Okay, it’s not really summer, but we did manage to have salsa and chips and a drink on the deck last night while the Big Guy manned the grill. The chilly breeze sent us back inside for dinner, but it was a start.

Maybe other people take out the chips and salsa all year long, but I associate it with summer and outside entertaining. Opening a jar of prepared salsa works, of course, but with a bit more effort, you can upgrade the contents of that jar to something special.

I like to start with a jar of Tostitos Medium Chunky Salsa. Adding corn kernels (fresh if it’s really summer, or defrosted frozen, if it’s May,) diced sweet onion, diced red, yellow, or orange bell peppers, and some chopped tomatoes turns that basic jar into something much more interesting.

We had grilled steak tips and vegetables on skewers last night, so prepping the peppers and onions to be threaded on the skewers provided the tops and trimmed ends that were tossed into the salsa.

That’s actually the trick with summer salsa. You get to use leftover corn, slices of tomato or sweet onion that didn’t make to to the hamburger, or the tops and bottoms of the peppers that were left when you cut even slices down the sides. Turning a little of this and a little of that into something good is always a bonus.

Now, all we need is summer weather!