Drivin' on the Edge of Danger

Over the past few mornings, I've come to the realization that my new commute to work is quite dangerous.  Not dangerous in that scared-someone-might-pop-a-cap-in-my-ass way (although having to drive down 17th Street in the city can be a little dicey), but dangerous in the sense that I now pass the following establishments each and every morning:

• Dunkin Donuts
• Sheetz
• McDonald's
• Panera

I can't even tell you how much I. LOVE. PANERA.  I've already decided that I'm stopping there for breakfast tomorrow morning (payday, bitches!).  Also, I'm probably going to need to take up a second job in order to keep up with my newly acquired DD iced coffee addiction.  Pretty positive the main ingredient is crack, but hey, at $2.64 for a medium, I feel like that's a steal.

So my friend, Kelly, came over last night and can I just tell you how awesome it is to have guests over to my house and not be completely embarrassed of where I live?  It was so nice to sit on the patio (again) with great food (prepared by moi, of course), great wine (Kelly brought over a pinot noir by Mark West - along with her own personal no-headache-in-the-morning guarantee), and a great friend.  I'm fighting the urge to use a smiley face, as I'm trying my hardest to act like a real writer here.



Oh, hey, LOOK!  I remembered to take a picture!

Loving the way the salsa is glistening in the sun.  Totally tried that.

The spinach and artichoke dip was bangin' - probably the best I've ever had, seriously.  I cut the recipe in half, which was perfect for two people, plus enough leftover for Beast to scrape the mini-crock-pot clean.

Every time I make salsa, people rave about it.  I laugh at people when they say how great it is (probably because I'm an asshole), since it's mostly canned ingredients and stuff you already have in your pantry.

1-28 oz. can diced tomatoes
1 teeny tiny can of diced green chiles
1/4 of a small yellow onion
2-3 garlic cloves
1 shit ton of cilantro (very precise measurement)
1 serrano pepper (if you like it less spicy, use a jalapeno and remove the seeds)
1 T lemon juice
1 T vinegar (I use different kinds, this time I used balsamic because I already had it out for the tomatoes)
1 t cumin
salt and pepper

Put all of these ingredients (except the tomatoes) into a blender, or if you're cool like me, you have one of these bad boys, which works even better.  Pulse until everything is pretty finely chopped, then add the tomatoes and pulse 5 or 6 times, until it's the consistency you like.



Tonight, we have a volleyball game right after work, so after that, we're having burgers on the grill (fancy), and a salad (super fancy).  My burgers are the best burgers you'll ever eat, so since I'm kind of a big deal, I'll have a picture and ingredient list for you tomorrow!