A Tale Of Two Salsas

Ah, travel…  you’re the best of times and the worst of times.

You suck me in with your tropical vistas and umbrella-adorned potent potables, and then you crush my spirit with your baggage service fees and crabby rental car company representatives. But one can hardly complain when one is returning from a trip to one’s favorite place in the world accompanied by one’s favorite person in the world.

Yes, indeedy. I’m back from paradise and I’m over-brimming with the sweet spirit of the Aloha State.

This girl did the hula dance.
This girl swam the lava rocks.
This girl ate more fresh ahi poke than is generally considered appropriate in polite company.

But much, much more on all that later. For now, we’ve got two salsas to talk about – I think they’re going to play an important role in your 4th of July festivities. So let’s get started.

I think I’m on the record as being a little crazy for condiments.

Silly over sauces.
Goofy for gravies.
Delirious about dressings.
And, of course, round the bend when it comes to relishes.

So, you know, recipes like these are important business.

When I’m working on condiments I like to set aside a whole day. I gather my produce and my glass jars about me, I chop, process and puree, and I end up with whole shelves of my refrigerator stocked and stacked with delightful jars of luscious condiments.

It’s colorful. It’s tasty. It’s incredibly satisfying.

And then, when some special occasion rolls around, say a Day whose name rhymes with attendance, you have a bevy of beautiful brines, magnificent mustards, and comely catsups to choose from.

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Buttermilk Ranch Dressing

Oh, man. Here she comes with another condiment.

Will the sauces ever stop?

I’m going with a firm ‘No’.

Sorry, friends, I just can’t help myself. If loving condiments is wrong, I don’t want to be right.

I justify my semi-newfound love of churning out condiments in my own kitchen by reading the backs of store-bought sauces and spreads. Here is what I often find:

1.  Salt
2.  Things I can’t pronounce that disturb and frighten me
3.  More salt

But the truth is that it’s just extremely gratifying to throw something together in such a short time, with such fresh ingredients, that will provide you with excellent saucy flavor for such a long time (I tend to make my condiments in large batches).

Plus I like putting stuff in jars. It makes me feel just a little bit country, while maintaining my little bit of rock n’ roll.

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