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Mango Salsa Recipe

Prep time: 10 minutes

For some variations to this recipe fold in a cup of either some finely diced cucumber, red bell pepper, or jicama. It’s also great with avocado!

It will be easier to dice a mango that is still a bit firm, ripe, but not soft.

Ingredients 1 ripe mango, peeled, pitted, and finely diced (about 1 1/2 cup) (See: How to Cut a Mango) 2 Tbsp finely chopped red onion 1/2 Jalapeño chile, minced (less or more to taste, make sure to actually taste the chile first, some of them can be quite hot!) 3 Tbsp fresh cilantro leaves, chopped 3 Tbsp fresh lime juice Salt and pepper to taste

Method

Put the dice mango, red onion, jalapeño and cilantro in a medium bowl. Toss with lime juice and add salt and pepper to taste. If the salsa is too acidic for you, sprinkle with a little sugar and/or stir in some diced avocado.

Serve with fish, steak, tacos, or tortilla chips!

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Links:

Fresh tomato salsa fresca

Mango Salsa with Red Bell Pepperfrom Kalyn’s Kitchen

Applesauce Spice Cake Recipe

Prep time: 10 minutes Cook time: 40 minutes Yield: Serves 6 to 8.

Ingredients 1/2 cup (1 stick) unsalted butter, room temperature 2 cups all-purpose flour 1 teaspoon baking soda 1 teaspoon cinnamon 1/2 teaspoon ground allspice 1/2 teaspoon grated nutmeg 1/4 teaspoon ground cloves 1/2 teaspoon salt 1 cup sugar 3 large eggs 1/2 teaspoon vanilla 1 cup applesauce 1/4 cup plain yogurt diluted a bit with milk, or 1/4 cup of buttermilk 1/2 cup of chopped walnuts 1/2 cup raisins

Method

1 Preheat oven to 375°F. Butter and flour an 8-in square baking pan, set aside.

2 Sift together the flour, baking soda, cinnamon, allspice, nutmeg, cloves, and salt. Set aside.

3 In an electric mixer, beat butter until light, add sugar and beat until fluffy. Add the eggs, one at a time, beating to incorporate after each addition. Add the vanilla and the applesauce and beat until smooth.

4 Mix in half of the dry ingredients. Just before they are blended, add the thinned yogurt (or buttermilk). Then mix in the rest of the dry ingredients and the nuts and raisins, until completely incorporated. Do not over-mix.

5 Pour out the batter into your prepared cake pan. Place in the middle rack of the 375°F oven and bake for 25-30 minutes, until done. The cake should spring back to the touch, and a toothpick or thin skewer should come out clean after being inserted in various spots in the middle of the cake. Remove the cake from the oven. Let cool for 15 minutes. Then invert to cool completely on a rack.

Hello! All photos and content are copyright protected. Please do not use our photos without prior written permission. If you wish to republish this recipe, please rewrite the recipe in your own unique words and link back to the source recipe here on Simply Recipes. Thank you!

Recipe adapted from Kitchen Senseby Mitchell Davis.

Finding a dream engagement ring at the very best price needs understanding of cut, colour, clarity and carat. Photograph: /Reuters

Argos typically sells almost 200% more diamond rings in the run-up to Christmas compared with Valentine’s Day, with sales reaching a high for the year on 24 December.

Jewellery buying manager, Alice Rigby said: “Despite the tradition of going on bended knee on 14 February, we see far more sales of diamond rings during the festive season. Many customers, men in particular, get panicked the closer it gets to Christmas. The more under pressure they are to find the perfect present, the more cash they will spend – and what better surprise on Christmas morning than to open a box containing a beautiful sparkling rock.”

But before men (we’ll stick with tradition for this article) get down on one knee, they need to figure out what kind of engagement ring they’ll be proffering and how much they have to spend.

Experts say those popping the question don’t necessarily need to spend more to get bigger diamonds or more impressive jewellery, they just need to know a few tricks of the trade.

Alastair Smith, a Briton living in Sydney, spent six months researching the market to make sure he got his now-wife’s dream ring at the very best price. He’s written a book about his search.

How To Buy An Engagement Ring explains what kind of retailers men should approach, how to save thousands of pounds on diamonds, and how to get the exact diamond you want.

