you from moving ahead.

No more thinking of rewinding…..I’m going to make an effort to live more in the moment and just press play.

Rewind and Forward Salsa

I’ve had an abundance of tomatoes and tomatillos in the garden this year.  Most of us are familiar to a basic red tomato salsa but what about a salsa made of tomatillos (aka salsa verde)?

Tomatillos look like little paper lanterns as they grow. (You can find them in the market usually by the peppers.  Look for a tan, husk over little green golf ball sized fruit.)

When the husk is removed, you will find pretty little green sphere that are sticky.  Simply remove the husk and give them a rinse.

For these salsas, I wanted to show that we can make something we know but also move ahead, try something new and play with ingredients.

I only changed the core ingredient (red salsa-roma tomatoes, green salsa-tomatillos).  Everything else was identical (white onion, cilantro, garlic, lime juice, serrano pepper, salt).

So, what will you need for both salsas….1 large white onion, 1 bunch of cilantro, 2-4 cloves of garlic, ½-1 serrano chili, 1 lime juiced.

Chop all the ingredients (except the lime) and divide into 2 bowls.  (You can put it all in the food processor too.)  You may want to start with only half of the pepper to see how hot it is in your salsa.

Chop one pound of roma tomatoes and add it to one of the bowls and mix.

Char one pound of tomatillos under the broiler (you’ll see the color green deepen and some black blobby spots and they will soften) Chop them up and add to the other bowl.  (Make sure you include all the juices that are on your pan and cutting board.)

Mix up each bowl separately.

Give them each a squeeze of a half of a lime and maybe a sprinkle of salt.  (I think I may have added a little extra lime to my tomato salsa.)

This is one of those recipes that is not an exact science.  Taste as you go along and adjust per your level of spiciness or acid favorability.

Serve side by side…just because it is a pretty contrast…and take a moment to press pause and enjoy it!!!!