It's The Little Things

This is a question for the women who read this. All three of you.
What do you keep in your purse?
A wallet, sure. And in that wallet are credit cards, money and ID. I bet your keys are in your purse too. A hairbrush, some make-up, perhaps a phone. Anything else? Anything that you value?
If you keep anything at all that you value in your purse never, EVER hang said purse from the back of a chair when you are anywhere but home. It will eventually get stolen. Then you have to replace those things. AND whoever took your purse now has your home address and your keys. That's worse than having to replace all that stuff.
My mothers purse was stolen yesterday. Right off her chair. People saw him, but didn't realize what he was doing. Most of the stuff is replaceable. But (and here's where it gets kinda sad) the only hairbrush she had was in that purse. It was a really good hairbrush, the kind of thing you have for years. Of all the hairbrushes she has owned, this was her favorite. So when her purse was stolen she couldn't even brush her hair. Something so simple, so everyday. Her stolen purse interrupted her very basic daily life.
After she came home (my step-father and I took care of cards and keys) she and I went to get her, among other things, a new hairbrush. As soon as she got out of the store she ripped the brush out of it's packaging and brushed her hair. You could literally see her start to feel better. Reclaiming that little tiny part of her life made a difference. It was... moving to see it happen.


Salsa with Corn

1 ear sweet corn
2 large tomatoes
1 serrano pepper
1 smallish red onion
cilantro

Roast the corn (on the ear) after brushing lightly with olive oil. You can also put it under the broiler, but keep an eye on it. It will need to be turned a couple of times.
While the corn is roasting, chop the tomatoes into pieces smaller than a half inch. You can leave the skin and seeds in or not, whichever you prefer ( I like to leave them in).
Remove the seeds and membrane from the serrano pepper and discard them.
Dice the pepper finely. Be very careful not to touch either your eyes or your nose until you wash your hands very carefully).
Dice the red onion, again you want really small pieces.
After coming back to the kitchen after wiping your eyes from the onion fumes, start removing the stems from some cilantro.
You can add as much or as little as you like, but you don't want the stems. I recommend chopping the leaves a bit as well.
Mix all these things together and allow to sit so the flavors really mix.
If the corn is done by this time, remove it from the oven and allow it to cool. When it is cool enough to handle, remove it from the ear with a knife (or one of those nifty corn "zippers"). Allow the corn to cool completely before adding to the mixture. You can eat it right away, or put it in a sealed container and chill overnight. Serve with corn chips or heat it up and serve over chicken.
It's a great mix of spicy and sweet!

--Little Bird with a public service announcement