You know it's almost summer when...

Here in New Orleans it has felt like spring for a few months now, so when W and P and I ran over to the Crescent City Farmer's Market on Saturday morning, it was no surprise to find produce that we would only see at the height of summer in KY. It's really summer when you can get fresh tomatoes straight from the garden. Tomatoes that have that strong, almost grassy smell and have never been refrigerated. Tomatoes should NEVER be refrigerated, it's sacrilege! They instantly change texture from firm and perfect to grainy and mushy.

Anyway, the farmer's market was small but really cute and had lots of booths. There were veggies, homemade dips and spreads, seafood being sold out of coolers, and even an organic chicken farmer. Strawberries are in season here, so people were walking off in all directions with flats of the best looking berries I've ever seen. I was thrilled to see bunches of fresh cilantro and tomatoes at another booth so I stocked up on both because I made Pioneer Woman's pico de gallo over the weekend. W (the husband) said it was the best salsa he'd ever eaten! This is high praise from someone who "Eats to Live," he doesn't "Live to Eat" like I do!

Sorry no pictures...we ate it too fast. I did snap a photo of the tomatoes though!

PW's Pico de Gallo

3 big tomatoes (she uses 5 roma tomatoes, but I like regular)
2 jalapenos seeded and diced
1/2 sweet onion, diced
1 bunch of cilantro, roughly chopped
Juice of 2 limes (she uses a little less, but I really like tangy salsa)
salt to taste

It was so good with those fresh ingredients and super fast and easy! I followed her directions to roughly chop everything, but cilantro tends to clump together when it's in big pieces and the texture wasn't as palatable. At the end, I used my immersion blender and just pulsed it a few times so that the salsa had a more uniform texture--almost like restaurant style. It was exactly the way we like it!

Ahh, summer!