Random Stuffity Stuff, a Mini Market Report, and My Famous Salsa Recipe

1. A door, we have a door! The sliding glass door to the bedroom went in yesterday, yayyy! Now all we have is...more doors, windows, siding, floors, toilets, sinks, tubs, showers... Ok. Check back in 2010.



2. Took Mom for her first test this morning: an open MRI. She's claustrophobic, and even though it's open, they lock a cage over your head for this scan. They offered to drug her, but I didn't see the point of that, just so she could lie still for 40 minutes. I asked if they'd just let me stay with her and hold her hand. They did, and it did the trick. She did fine, after they put a towel over her eyes, so she couldn't open them to see that cage.


3. I picked up new glasses and contact lenses yesterday, and had intended to carry on about how great the service was at the doctor I went to. I really was pleased.

HOWEVER, when I put in my shiny new contacts this morning, I couldn't see out of my right eye. I discovered that they'd sold me a weaker lens that that I'd tested for the last 2 weeks.

When I called to tell them of their mistake, I was told that the doctor decided, at the follow-up exam, that the trial lens was too strong, so he changed the Rx, and ordered the weaker lens. And SOLD them to me, without my trying them out! Why? Wtf! WHY?

I'm getting very good at arguing with doctors these days. Still, I'm blind in my right eye for the weekend. Rat bastards.

Oh well, I guess I can camp with just one eye.

MARKET REPORT

Yeah, we're going camping, bright & early tomorrow morning. I'll still hit up the Farmer's Market before we leave. We've been arriving around 10 a.m., and it's so packed that photos on the run have been impossible. So, we'll see what it looks like at 6:45 a.m.

So, no photos, but here's my report:

(A tomato photo I took in L.A.)

Can I just say this? It's tomato season and this part of the country is
drowning in vine-ripe tomatoes. The $3/lb, across-the-board price of tomatoes at the market is outrageous. It really shouldn't cost $17 to make a bowl of salsa. Field fresh tomatoes are HALF that at the grocery store, and they're $1 cheaper at the fruit stands around town, and just outside of town. The emperor has no clothes, people.

There. That's a quote. From me. Maybe the price will drop tonight, since we really are heavy in tomato harvest season. I'll be interested to see. In the meantime, I'll get my 'maters elsewhere.

That said, I'm in charge of salsa at the campgrounds this weekend, because I make a rockin' good salsa. Here's my recipe, which consists of...salsa ingredients. I don't know why it's so good, it just is.

Gnightgirl's Salsa (Cha-Cha-Cha!)

5 tomatoes, chopped

1 jalapeno, diced

1 onion, diced

3 cloves garlic, minced

1 bunch of cilantro, minced (yes, an entire bunch)

juice of 2-3 limes

1 t. salt

1 small chipotle pepper, diced, with 1 T. sauce from the can

Mix 'em all together. Decrease or increase ingredients to adjust to your taste.

The chipotle pepper is the secret ingredient; it has a smoky flavor that sets the salsa apart from all other salsas. It is canned, from the ethnic aisle at the grocery store. The stuff is HOT; start out slowly and build up. I used a very TINY piece of that pepper, and just a tablespoon or so of the sauce out of the can, to give it a smoky flavor. You can buy just the canned sauce too, and add a tablespoon or so to smoke it up.