Our favorite Mango Salsa : tutorial

This is what we're having this holiday weekend: There couldn't be an easier recipe that I make than mango salsa. And it is SO good!



Everything you need is pictured in the picture up there, except for a lime. Limes are my favorite and I forgot to put one in the picture! It's best if you use the FRESHEST of everything you can find.

- mangoes (4-5)
- garlic (2 cloves)
- cilantro (one bunch)
- mint (a few leaves)
- red onion (about 1/4 medium)
- jalapeño (seeds removed)
- fresh lime juice (1 whole lime)
- salt and pepper (to taste)

Chop everything up and mix it together. It's best if you can make it the day or at least a few hours before and refrigerate it. This makes enough for 5-6 people as a snack.

This is a very rough recipe. Take out what you don't like and add more of what you do. I've made it both with and without the mint. With and without the jalapeño. With and without the garlic. Really the base for us is mangoes, cilantro and onion.

I chop it by hand if I'm only making a little bit for me (one mango, and just a little bit of everything else) or you can do it in a food processor, just don't let it get too liquidy or ... processed. It's better if everything is chunky.

Eat with tortilla chips - the saltier the better!

Happy Memorial Day!

A little sewing - pincushion swap & a Jane bag

So I'm still composing my Quilt Market recap post(s) in my head -- I took so many pictures that editing them all and blogging them is kind of a daunting task. Plus you can pretty much see what I did the whole weekend by reading the posts that the people I hung out with wrote - it's been funny for me to spot myself in a bunch of different pictures all around blogland. And there's been so much more going on this week, like Mason's preschool graduation! I'll be blogging that, too, at some point! ;]

In the mean time here's a few things that I've sewn lately. I also have a quilt finished to blog, but will save that for another post.

I LOVE my friends in that Salt Lake Modern Quilt Guild. We have such a great group of smart, talented and fun people. At our May meeting we had decided to do a pincushion swap - everyone that wanted to join in brought a handmade pincushion in a brown paper bag and then we did a swap (a Yaaaaaaaannnkee swap! - name that quote!)

I was dying to use some of the cute Little Apples fabric I had gotten in the 2.5" charm pack at market, so I set to work making some tiny patchwork that I was envisioning going on the top of a mason jar. Well once I got the tiny (1.5" squares!) sewn together - the piece was still to big to be used on the top of the mason jar how I had pictured it, so I made the patchwork piece into a simple square pincushion with a button center and decided to make a 2nd pincushion with the mason jar, and some of the fat eighth pack of Little Apples I had bought at sample spree!

I had wanted the mason jar to be able to open so you could store stuff inside, but once the fiberfill and the top fabric was on the top of the jar, the jar couldn't open and close easily - so I compromised again and put some cute scraps of the fabric in the mason jar, filled it with more fiberfill, and then glued the top on. So, it's just a decorative jar, not a useful one. :[





In the end I think both of them turned out cute and my friend Kati, who ended up with them, liked them a lot - enough to steal them from someone else on her turn! ;] Funnily enough I ended up with the pincushion that Kati had made - a cute apple that I just realized I haven't taken a picture of yet! You can kind of see it right in the middle of this picture, along with all the other pincushions that were made for our swap.



The other thing I have sewn recently is my Jane Market Bag. I had been seeing so many cute versions of this easy bag that I had to make one for myself to take to Quilt Market. I had a hunch that I'd have lots of stuff to carry around and boy was I right!

I was so happy with how easily this bag came together. It's a really great pattern - you can get it here. There's so many different versions of the Jane out there the hardest part of the pattern was picking out which fabrics to use! If I make it again I'll make the straps a little bit longer, that was the only part that I wish had been a little different. I used medium weight interfacing throughout and like that it gave me a sturdy, yet still slouchy, bag (just like I like them!).

My Sew, Mama, Sew giveaway is open for a few more hours - so go enter here if you haven't already!

Sew Mama Sew May Giveaway Day! Win a custom rainbow charm pack

At Quilt Market last week I was so excited be able to hang out a little bit with the fabulous Kristin from Sew, Mama, Sew! Not only does she (with the help of her fellow Yams) throw a rockin' dinner and mixer (more on that later this week!) but she is so incredibly kind! We braved the Sample Spree line together and she gave me the ins and outs of it as we went along - thanks for hanging out with a quilt market newbie, Kristin!



Lots of you know that Sew, Mama, Sew! hosts a giveaway day a few times a year. Today is the day for the spring giveaway - so read carefully to find out what you can win from me and how you can enter.



I am a sucker for fabric in rainbow order! So for my Giveaway Day prize I'm giving away a rainbow charm pack of fabric straight from my personal stash - custom made just for YOU (the winner!). What this means is I'll be putting together a charm pack (5" squares) of various bright, fun, and cheery fabrics from my stash, and once I pull the winner - you'll have the chance to tell me YOUR favorite color, and then I'll make sure the charm pack has lots of charms in your favorite color in it, as well.



