Strawberry Salsa

My new guy, Wee Mac Connelly, is a comedian.  He's also an acrobat.  And, he would just love it if that darned screen wasn't there so he could get some of those flying cat snacks.  Alas, he's an inside kitty.

 

Mr. Wee Mac just turned a year old.  So, he's turning into a cat.  A very curious cat - lol.  That's one of the reasons he has an invisible fence in the house.  He's a tad too curious!

Tonight, we had almost the same dinner we had last night.  We've been getting home later than normal so I've been enjoying freezer food and leftovers.  Oh, and morel mushrooms.  It's been a lousy season for morels.  The Mansfield Mushroom Festival was a bust.  Since then I've been calling all the usual suspects asking if they had morels.  Nope.  Not until yesterday.  Locally Grown Gardens.  Even better, they're about 10 minutes from the office.  AND, the morels were less expensive than other places said they'd be.  Such a deal. 

Most folks think they're best breaded and fried.  Not us.  We just give them a good dunk in cold water, dry them a bit and brown them in butter.  They get nice and brown and a bit crispy about the time the liquid cooks off.  Then, I turn them and brown them on the other side.  A good grind of salt when they're served and it's nirvana!

So, last night we had leftover green beans.  They were leftover from Monday when a fund company had one of their analysts in town to chat with some of us.  They took us to one of my favorite steakhouses.  Not being one to waste that kind of thing I brought home not only my leftover steak but the table's leftover green beans. Tonight I had to come up with Plan B.

Actually, it was a pretty easy choice.  I had two huge clamshells of strawberries in the fridge.  Our family birthday, Mother's Day party was supposed to be Sunday.  Then, Connie and I found out our annual broker/dealer audit is Tuesday and my brother, John, found out he's due at a meeting Monday morning - in Delaware.  My sister-in-law, Pam, was a gem and rescheduled the party.  Now, I'll actually have time to make my contributions:  pulled pork, strawberry salsa, three bean salad, strawberry torte and rhubarb cream pie.  Now, you see why the plethora of strawberries, don't you?

I told Mom the other day that we'd made the BEST salsa out of strawberries.  You know that sound that someone makes on the phone that just translates as, "You are officially nuts but I am being polite and not saying so."  Yeah, that's what she did.  Fortunately, she's going to have the opportunity to realize how wrong she is.  Because this is seriously wonderful stuff.  If you've read this blog for long you know Connie isn't fond of fruit.  He eats it because I serve it to him.  And grumbles the WHOLE way.  Not about this. 

This is a recipe I found in Rachael Ray's magazine.  And, I couldn't get it out of my mind.  So, a few days ago I made a batch.  Connie inhaled his before I'd even tried mine.  I then inhaled mine.  Time for a second batch...

Strawberry Salsa

Ingredients:

1 1/2 c strawberries, cored and chopped
1/2 c peeled and chopped cucumber
1 small jalapeno, finely minced
1/4 c sweet white onion, finely diced
1 T lime juice
1 t honey

Directions:

Mix all the ingredients and allow them to sit at room temperature for 20-30 minutes before serving.  Serve as is or with chips or over chicken, fish...

adapted from Everyday with Rachael Ray