After recent social media updates (bans, algorithm and policy changes, etc) I made the decision that as a shop, I wanted us to be focusing more on building our community off of social media platforms, and more in person. I used Instagram (trust me, I know the irony of using social media to gauge interest for off-socials information) to run a little poll to ask what you all might be interested in - and the fairly loud consensus was "everything".
Which means, moving forward, this blog will not only have Shop related updates, but also include recipes, Sabbats, creating a home that is full of comfort, sustainability, and slow purposeful living. We will see how much information and content Shopify's blogging system can handle, and look into other options if what I'm sharing proves to be too much. I'll also be working on a more consistent newsletter going out, so you know what content I have been blogging and sharing in one easy location.
Recipes
One of the things most requested on my poll was recipes. I've been cooking since very young childhood, and often "cook with my heart" versus an actual recipe, so as I am in the kitchen, I'll be making a more pointed effort to stop and measure and make notes so that I can share my recipes with you.
Truth be told, this is where my heart is. I'm what I consider a practical home and hearth witch, with my main area of focus being the kitchen. This spills over into gardening (because I also want to know where my food is coming from, and love flowers for our home) and crafting/creating for the home, so at times, I'll be sharing from that perspective as well.
But today I'm going to share a favorite recipe. One I've made for more years than I care to admit - but let's just say I've been making this for more than 3 decades. As a child of Southern California originally, Mexican food has been at the heart of many family gatherings, and while I can't guarantee it's authenticity, the flavors of the foods my mom taught me to cook will forever bring me comfort. And one of those is homemade salsa. It's the first thing in 2025 we decided to stop buying commercially and only make from scratch, so every two weeks, we buy enough to make another 2 quart jars of salsa for our fridge (yes, we go through that much) and one of the four of us in my home whip up a batch of the same salsa I've been making since childhood.... and now I'm going to share the recipe with you, and hope you also love it.
Homemade Salsa
*these can be adjusted to taste later if you want more of each
To Hand Dice
If you're making this by hand without a blender, you're going to chop and dice each ingredient as small as you can (unless you're aiming for bigger chunks) in order to blend them all together. For the jalapeño's - if you prefer less heat, leave out the pith and seeds. If you'd like a spicier blend - either add an additional jalapeño or substitute 1-2 habanero peppers. Make sure your garlic is minced; and if you prefer a more roasted flavor, first roast the cloves, then mince and mash the roasted cloves into your salsa.
Mix all the ingredients together once minced and diced, and season to taste.
For Blender Mixing
Chunk each ingredient into quarters, and add to a blender. For the jalapeño's - if you prefer less heat, leave out the pith and seeds. If you'd like a spicier blend - either add an additional jalapeño or substitute 1-2 habanero peppers. Make sure your cilantro - stems and all - is close to the tomatoes for this process so that the liquid fully pulls and mixes the leaves in and you don't wind up with them stuck to the walls of your blender.
Once you have fully incorporated all ingredients, season to taste.
We keep our salsa in quart size jars in the fridge. This never lasts us more than 2 weeks, as chips and salsa are a go to snack. I typically recommend not storing homemade salsa for more than a couple of weeks, so if you don't plan to go through that much, you'll want to halve the recipe. Make sure you store in a clean jar with a lid, in the fridge. The flavor will develop a lot in the first 24 hours so be sure not to over season at first - and even consider waiting until day 2 if you want to see how it all blends.
Serve with warm tortilla chips, or on a favorite taco, and enjoy!
