Avocados – they’re so amazing we have a THREE DAY festival in their honor

Avocados. I’m fairly certain if you don’t like them you have to turn in your California card. Luckily, we don’t have that problem in our house.  No rain this week – matter of fact, we’re back up into triple digits… so when E suggested the Avocado Festival, it was another HELL YEAH moment. A) food fest, B) beach, C) FOOD FEST!

I didn’t realize it at the time he proposed the idea but E just wanted to eat from the world’s largest bowl of guacamole. Or swim in it like Juli and I did at the sprinkle pool. It wasn’t even on display! It could have been a Tupeprware container for all we knew.  Seriously? If you’re going to advertise the WORLD’S LARGEST BOWL OF GUACAMOLE, have it on display, people!  He settled for chips and guac instead which was yummy and plentiful.

It’s usually sweets that get me excited, especially since I’m not big on chips – so I opted for a cone of the avocado mango sorbet. Ice cream? No brainer. Good choice because it was seriously YUMMY!

My AWESOME new shirt from our Huy Fong day. Saw LOTS of people wearing sriracha shirts at the fest! Nothing but love for guac and cock (sauce).

Avocados have been in short supply lately (#thanksglobalwarming) so it was nice to see them guaced, spread, deep fried,  baked, frozen and of course as a photo-op.  The varieties were amazing and the ones as big as our hands, wow!  In the markets they basically have bumpy and smooth (yes, I know they have REAL names) and Lord knows we’ve never been able to grow an avocado tree – so seeing so many different kinds was awesome.

 

 

Looks kind of Veggie Tales-ish – half expected it to start playing the Hairbrush song.

We got about 8,500 steps in, learned a bunch about avocados, and E scored a case of chips. They’re quinoa chips, but still.  I even treated myself to this necklace, customized for (some of) my obsessions. I just need to find an awesome llama charm. Not bad for a Sunday.

Until next time Avo Fest – Stay Golden, California!

 

It’s about to get spicy around here

Eric & I have a thing for food tours. We’ve been to Ben & Jerry’s in Vermont. The fortune cookie factory in a sketchy alley in San Fran. Beecher’s cheese at Pike Place and Eli’s Chresecakes in Chicago. Coca Cola in Atlanta. Dr. Pepper in Waco. Coor’s in Colorado. Ethel M & Hershey’s? Check and check. Tequila & rum distilleries. Yes, those, too. (Of course!) and not 1 but TWO Jelly Belly factories.

So, to have the sriracha factory 30 minutes away from us… no brainer! Once a year, Huy Fong opens up their factory and welcomes spicy lovers in to burn their mucous membranes and see where the magic happens.

We’ve been before. In 2014, shortly after Anthony left for college we took the tweedles. Anthony’s response? “Why do you wait for me to leave to do cool stuff?” Ummm we did cool stuff throughout your childhood! I have the scrapbooks to prove it!

So, now that Big is home, we decided to go back for Chili Grinding.

First things first, don these attractive red hairnets. Anthony was obsessed with the giant blow up bottles and could not understand why I didn’t want one living in my house. Yes son, your room still constitutes IN MY HOUSE.

This year, David Tran, founder and chili guru was greeting guests! Better than taking a pic with his cardboard cutout.

The factory is insanely clean. I’d like to think all factories are this clean, but yeah. Probably not.

It’s annual chili grinding time so I grabbed a Kleenex and off we went.

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I passed on the chili and opted for sriracha ice cream instead. YUM!

Anthony dipped into his bag of snacks – popcorn, chips, and jerky. Then immediately to the complimentary bottle of water. LOL

They may not make tear gas, but this stuff can still bring tears to your eyes. 

Huy Fong has THE best gift shop filled with questionably appropriate apparel! I picked up a new Awesome Sauce T-shirt and grabbed some stuff for the tweedles. Anthony was still jonesing for the giant inflatable bottle. NO. Then he saw this sweatshirt…

Me: You’ll never wear it.

Random stranger: Yes he will and then you’ll regret knowing him.

Me: Too late.

Before leaving, Huy Fong hooked us up with free hats, shirts, and bottles of sauce. Pretty awesome way to celebrate the Year of the Rooster!

Who are we kidding? It’s always the Year of the Rooster when you’re cock sauce lovers.

Pumpkin Spice EVERYTHING

 I’ll admit it, I’m THAT white girl.

Leggings. SUV. UGGs. Little dog in my purse. And the second they start hitting stores, PUMPKIN SPICE EVERYTHING!

Eric can’t stand pumpkin anything. But me, I crave it year-round.

Creamer. Ice cream. Baked goods. Milkshakes. Beer. Bring it on! And the pie… OMG PIE! I don’t like pie crust so I’ve been known to sit down and devour all the filling with a can of ReddiWhip. Or better yet, Cheesecake Factory’s amazing fall only pumpkin pecan cheesecake. Seriously, heaven on a plate.

I even made the big guy take me for pumpkin pancakes at Corky’s Sunday to officially start the season. And the first pumpkin pie milkshake? That happened weeks ago when I was on my way back from Sadness.

So when we were binging at Target last night for date night (it’s our thing, don’t judge), I might have actually squealed when I put these in the cart. E just rolled his eyes.

So how were they?

So what else have I discovered?

• Noosa pumpkin yoghurt 😙
• Hershey pumpkin kisses 😍
• Starbucks pumpkin scones 😍
• International Delights Sugar Free creamer 😀
• Dairy Queen pumpkin pie blizzard 😍
• Costco pumpkin streusel muffins 😍
• Pumpkin Cheerios 😙

I’ve also discovered that there are some really good copycat recipes for the Starbucks scones out there. Check out http://damndelicious.net/2013/12/04/starbucks-pumpkin-scones-copycat-recipe/. They’re super easy to make, as in, EVEN I CAN DO IT. Now, you can enjoy pumpkiny goodness year-round!

So go be THAT girl and partake in all the pumpkin goodness you can find before they’re replaced with peppermint flavored everything and those nasty conversation hearts – but that’s a post for another day.