This weekend Someone and I attend a (belated) Cinco de Mayo party. The invitation says we can use the hot tub and swimming pool. We are to bring homemade salsa.

Parties are supposed to be fun they illicit in us vanity neurosis. We both fret over ‘What will people think?”.  Someone is concerned about people seeing him without a shirt; I am concerned about making a killer salsa. We have 4 days to loose 20lb and scour the cookbooks for something new and fabulous.

I like making salsa. Living in the Southwest has the perk of having many varieities of peppers. Usually I make the salsa, for I am “Salsa-Master”. Most of the time salsas are impromtu dishes made with whatever looks good at the grocery store combined with food-push items from the fridge. Trouble is when they are tasty, they can’t be easily duplicated.

I like salsa that is complex, colourful, and hot – like my men. When making salsa for guests I have to ‘cool it down’ and not do too much heat. For myself I can make them as hot as possible.

I am not supposed to eat nasty chips, but what is salsa without them? I like blue corn chips, no rubbish.

We have a lovely salsa set consisting of a centre bowl for the salsa. It rests on top or another bowl in which one puts ice water, to keep the salsa cold. It all sits on a large platter and the chips surround the bowl. It has 8 matching plates for individual use.   It is almost as fab as the salsa.

I don’t know what the ‘prize’ is for best salsa, but I am keen to get it!