“Most men like to think they know their partner pretty well, but the reality is that guys often get it wrong when it comes to engagement rings,” says Smith, “The jewellery industry doesn’t offer a centralised place for impartial information, meaning that men end up repeating the same mistakes as millions before them. Buying an engagement ring has changed, and there are thousands to be saved if you know what to look for and where to find it.”

Before you start diamond shopping you need to understand the “4Cs”: cut, colour, clarity and carat. Each diamond is priced individually according to the mix of the 4Cs. Online jewellers BlueNile.com has a useful pricing matrix which shows the effect that tweaking the 4Cs has on price – the prices shown below are taken from this matrix.

Smith says this is most important. “Cut is the defining factor for how much a stone sparkles and a well-cut stone will look larger, hide flaws and be more brilliant than a poorly cut one,” he says. “Go for the very best you can afford.”

His view is backed up by Vashi Dominguez, TV diamond expert and founder of Vashi.com. “A better cut means more sparkle,” he says. “If you’re on a limited budget, focus on getting the best cut for your money.”

Diamond cut is normally ranked excellent, very good, good, fair, or poor. Some retailers will have their own “signature cut” grading level above excellent.

Price difference: Assuming a 1 carat round diamond, G colour and VSI clarity, a “signature ideal” cut at BlueNile.com would cost between £6,700 and £7,400, while a “good” cut would cost between £3,800 and £7,700.

The colour of diamonds ranges from D to Z. D is fully colourless so the best and rarest, but only a diamond expert can tell the difference between a D and G colour diamond, so those on a tight budget should opt for a G or H.

Price difference: Assuming a 1 carat round diamond and a very good cut, a D colour diamond would cost about £5,400 to £9,400, while a H would be about £4,000 to £6,000.

This refers to blemishes and inclusions and each diamond will have a clarity rating. FL is flawless (and expensive), IF is internally flawless, and there are then various grades of “inclusions” from VVSI (very very slightly included) to I3 (eye-visible inclusions).

“For the best deal, look at SI1 or SI2 (slightly included) diamonds. Your fiance isn’t going to study it under a magnifying glass and most inclusions will only be visible to experts,” says Dominguez.

Price difference: Assuming a 1 carat round diamond, G colour and very good cut, an SI2 would cost £3,000 to £6,200 while an IF would set you back £6,000 to £11,000.

There’s money to be saved by dipping below a round number. For example, opt for a 0.95 carat diamond rather than 1 carat. This is known as “buying shy”.

“Jewellers know that people are much more likely to buy a one carat diamond than a stone that comes in just under,” says Smith. “Nice round numbers are known as ‘magic numbers’, but by dipping just below them you can make big savings with very little noticeable difference to how big the stone looks.”

Price difference: Assuming G colour, very good cut and VS2 clarity, an exact 1 carat diamond would cost £4,400 to £5,700, while a 0.9 carat diamond would cost between £3,100 and £4,300.

As well as a diamond, ring-buyers also need to think about ring metal. Platinum tends to be most expensive but high quality white gold can give the same glamorous aesthetic more cheaply. Bear in mind that most people opt for the same ring metal for their wedding ring, so you might want to subtly find out your intended’s preferences.

The experts agree that anyone buying an engagement ring should give high street jewellers a miss and go online instead.

As with other online retailers, internet-only jewellers can offer cheaper deals as they avoid the overheads associated with running a shop. Make sure you shop around and only buy from a company with a good reputation and excellent, authentic reviews.

As well as saving up to 80% of the cost of a diamond, shopping online at certain sites allows buyers to match up the exact combination of the 4Cs that they want.

“Online has completely changed the diamond industry, as people now have their pick from hundreds of thousands of diamonds and rings, rather than just the handful that their local jeweller stocks,” says Smith, “Going online gives guys access to the best choice and the best prices.”

Smith eventually bought his fiancé’s ring at BlueNile.com. Other online retailers he recommends include EnchantedDiamonds.com, JamesAllen.com, Ritani.com and Vashi.com.

If you’re on a really tight budget you can give diamonds the swerve altogether and opt for an alternative stone such as a sapphire or zircon. Alternatively check with your relatives to see if there are any heirlooms waiting to be passed down. Not only is this option potentially free but jewellery with history can be much more meaningful and significant.

For more information go to howtobuyanengagementring.com