My Salsa Makes All the Pretty Girls Want to Dance and Take Off Their Underpants

So kind folks, I have another entry into my weekend holiday cooking extravaganza. To start with, I put together an adorably festive grilled pineapple salsa (served in a hollowed out pineapple) for my aunts work party.
Recipe:
Red onion
Fresh pineapple
Jalapeno
Lime (this past time I used 2)
Cilantro

I cut the pineapple into large chucks. Initially when I tried this recipe, it told me to cut the pineapple into rings, but I found this to be a pain in the butt and got a better result by, after removing the rind (or peel or whatever you call it) cutting the pineapple around the core into long wedges. I encountered a similar problem with the onion initially when I tried cutting it into 1” rings and they would fall apart on the grill, so this time around I cut then in half and put a small cut into the round side of the onion so it would stand up and I could grill both sides. Grill both the onion and pineapple until you get a nice char on them.
Give the pineapple and onion time to cool enough to handle. Chop them up with the jalapeño, and cilantro. Top with enough lime juice to coat all the ingredients. And salt and pepper.

The hollowed pineapple half is really a very Martha-esc flourish but it was for my aunts work BBQ and I thought why not (plus it looks pretty in the picture). In addition, while I normally leave the salsa a little chunkier for things like steak and the like, I decided to chop it up a little more for eating with chips. In a related note, I tried to chop it up with one of those AS SEEN ON TV chopping devices. When it failed miserably, I attempted to spread it out on the cutting board and try again only to take to it with a knife in frustration. This just goes to show that while the world of culinary gadgets is fun and excited 9 times out of 10 you’re better off just learning your knife skills.

I also endeavored to make an ice cream cake for my mother and sisters birthday. Two big things came out of this:
1. I made my first angel food cake from scratch. My aunt begged and pleaded for me not to as in her mind it’s more trouble then its worth and your better off just buying a mix or already prepared cake. I tried to set her straight. I was determined to make it from scratch. Prove my culinary talents. And….she’s totally right. What a pain in the ass. As with all things I figure you should try everything once just to prove to yourself that you can, but after that….Pilsbury my friend.

2. Those minimum freezing times they suggest are kindof important. You see, the cake was in layers (angel food, then a layer of vanilla ice cream, then raspberry sorbet, then peach sorbet then more angel food cake…nom) and to assemble you had to put on a layer, then let it freeze for an hour (or two hours for the sorbets). Now this is more important then I thought for achieving that crisp line when you cut and serve it. So mine ended up looking a lot like a sand sculpture you made when you were in school.
As for the family of critics, I played this off as an artistic decision with a note for next time