We’ve been on a green salsa kick recently. Cooking still doesn’t sound that fun so instead we’ve been coming home, cracking a beer, and eating way too many chips with this salsa. It’s rillyrilly good.

It’s up to you, of course, to make it as spicy as you like. Our first batch was good but thicker than we wanted and nowhere near hot enough. The second batch (and I should note, this is most definitely a Dan-led initiative) is the recipe you see below. We used two hot peppers and left the seeds in – actually we just lopped off the stems and threw them into the blender whole – plus we added a pinch of cayenne pepper.

The avocado and sour cream do an amazing job of bringing some creamy balance to the heat of the peppers but it’s certainly got a kick so cold beers are advised :)

Houston-Style Green Salsa
adapted from The Homesick Texan Cookbook

Ingredients

• 1 lb fresh tomatillos
• 1 large avocado
• 4 cloves garlic
• 1 small onion, roughly chopped
• 1-2 serrano peppers, seeds removed (or left in!)
• Pinch of cayenne pepper
• Juice of 1 lime
• 1/4 cup cilantro
• Salt, to taste
• 2 tbsp sour cream

Directions

For those just tuning in, I recently returned to Minneapolis after a couple of weeks in Austin where my husband and I had a rip-roaring wedding celebration, almost three years after we originally tied the knot.

I whipped out my phone to snap these two lone photos one day when Dan and I were madly running last minute wedding errands. We stopped at El Taquito, an unassuming taco shop on East Riverside Drive, and grabbed tacos al pastor, carnitas tacos and some posole.

I can hardly stop salivating just remembering how good these were. You don’t need a ton of accoutrement with your tacos – beautifully marinated and cooked meat, fresh cilantro, crunchy raw onion, a wedge of fresh lime, a good homemade tortilla and you’re good to go.

If you’re in Austin, you’ll be spoiled for choice on Mexican food. There’s a lot to choose from but if you want the most authentic and delicious Mexican food head over to the east side and find a taco truck or taqueria – you can hardly go wrong.

Food trucks have become big business in Austin since I lived there five years ago with trucks popping up all over the place selling everything from sno cones to cupcakes.

But taco trucks have been part of the city’s character for a while. You could pretty much pick any one on the east side and I’m pretty sure you’d feel like you struck gold! Otherwise, some classics according to my Austinite friends include Torchy’s Tacos, Tacodeli, and of course El Taquito, where these pictures were snapped.

Just be sure to make this part of your Austin experience – it’s a simple and amazingly delicious (and cheap!) pleasure that you just can’t find by dining at a restaurant.

Tomorrow I am getting married (again) to the love of my life. Let’s have some cookies to celebrate, shall we?

These cookies are powdery and crunchy, much like biscotti. Eating one alongside a cup of hot coffee or chai is a total pleasure.

They have great flavour from the cinnamon, vanilla, cardamom, and cloves – they’d make excellent holiday cookies, but we have a wedding to celebrate!

Spiced Mexican Wedding Cookies

from The Kitchn

Makes 12

• 1/2 cup (1 stick) unsalted butter, room temperature
• 1 cup plus 2 tablespoons powdered sugar
• 1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
• 1 cup all purpose flour
• 3/4 teaspoon ground cinnamon
• 1/4 teaspoon ground cardamom
• 1/4 teaspoon ground cloves
• 1/4 teaspoon salt
• 1/2 cup ground almonds, pecans or walnuts (I ground mine with a mortar and pestle)

Directions

1. Preheat oven to 350° F. Line a cookie sheet with parchment paper.
2. Cream the butter and 1 cup powdered sugar until smooth. Beat in the vanilla. Gradually add the flour, 1/2 teaspoon ground cinnamon, cardamom, clove and salt. Add the ground nuts and stir until well-blended. Form dough into a 2″-wide log, cover and chill in refrigerator until firm, about 30 minutes.
3. In a small bowl combine remaining 2 tablespoons powdered sugar, and remaining 1/4 teaspoon ground cinnamon. Set aside.
4. Remove dough from refrigerator and slice into twelve equal disks, smoothing out edges into an even circle if needed before placing on parchment, 2 inches apart. Bake for 15 minutes or until just beginning to brown. Remove from oven and set on cooling rack until cool enough to handle, but still warm. Using a small sieve, dust the tops with the cinnamon sugar mixture.

Notes: I know it seems weird that there is no egg included in this recipe but these cookies have a light, dusty consistency. Don’t be alarmed when you’re mixing the dough and it seems dry. It’s okay, I promise. Cooling it in the fridge will firm up the dough and it should turn out just dandy.