A few weeks ago my son came home from school with his first birthday party invitation. My daughter's kind of been there done that with birthday invitations...when she brings them home my inward reaction is more like "uuuuuuuughhhhhh....another free Saturday spent being socially awkward when I could be on my couch with a glass of wine and my husband...."- though that's not a sentiment I share with my daughter and I have a rule that we always attend parties to which the kids are invited.
Once we had to cancel an RSVP to a little girl's party at the last minute and I found out later that NO ONE showed up.
Talk about feeling like a terrible person...yes. Every party we can make it to we do.
Anyway, back to my story.
So my son came home with an invitation. I was genuinely ecstatic.
This is so big for him!
Of course, I knew that all of the kids in the class likely scored an invite. Didn't care.
Little Man actually has two classes- his early intervention Pre-K class due to his autism and his regular Pre-K class for his inclusion time for the majority of the day.
I had no idea which class this kid was in.
Again- didn't care.
MY KIDDO WAS GOING TO HIS FIRST PARTY!!!!
Guess what? While there were lots of family members at the party there were only two kids from his class, my son being one of them. Pretty much solidified in my mind that attending parties to which we are invited is the right thing to do. What has changed with the world since I was a kid? It's something I see time and time again these days- people don't show for parties. Are we all just so self absorbed and protective of our time that we can't show up for some cake and ice cream to make a little kid happy?
*sigh*
I've digressed again.
Anyway, so this little boy's family really went all out when they provided dinner. They didn't order pizza or throw some burgers on the grill- both totally acceptable and appreciated options, btw. Nope, they had a smorgasbord of Mexican yumminess. The dad had prepared the most amazing chicken I've ever eaten in my life. I normally don't do chicken legs- but these were insane. So good.
At one point the mom came around with a bowl of a green salsa and offered it to the guests. She warned that it was spicy and the grandmother of the other little boy from our sons' class politely declined.
I'm not really one to shy away from a gustatory challenge...I spooned a little of this mysterious green sauce on my plate and dipped a little chicken in it.
Ohmyword.
Spicy? Yes.
But the good kind of spicy.
I've said it before and I'm sure I'll say it again- spicy is wonderful as long as it's that delicious flavorful kind of spicy, not the spicy-just-for-the-sake-of-spicy kind of spicy.
This was the former for sure.
I've had salsa verde plenty of times, but this was different. The heat tasted a little different and it was a little creamy too.
I had to ask what I was eating. I had to know so I could make it myself later.
So I piped up and asked the hostess...whose initial reaction was shock.
"You like it??? It's too spicy for me!!"
She turned to a few other guests and conferred about the ingredients. I got "serrano" and "avocado."
Not quite a recipe, but it was something I could run with!
I got home and immediately started Googling- thankfully I got a bunch of recipes that all seemed pretty much the same so it turns out "serrano" and "avocado" was all I needed after all.
Ladies and gentlemen...this stuff is delicious. And pretty, right? Look at that bright, vibrant green!
My husband and I dipped chips in it, but I still had some leftover. I decided to brush it on chicken towards the end of cooking so that it would bake on and coat it, and that turned out to be absolutely delicious!
I'm kind of a newbie when it comes to tomatillos- my one previous experience trying to cook with them was a miserable failure and that may have been because I didn't know how to pick good ones. I honestly don't know, but you might want to check out these tips on how to find good tomatillos if you're anything like me.
This stuff is just so good...a little tang from the tomatillo, spice from the serrano, creaminess from the avocado. This is one salsa that will definitely be made often in our house!
6 fresh tomatillos - husked, rinsed, and halved
2 fresh serrano chiles, roughly chopped (or to taste)
1 large (or 2 small) ripe avocado - halved, seeded, and flesh scooped out of peel
1/4 cup packed cilantro leaves
1/4 C white onion, coarsely chopped
1/4 C white onion, coarsely chopped
1/2 lime, juiced
1 tsp minced garlic
1 tsp minced garlic
salt to taste
1. Place tomatillos into a food processor. Add serrano pepper, avocado, cilantro, and lime juice. Season with salt to taste. Process until smooth; adjust seasoning. Transfer to a serving bowl.
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