Fire Blogging Comfort Food, Escondido Style
A couple of minutes before noon I was struck with a compelling for something I rarely eat. Guacamole.
Guac and a glass of fresh squozed orange juice sounds particularly yummy today as smoke from the Witch Creek fire gets dispersed out over the sunny Oceanside coast.
So off I went to my favorite abandoned grove, ruck held in place casually by a single strap. Senor Perro leading, stopping to spy a couple of fat and (and to his discerning eyes, "tasty") yellow belly ground squirrels darting in and out of their fire proof dens on the edge of the grove. I sorted through a dozen Haas avocados blown to th floor of the grove by the recent Santa Anas and the winds of the Witch Creek fire before settling on two plump specimens, ripe enough to strain their hard skins. I dropped them into my ruck, and started trudging home, Sr. Perro sneezing ahead at the end of his 12 foot leash.
Our next-to last stop was a heavily burdened Valencia orange tree down on the street at the base of my hill. I yanked six big oranges, dropping them carefully in with the 'cados. We had one more stop to make, in the remains of my garden which has two evilly ripe peppers still attached to the bush.
Then onward to the house where I mushed up the two avocados, minced some onion and a slice of fresh chili pepper, and drizzled the juice of about one half of a Mexican lime from my neighbor's tree. then smash it all up it all up in a Mexican Terracotta soup bowl with a fork and season it with two generous pinches of garlic salt and white pepper and I let it age while I juice the six oranges and then pour 12 ounces of fresh squozed goodness into my iced mug, and start my Sunday film fest of Late For Dinner, Amazing Grace and Eurotrip.
Damn, this is some great guacamole and there's nothing better than fresh orange juice from oranges that someone else grew.
Life is pretty fine, here on my little mountain top in rural Northern San Diego County. Firestorm smoked Haas avocados. Yum yum--Jim Forbes--10/28/2007
Comments