Natalie's Salsa

My all-time favorite salsa.

Period.

I am totally in love with this salsa. It is smokey and spicy and can be easily modified for preferences.

As the title might suggest, this recipe is not my own. I have shamelessly stolen it and made it countless times over. This recipe came from a good friend of mine, Natalie. She also blogs (though not about food) and has a road less traveled ("deviant" in her own words) take on scrapbooking.

Recipes like this are part of my new thing in making all my own sauces instead of buying commercial. In some cases it's easy and even cheaper, in other instances not so much. Either way, the accomplishment in making your own sauce is satisfying.

Garlic Roasted Potatoes

The potato. The most popular tuber vegetable in the world. The potato originated in South America and most of the world's species of potatoes are derived from a single subspecies in Chile. The average person consumes 73 pounds of potato every year. Being Irish, I value the importance of the potato. 

This recipe is the oldest recipe I have and its roots begin in 6th grade. While I was in 6th grade, students were required to take an elective rotation series that included art, computers, drama, and home economics. In the home-ec class we were required cook a meal for our families. One of the dishes I made was garlic roasted potatoes. While I do not remember where I got the recipe initially, I have kept this one in my back pocket.

Now that you have way more information about potatoes and my childhood than you ever wanted to know, I will get to the dish.

French Onion Soup

I love French Onion Soup. It is one of those little comforts that hits the spot on those days when you need something to warm you up. While the weather has not been conducive to hot soup lately, I was still craving this stuff and so I cooked up a batch.

What's interesting about French Onion Soup is that it has quite a history. Originating back to ancient Rome, onion soups were plentiful because onions are cheap and easy to grow. The modern form of the soup emerged in 18th century France and was widely seen as a food for poor people (take notice college kids). Finally, the soup was revitalized in the 1960's in the United States due to an increased interest in French cooking.