Pico de Gallo

I love pico de gallo because it adds a lovely freshness to your tacos, burritos, or anything Mexican you are having that day. It's great with chips and the next day with your scrambled eggs. I first discovered it when I visited Mexico and it makes my mouth water just thinking about all the ingredients blended together.  

Its great to make for a party. It doesn't take much time and your guests will be very happy. You can make it early in the day and serve later. Try it and let me know what you think. 

Ingredients

1 Roma tomato diced

1/2 jalapeno seeded and diced

1 tablespoon cilantro chopped

1 clove of garlic minced

2 tablespoons red onion diced

1/2 lime juice

salt and pepper to taste

Directions

Add all ingredients to a bowl, stir and let sit for 30 min to 1 hour before using or serving.  You can double but I like to use this the day of because I find the fresh tomatoes get to soft over time. Double if 

Classic Margarita

I love cocktails and margaritas are great in the summer. The combination of sweet, tart, and little bit of salt in each drink are awesome. I found this recipe from the Rachel Ray magazine and what I like about it is that it is strong and easy to make. I think use premixes are great when you can't get any fresh juice but once you start making them with fresh ingredients it is real hard to drink anything else because they are usually loaded with sugar and give me a stomach ache. 

Ingredients

1 lime (3/4 ounce juice)
2 1/4 ounce of silver Tequila
1 1/2 triple sec
3/4 ounce simple syrup (you can add more if you like it sweeter)
Coarse salt for rimming the glass (optional)

Directions

Spread salt on small plate. Rim the glass with lime and dip glass on to plate with salt to coat. Fill glass with ice.

Fill a cocktail shaker with lime juice, tequila, triple sec, and simple syrup. Add ice and shake well and strain into your prepared glass.

Try it and let me know what you think.

Strawberry Sauce

I love to get food magazines and find amazing recipes. Getting a food magazine in the mail is like getting a gift. I go through it and drool and rip pages out. I put these recipes aside and then will go through them to make when I am feeling ambitious. Having picked all these amazing berries I decided none of them could go to waste. I always have a fear it will suck but if it looks good and the ingredients are not a crazy amount and directions are fairly easy, I will give it a try. 

I have a weakness for strawberry sauce and this looked way to easy to not try. This recipe came from the Food Network magazine. It was very simple and made a great silky sauce that was super delish. Try it and let me know what you think.

Ingredients

3 cups strawberries, finely chopped

1/2 cup sugar

juice of 1/2 lemon

1 tsp vanilla extract

Directions

Combine the strawberries, sugar, lemon juice and 2 tablespoons water in a saucepan. Cook over medium heat, stirring occasionally, until berries break down, about 10 minutes. Remove from the heat; stir in the vanilla

Strain through a fine mesh sieve into a bowl, pressing against the solids; let cool completely. Store in refrigerator up to 4 days.