#873 vacation memory: salsa in a sailboat

Tomorrow is Dip Day at work. I decided that I wanted to make something different than usual, so I took to Pinterest to find something yummy. The picture I found took me right back to Belize and I knew that I had to make salsa. Let me paint the picture for you:

We are in Belize. We are sailing on a beautiful catamaran sailboat. The snorkeling is done for the day, and we are sailing toward the tiny island of Caye Caulker. We are sitting on the "trampoline" at the front of the boat. (It's not really a trampoline - that's just what it's called.) It's the area between the two arms of the boat. Typically the trampoline is a fine mesh net, but sometimes it's more rope-y.  Here's a picture of random people sitting on the trampoline. (This is not my picture; I just found it on the internet to illustrate.)



So imagine MT, T and I sitting here instead of these people. In the distance, ahead of us, we can see Caye Caulker. The whole morning that we've been sailing, the sky was overcast - gray and cloudy, but now, as we sail north, the sky is bright blue. There's a light breeze pushing out the sails and we are cutting through the water at a gentle pace.  We are chatting with the other passengers: a family of five from Minnesota,  two newlywed couples and a family of four with two little kids. We are all enjoying refreshing beverages of our choice. I think T had a Sprite, others were drinking rum punch and MT and I were sipping Belikin beers. (Belikin is the beer of Belize and it's really one of the best beers in the Caribbean.)

Our guides, Junior and Juan (might not be his name, I don't remember, but one guy was Junior), handed each of us a bowl with chips and some salsa. The salsa had corn and black beans, onions, cilantro, some tomato, some avocado and a little heat from a jalapeno. Underneath it all was a gentle flavor of lime. It was delicious. So there I am, sitting in the sun, enjoying a tasty cold beer, delicious chips and salsa and  listening to people talk about places they have been (one of my favorite things in the world to listen to!) There's also a little music playing in the background, probably Latin or reggae.

Suddenly, one of the little kids says, "Look Mommy! There's a shark!" We all look to where the kid is pointing. It's not a shark. It is a pair of porpoises swimming alongside our boat. Talk about magic! They swam along for a little while and when they turned, Junior turned the boat and we followed them for a few minutes. It was wonderful. I didn't even try to get out my camera. I was so mellowed out that I just took a picture in my head. What a great memory!

So anyway, I saw a pic of some salsa on Pinterest that looked like the Belize salsa. I couldn't link to a recipe, so I had to wing it. I will add the avocado in the morning, but the flavor is good and I like it a lot.

Of course, at work I won't be able to enjoy a cold beer with the salsa, but I have my memory!