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Hi.

Welcome to This Awful/Awesome Life! My name is Frances Joyce. I am the publisher and editor of this magazine. We'll be exploring different topics each month to inform, entertain and inspire you. Meet new authors, sharpen your brain and pick up a few tips on life, love, entertaining and business. Enjoy and please share!

December 2024 in The Twelve Months of Salsa - Cranberry Salsa by Fran Joyce

To close out the year, I found a festive and delicious recipe for cranberry salsa.

It’s perfect with tortilla chips or crackers and cheese/cream cheese on your holiday table. Here is the link, https://www.allrecipes.com/recipe/141135/cranberry-salsa/

We like our salsa a bit chunkier, so I tried to use a manual food processor for this recipe. It was a no go, so I switched to my electric food processor. I’m so glad I did because the different flavors and textures of the ingredients blended so well.

This recipe has simple ingredients, takes minutes to make and it’s versatile. The only change I made was to add red pepper to give it more heat.

It’s as tasty as it is beautiful. The deep red of the cranberries is accented by pieces of green cilantro and jalapeno peppers. I surrounded the salsa bowl with white tortilla chips on a white plate to play up the contrast.

I really like the website, too. The directions are easy to follow without a lot of other information you don’t need, but it still has a personal touch.

For 2024, I’ve made twelve versions of salsa or Pico de Gallo. I intended to use recipes from the same website, but I found some unique websites and recipes that were too good to pass up.

Traditional salsa is made with cooked tomatoes, onions, peppers, and spices. Usually, it’s blended or pureed to create a smooth texture. Sometimes sugar is added.

Raw salsa is uncooked fresh ingredients that are still blended like traditional salsa instead of left chunky like Pico de Gallo.

Pico de Gallo is a chunky, uncooked sauce made from chopped tomatoes, red onions, peppers, cilantro, and lime juice.

You typically won’t find cooked salsa used in traditional Mexican cuisine.

My biggest take-away from this experience is that I didn’t realize how well sweet and spicy go together. I love traditional tomato, bean, or avocado flavors for salsa, but the fruit salsa recipes were definitely my favorites. It also surprised me how onions seem to go with everything.

Here is the list of the salsas I made this year.

The Twelve Months of Salsa

January - Pico de Gallo - Pico de Gallo (Salsa Fresca) - Peas and Crayons Blog

February – Fresh Pineapple Salsa - Fresh Pineapple Salsa - A Southern Soul

March – Salsa Verde - Salsa Verde Recipe {Green Salsa} - Cooking Classy

April – Black Bean Salsa - Zesty Loaded Black Bean Salsa | Dishing Out Health

May – Salsa Roja - https://www.loveandlemons.com/salsa-roja/

June – Avocado Salsa Verde - https://ourbestbites.com/avocado-salsa-verde/

July- Fresh Mango Salsa - https://cookieandkate.com/fresh-mango-salsa-recipe/

August – Cherry Salsa - https://www.everydaysouthwest.com/cherry-salsa/

September – Watermelon Salsa - https://www.recipegirl.com/watermelon-salsa/.

October – Pumpkin Salsa - https://snappygourmet.com/pumpkin-salsa/

November – Creamy Avocado Salsa - https://houseofyumm.com/creamy-avocado-salsa/

December – Cranberry Salse - https://www.allrecipes.com/recipe/141135/cranberry-salsa/ 

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