My mom used to drive down to San Diego every now and then to visit for a few days. Every time she came, she would bring a large box full of snacks and supplies.

One time, she brought with her a plastic container filled with homemade mango salsa. I was impressed. I had never known my mom to make any type of salsa, let alone fancy schmancy mango salsa. I thought it was pretty ambitious for a first stab at making salsa.

And it was delicious. I plowed through that salsa in like a day-and-a-half (which said a lot, because I’m not fan of corn chips).

When my mom saw how much I liked the salsa, she assured me that she could make more. Of course, I was like, “Yeah! I’ll take some more.”

So, she dug out a fresh mango from the box of supplies she had brought. Then she grabbed a cutting board, peeled the mango, and started dicing it.

Next, she grabbed a large mixing bowl and tossed in the diced mango. I was mesmerized. Then she once again reached into her box of supplies. And she pulled out …

An unopened jar of Pace Picante Sauce.

She opened the jar, emptied the contents over the mango, and mixed it all together. And that’s how my mom’s homemade mango salsa came to be.

It was ingenious. I mean, technically, it was homemade. She just came up with probably the most efficient way of making homemade mango salsa. I had to give her props for that.