These pictures are just random pictures of fabric that's in my stash - but be assured that the winner's charm pack will be just as rad - I love bright, fun, cheery fabric and will make sure to put together a charm pack just as amazing as these pictures of fabric are. There'll be no less then 75 different 5" charms in the custom pack for you - with many hard to find fabrics included (Katie Jump Rope is my favorite line ever, and I'll make sure to sneak some charms of it in for you, too!)



What can you do with a charm pack of fabric? Lots of stuff! Make a simple patchwork picnic quilt. Chop it up and use it in various scrappy items. Make patchwork tea towels for your kitchen. If you're a garment sewist - patchwork the pieces together and make a fun dress or pair of shorts for a little boy! If you don't even sew - well, if you win you can just look at the pretty fabric!



To enter: Just leave one comment telling me something you like about summer! Something you love to do with your kids, something fun that only happens in the summer in your city, a fun craft to do in the summer, a great summer recipe, something you look forward to every year that you only get to do in the summer, etc!

Details:

- Giveaway will be open until Friday, May 27th at 11pm MST
- International entries welcome
- Make sure you have an email address associated with your profile or you leave it in your comment, otherwise I won't be able to contact you!

Thanks for stopping by - enjoy Giveaway Day!

I need a diet Coke & a deep tissue massage

Because I am home from my very first Quilt Market and I am SO exhausted! Even after sleeping 12+ hours last night I feel like I need a permanent IV of diet Coke and to be on a masseuses' table for about 4 hours.

It's everything fabulous that people say about it and SO much more. The people, the fabric, the parties - it is so amazing. What really got me was how NICE and SUPPORTIVE everyone is. The online sewing and blogging community really is the absolute best.

I'll do a few better wrap-up posts later this week, first I have to try to remember everyone I met and talked to and everything I saw and photographed.



I'll just say this: you never know when you're going to need to be prepared to carry a table, some shelves and a GIANT heavy carpet! ;]

Quilt Market Eats : Welcome to Salt Lake City

Later this week the greatest show on Earth is coming to Salt Lake City, and no, it's not the circus (unless you happen to be invited to a certain party I have heard about!), it's the International Quilt Market. If you're not familiar - it's a giant convention held twice a year for people in the industry to gather and meet and network and look at all the pretty new fabric and patterns that will be debuting in the next few months.



(The Utah State Capitol)

Every fall it's held in Houston, Texas, and every spring it travels around, and this spring we're lucky enough to have it in Salt Lake! I am so excited to get to attend (I'll be reppin' The Sewing Summit!) but maybe even more excited to finally get to meet some of my longtime online bloggy friends.



(Our State Motto)

Salt Lake City has tons of great places to eat! If you find yourself in need of some grub while you're in town, I've put together a little list of some of my favorites: (all of these are within walking distance of the Salt Palace Convention Center)

- Settebello Pizzaria (260 S 200 W) : amazing fresh pizza and gelato
- Red Rock Brewery (254 S 200 W) : American, one of my favs
- Squatters (147 W 300 S) : American, good local beer brewery
- Toasters Deli (30 E 300 S) : sandwich lunch spot
- Bambara (202 S Main) : hip hotel restaurant and lounge
- Bayleaf Bar and Grub (159 S Main) : late night eatery with good food
- Evas (317 S Main) : Mediterranean, amazing tapas and small plates
- Lambs Grill (169 S Main) : American traditional
- Tony Caputos (314 W 300 S) : yummy italian restaurant & market
- Bruges Waffles and Frites (336 W 300 S) : amazing for lunch, but gets crowded
- The Pie Hole (344 S State) : greasy yummy pizza


This is going to be a great week! The weather is supposed to be nice (around 75 degrees, cooling off a little at night but you shouldn't need anything more than a sweater or cardigan) and I can't wait to see some of the new fabric that is going to be shown! Please say hello to me if you see me (I'll be the short girl looking overwhelmed at all the booths!). I am planning on being at both the Modern Quilt Guild meetup on Friday night as well as the Bloggers Quilt Market meetup on Saturday night. Can't wait!



(Mason loves Red Rock)

Project 365 - April wrap up

April was a TOUGH month for me to make sure I remembered to take a picture every day ... but I did it! There was one picture that was a late night about 11:59 snap, but I made it in just under the wire. Here are some of my favorites from the past month:




restocking | date night dinner | Kona card | first fish





cubbies | just what I needed | date night concert | good mail day


What a great month April was! I have a feeling May is going to be even better, too. Here is the mosaic for the whole month:



You can see my whole year of pictures so far at my Flickr set.