17 there and 18 back

Ok, so I took a good look at the parking lot stalker this morning as she sat in her coveted spot, smoking. So, she’s not all that big after all. I suppose it was just a fantasy on my part…….so, I am a bad person for judging…..but I’m STILL CUTER………so there.

Today is snack day at work. I LOVE snack days. Except when people forget and stop hurridly at the store and bring in doughnuts. That disappoints me. PUT SOME THOUGHT into the food, people!! Show off your culinary TALENTS (we had one lady bring in little smokies and a bottle of beer one time……she cooked the smokies in the beer. C.O.M.P.L.I.C.A.T.E.D.).

I chose to bring in ‘Fire and Ice Salsa’. It is a regular fresh salsa wherein the tomatoes are replaced with watermelon. The Hy-Vee lady made it a couple of weeks ago, and I was intrigued by it. I’m not big on sweet and savory together, but it was actually quite refreshing. Teenie got a bite and somehow bit into an uber-hot pepper, and nearly choked to death, so she didn’t have a good experience with this, but I, on the other hand, thought it may be a fun thing to try. Oh, and of course, I altered the recipe to suit me. Here is the original recipe:

3 ½ c watermelon cut into salsa size pieces
¾ c chopped green bell pepper (use red or yellow if you prefer)
2 T fresh lime juice
2 T cilantro (I HATE cilantro, so I personally used flat leaf parsley)
2T chopped green onion
1T jalapeno pepper diced
¾ garlic powder

Combine all ingredients well and serve cold (better after sitting). Serve with tortilla chips.

MY VERSION: Same recipe except:

Flat leaf parsley instead of cilantro
I added 1t lime zest
I used 1 full jalapeno pepper seeded
I used fresh garlic instead of powder (2 small cloves grated)
And I added ¼ to 1/3 c or so of diced red onion.

I opened it this morning to check it out and it did smell sort of oniony….so maybe go lighter on the red onion? Maybe follow the exact recipe? I don’t know. I bet MONEY that my watermelon salsa will be the last to go because people here in my office don’t like anything ‘new’ or ‘weird’. The’ll all look at it and think in their brains ‘ewwwwww’ and pass it by. I put it in a red bowl, so the watermelon has a very RED look to it. Maybe I should just let everyone think it’s REGULAR salsa……hahahahaha. They’d get a surprise!!

Son #1 made it to Atlanta, GA last night. He texted me telling me that downtown Atlanta was “cool”. My baby is seeing the world.

Here is a conversation I had with #1’s best friends’ dad prior to them leaving:

Me: You guys have fun. It’ll be a LONG trip…….(smile)
#1’s Best friend: Yeah, it’s like 21 hours down there or something, right?
#1’s BFF dad: Oh no……it’s like 17 down there and 18 back….or whatever….because you lose that hour, you know??
Me: (thinking to myself) Huh?

So, yes, my son is driving to New Smyrna Beach, FL, which according to the ADULTS he is with is a 17 hour trip one way and an 18 hour trip the other, since there’s a time change in there. FABULOUS, don’t you think? Just fabulous.