Salsa Saturday

Habanero Chili Pepper....Screaming Salsa!

I really, really wanted to make homemade salsa this weekend, so as I told you yesterday, Kellie gave me two bags of red, yellow and orange tomatoes from her garden . She also gave me a variety of peppers....mild and hot.

I worked all day today on salsa. I ended up chopping the tomatoes by hand, verses using my food processor because I like my salsa chunky and the food processor pulverises the tomatoes too much. It took forever chopping tomatoes, but fortunately I had 70's and 80's music playing in the background, so I just got lost in the music. I made two batches of salsa...medium hot.

While the salsa was in the pressure cooker, I decided I had enough tomatoes left to make one more batch. It was at that point in the day that I became frisky, and decided to add the one Habanero pepper that Kellie gave me.

I carefully seeded and chopped the Habanero chili pepper (used rubber gloves), but then I tested the Habanero to see how hot it was. Hello.....it was hot. My tongue was on fire. For the next 30 minutes I nursed my tongue on half & half cream to soothe my firey tongue! I added the little Habanero chili pepper to my third batch of salsa. I'm calling that batch "Screaming Salsa."

I'm totally exhausted tonight. Can't believe how long it took to make three batches of salsa, but it was well worth it!

It Starts With Fresh Ingredients

Soon To Be Salsa

I was telling Kellie today that I really wanted to make her salsa recipe, but my tomatoes pretty much fizzled out in the garden this summer, so I was going to go to the farmer's market to pick up tomatoes. Kellie graciously offered to give me some of her tomatoes from her healthy garden! I was so excited. Kellie also gave me lots of peppers and jalapenos....what a sweetie, thank you so much.

Tomorrow will be salsa making day. Salsa involves, removing tomato skins, seeds and lots of cutting of vegetables, but it's well worth all the effort in the end. There is nothing better than homemade salsa.

PS. I still miss my bike....and my bike misses me!

I Miss My Bike!

Yikes, I feel out-of-sorts! Haven't been able to bike or do any type of exercise for almost two weeks. What happened? I blame it on my work schedule. I hate it when work takes over your life. Today I went to a training session for cataloging library materials. One of my friends came up to me and told me I looked tired.....geez, that's such a downer when someone tells you that. For the rest of the day/night I felt like I had bags under my eyes! I do suffer from fall allergies so I'm sure my lack of energy is one of the side affects. I'm determined to get out on my bike this weekend. Today was ten-hour day......yes, I do look forward to Saturday & Sunday.

It's a Birthday Today

To Bike Man!

Had fun after work tonight. Met up with our son, and Bike Man's two granddaughter's who happen to be attending our local university, and Bike Man's older son who also lives nearby. Went out for pizza and enjoyed getting caught up on the granddaughter's college lives. It's fun to be around family. I'm glad Bike Man had a good time tonight.

Final End To Summer

The end of summer and beginning of autumn. Morning sun on Perch Lake near Drummond, Wisconsin. So peaceful and relaxing.

No time for fun today, just another work day. Wow, a weather change today after 4 weeks. No sunshine, but just gloomy damp skies all day. Didn't get all the moisture we needed, so will have to deal with dry conditions again.

Even a Small Ride is Well-Worth It

Tainter Lake, south side on my bicycle commute

Had to work late tonight so I decided to bike to work this morning around 10:30 am. It was a perfect morning for bicycle commuting. Bike Man came to the library late this afternoon and helped me set up for our children's program tonight. Of course I couldn't bike home tonight because it was completely dark by 8 pm, so he threw my bike on the car bike rack.

I'm completely exhausted tonight. We had over 100 kids and adults show up for our Underwater World Aquarium educational program. After 9 1/2 years of this stuff, I'm getting too old for all this work! My feet hurt.....grrrrrrrr!

Chequamegon 2009 Fat Tire Highlights

This is our friend Mark, who by the way has done this race for many years now. Mark & I arranged to do a water bottle hand-off on top of Seeley fire tower hill. Mark's wife does a hand-off @ County Rd 00. Thank heavens Bike Man brought the tire pump, as Mark unfortuneatly had a slow tire leak which cost him lots of time....bummer.

This climb up to the fire tower hill is incredible rocky, steep and long. My whole purpose of being up there is to yell as loud as I can to encourage the riders to not get out of their pedals. Actually, it's much harder to push your bike up the steep hill than to ride it out. Unfortuneatly, many cyclists bale out in front of someone trying to spin up the hill and sometimes that forces you to get out of your pedals, or in worse cases, to wipe-out. I always hate to see that, but it happens a lot at this particular hill.

This guy just felt the need to stick out his tongue at me! There's always a few riders who don't behave themselves'!!!!!

I just caught the tail-end of this guy trying to do a "wheelie" of enjoyment! In other words, some cyclists just love to show off. However, one must be careful because your wheel can come down at an angle while doing a wheelie and you can cause someone else to wipe-out! Beware of the show-offs, ha!

Someone added a few signs at the top of the hill this year.....could it be the Chequamegon Mama's? Yes, the mama's really do exist (a cycling group from Hayward, Seeley & Cable area).



I loved this guy's jersey.....Mudd, Sweat & Gear!

Miss Becca with the "cow bells." Every year we hear cyclists yell, "hey, more cow bell."

So, when the cyclists finish their race, where do they park their bikes? At the Bike Corral....of course. Like 2,400 mountain bikes. Every year, we have fun supporting the mountain bikers. I always get accused by my family of yelling way too loud, but I always lose count of how many mountain bikers udder, "thank you" as they ride by me (yes, I loose my voice). It's a tough hill climb and most just need some encouragement to stay in their saddle's. I remember that hill vividly, as I rode the Fat Tire race ten years ago. I peddled my butt all the way up the famous fire tower hill, because a few spectators were cheering me on...I will never forget that feeling of personal accomplishment. So now you know why I yell so loud.