Limes

I love limes. I love their bright green color. I love the way they smell when you cut into them. Sometimes I even buy them just as a decoration. And, of course, I love how they taste in a margarita. 

I realize I have become somewhat of an expert on limes.  I always want the ripest ones when I make a margarita. Limes mature from green to yellow, so I squeeze them when they’re between green and yellow. I also like my Mexican hand-squeezer, instead of an electric juicer. The hand squeezer crushes the skin and the skin’s oils mix in to make the juice more complex. 

It matters to me too that it is freshly squeezed and not store-bought. I have found that freshly squeezed lime juice actually mellows a bit so I don’t hesitate to keep it in the refrigerator for a couple of days after squeezing.

I guess that's why we made sure there was a lime on our Sal de Margarita hand-embroidered bags.

A Mother's Day gift idea

Our original design for Sal del Mar de Cortez embroidered bags are being featured in Bon Boutique  https://bontucson.com as a gift idea for Mother's Day... we are thrilled. The owners, Crystal Flynt and her mother, Bonnie, collect their favorite things to feature in their shop. "The two of us share a love of things that are well designed and well made. We like a mix... new and old, rough and refined, dark and colorful, east and west, fun and serious... the beauty is in the way it’s all put together." 

I am always amazed at the photographs on Bon's website.  Crystal shoots many of the photographs and I admire her creative eye. Her photographs of Sal del Mar show how she captures the symplistic beauty in everything.

A Ravishing Radish

We put together a flat of plants to show off one of my favorite “Very Veggie Sea Salt”bags... the radish! Our embroiderers have stitched the radish design and made it a work of art. It is truly amazing how they can stitch a design with a needle and thread and make it look like a painting.

We even named it “Ravishing Radish.  Others designs that the embroiders have stitched into works of art, we’ve named as well.... Pinup Girl Tomato and Endearing Corn. Our designs were inspired by the desire in today’s market for good, fresh, healthy eating. Our tag even explains how our “Very Veggie Sea Salt’ enhances the natural goodness of vegetables.

They make a great gift for anyone who loves Farmer’s Markets and other Foodies. 

Asparagus loves Sal del Mar

The subject of our photo shoots is, of course, our "very photogenic" Sal del Mar. At our photo shoots we love to get our creative juices going on how we are going to tell a story around our photograph. We chose an easy subject for this shoot...asparagus. It is such a natural subject with its regal look...their purplish plumes and stalks of vivid green.  

After the photo shoot, we made Ina Garden's recipe. because there's no better way that baking  them in the oven, instead of blanching them in water which diminshes  some of their flavor. 

INA GARDEN ASPARAGUS RECIPE

2 1/2 pounds fresh asparagus  
2 tablespoons good olive oil
1/2 teaspoon Sal del Mar gourmet sea salt (of course)
1/4 teaspoon ground black pepper
1/2 cup fresh grated Parmesan cheese
2 lemons, cut in wedges

If the stalks of the asparagus are thick, peel the bottom 1/2 of each.
Lay them in a single layer on a sheet pan and drizzle with olive oil.
Sprinkle with salt and pepper.
Roast in a 400 oven for 15 to 20 minutes, until tender.
Sprinkle with the Parmesan and return to the oven for another minute.
Serve with lemon wedges.
  

The Sal de Margarita spirit

We love every one of our Sal del Mar bags that we have designed over the past six years since we started Sal del Mar. Each of our bag designs have been hand-embroidered by a group of women in the small village in the Sierra Madre, Occidental, Mexico who benefit from the sale of Sal del Mar. What is amazing is that no matter how many they make, each one has been embroidered with special care and displays their artistic talent and craftsmanship.  The detail and colors are so exquisitely done. We think it captures “the margarita spirit.” 

We celebrate our Sal de Margarita... and on Monday celebrate National Margarita Day! 

Just nuts

I've decided that the perfect snack to take to the Super Bowl Party next week is bar nuts. Of course they will be coated with lots of Sal del Mar. I found the recipe in the "Genius Recipes" cookbook. The flavor is not sugary or spicy .. and it is simple to make. You won't want to buy the already salted nuts again. 

Recipe from "Genius Recipes" and the Union Square Cafe

1/4 pound peeled peanuts, cashews, Brazil nuts, hazelnuts, walnuts, pecans, and whole unpeeled almonds or 1 1/4 pound unsalted assorted nuts

2 tablespoons coarsely chopped fresh rosemary

1/2 teaspoon cayenne pepper

2 teaspoons dark brown sugar

2 teaspoons Sal del Mar

1 tablespoon butter, melted

Preheat oven to 350. Toss the nuts in a large bowl to combine and spread them out on a cookie sheet. Toast in the oven until they become light golden brown, about 10 minutes. In a large bowl combine the rosemary, cayenne, brown sugar, Sal del Mar and melted butter. Thoroughly toss the warm toasted nuts with the spiced butter, adjust seasoning to taste and serve warm.

Tweaking a Bloody Mary

There are all kinds of recipes for making a Bloody Mary, but don't forget the salt. Salting the rim makes the flavors pop. Without it, you can produce a tasty creation... but salting the rim will make it drop-dead delicious.

There are many things to learn about using salt to enhance your drink, but one of the most important considerations is the texture. Sal del Mar's coarse crystals let the flavor linger on the tongue and also add a little crunch. The crystals also have a dampness that allows them to cling to the rim of the glass so that you don't get the salt sliding down the edge of the glass as with some of the refined salts.

SALTY TIPS:

To tweak the classic Bloody Mary, mix a medium-grind of pepper with Sal del Mar sea salt. Spread the mixture on a small plate.

Moisten the edge of the glass just half way around the top edge by running a lime slice around the rim.

Press the rim of the glass into the Sal del Mar/pepper mixture to crust the rim. Shake off any access.

Allow the salt/pepper to air dry a few minutes before filling to ensure that the salt mixture lightly flakes off with each sip.

A winter cocktail

We recently had a photo shoot with photographer Amy Haskell and stylist Paula Hamilton to capture a cooler months approach to our cocktail and food recipes as Winter approaches.  One of our first shots was a tequila cocktail, a very simple cocktail, of an añejo tequila. Añejo tequila has been aged for at least a year in small oak barrels. The more time it is aged, the smoother the texture. It is a classic drink that is sipped and is the spirit of conviviality. 

Behind the scenes was the job of creating a setting of comforting warmth and we feel Amy and Paula "nailed it."  The tequila cocktail glows with a warmth radiating from it, thanks to Amy's use of light. Paula, who has an uncanny eye for the right prop, took a painting off the wall of her studio... and it set the scene of a Winter Cocktail. 

All that is needed is to stoke the fire, gather friends, and give a toast.