P.retty M.agnificent S.tuff

Like some gals, I too want to rip someone's face off for no apparent reason once a month. It's that feeling that comes over you when you think if you have to hear someone, anyone, take one more breath it will surely be their last. Well I found a temporary cure!!!! It's effects only last during and and a short time after consumption. Yep, you guessed it, chocolate. Well, maybe I can't state I found the cure but I decided baking tasty treats was a great way to convert the potential for violence into sweet goodies. 

I found this recipe the other night around 8:30 and they sounded so good I couldn't resist making them right then. These brownies have a special ingredient.......no! Not that special! They have a bit of Irish in them! Guinness beer brownies are now my favorite brownies. These are so wonderful! They're not greasy like box recipes and they have just the right mixture of bittersweet, white and semisweet chocolate to give Midol a run for their money! So the next time you find yourself in the predicament where serious bodily harm to another is surely imminent I suggest you head to the cupboard and bake!!!! Happy cooking!

Salsa..exciting dance....boring dish

 So the summer garden has yielded it's bounty and we have been able to can and freeze some of our harvest. Last year we made a version of black bean salsa, it was tasty but like most things, we felt we could improve the recipe. First, I just want to say how time consuming canning ANYTHING is. You might as well write an entire day off of your life. It's a boring process of waiting and when you are finally finished (which will be 10 hours later) you can't eat anything you've made.

 Of all the things we have canned and preserved I like this best. Not really because I'm so fond of salsa but because IT'S SO PRETTY! What a lovely display of color! It's virtually a palette of vegetables.

 Once the black beans are cooked you can combine the ingredients. Our recipe has beans, onions, garlic, tomatoes, peppers, corn, garlic, cilantro, fresh squeezed lime juice, red pepper flakes and cumin. Believe me this is a lot of chopping and dicing.

Sadly, it looks like sewage when it's canned but it tastes so good I have to make up a word to describe it.....fantabulous!