Avocado Quiz

Hey Avocado Fans -

Here are three California avocados - do you know what varieties they are?

Post your answer in the comments and I'll send a treat to the person who answers correctly first.

Hint - all three are in season NOW.

I can source these all on Fridays from a local rancher (and 2 are organic!) - so place an order by Thursday and they could be yours to try.

What's wrong with this avocado?

Would you buy this avocado? What's wrong with it? What's wrong with us?

These are kind of trick questions - because this is a Bacon variety - so actually, there is nothing wrong with this avocado. The blemish is from rubbing against the bark of the tree. Yes - its pretty extreme on this one; however, the blemish won't affect the quality of it's flesh - because avocados are ROCK HARD while on the tree. Plus - almost ALWAYS Bacon avocados will have some blemishes on them (usually much smaller - but because it is so thin skinned, they always blemish).

But this avocado will NEVER make it to market. In fact, a Bacon probably won't make it to market ever - even if were perfect - because it's not "in style". Bacon's are lighter in oil and not as highly desired as Hass (the kind you see 99% of the time in grocery stores). There's nothing wrong with a Hass. There's nothing wrong with this Bacon either.

So what's wrong with us - that we don't know enough about our food to know when a locally grown product is even good or not? I'm not blaming you -- I didn't really know until I started sourcing and buying avocados that there WERE all kinds of them. I thought they were all the same! But there are over 500 varieties of avocados in California - and probably over 1,000 world wide! Biodiversity is important - to life, to foods, to the bees, to the growers, to other insects, to how we eat, to life!

So -- what's wrong with this avocado? Would you buy it? Tell me why or why not.

Sigh and signed -- The Diva

New Recipe Alert - Tomatillo & Avocado Dip

Here's a link to a recipe that one of our "fans" sent it. Looks great. Send us your ideas or links about avocados. The Diva loves to hear from YOU!

Tomatillo & Avocado Dip Recipe

Note: The Diva would recommend a creamy avocado to make dips with. This includes: Hass, Lamb, Edrinol, Santana, Pinkerton and/or a Fuerte.

New Recipe Alert

Do you need some new ways to eat your avocados? So do we! Share your ideas and you could get posted AND win a free box of heritage avocados! We'd love that.

Today -- there is a NEW recipe -- go check it out here

If you want to receive our recipes and newsletters via email, please sign up on the website!

Don't forget to send us your recipes too or leave them in the comment section. (Be sure and LIKE us on FaceBook so we can get a hold of you to send you a prize if your recipe is used!)

What do John Wayne and Organic have in common?!?

What do John Wayne and organic avocados have in common? Read the Diva's blog to find out more...

Are ALL the Diva's avocados organic? The answer to that is no and sometimes. Let me explain. The Diva sources her avocados from several small farms and ranches all over Ventura County - in order to find what we lovingly call "heritage" or "heirloom" avocados. Some farms and ranches use pesticides, others don't, some - well... let me tell you a story...

Some of these old farmers have trees like none you have never seen before. These are not the "whussie" trees, all in straight lines, all trimmed to the same shape and size. No - these are "John Wayne" like ranchers. These guys have trees that are HUGE and OLD and no ranch hand in their RIGHT MIND would climb up the ladder to get the avocados -- these trees do NOT need any pesticides!

NO, these trees are MIGHTY GIANTS. Amazing trees with amazing fruit. So are they certified organic?! NO. John Wayne is NOT going to do all that fancy, schmancy red-tape, hoop jump'n.

Imagine you are with me -- as one "John Wayne" rancher spits tobacco juice near my foot, - he explains how he NEVER uses pesticides on "that there tree". "Don't need it. Never has, never will".

On a more serious note - we DO sell some certified organic product. Right now its summer, so we can get Certified Organic Hass and Lamb. Check out this link to order some for yourself. Or if you'd rather have some "John Wayne" styled "organic" - order the Edrinol. Some poor ranch hand will climb a HUGE ladder and get you some. No extra charge for the tobacco juice.

100 Face Book Friends = 100 Free Avocados!

THANKS to YOU - we reached 100+ friends in about 2 weeks! Thanks to YOU we have shipped out 44 orders already!

THANK YOU!

To celebrate - the Diva would like to give away a YEAR's worth of our "Avocado of the Month" club (we send out 6 x 12 = 72...Oh rats, the Diva is NOT that good at math...)

So I guess we better figure out a way to give away another (counting fingers here) -- 26, erm, I mean 28 avocados! (Can you guess that the Diva is blond?!)

So to celebrate FURTHER -- she will give away a free MONTH of avocados to the next 5 people who sign up for the "Diva of the Month club".

To get your goodies -- do this now!

a. Comment below to AUTOMATICALLY be entered into our YEAR of FREE avocado drawing! Make sure you are also a "friend" (like) our Avocado Diva page on FaceBook (so we can let you know if you win!)

b. If you want to get a FREE MONTH - go to www.avocadodiva.com and sign up for the Diva Club - and we'll REFUND your first month!*

Thanks again for all of your kind support! Please pass along this info and let's get eating some heritage avocados!

The Diva
www.avocadodiva.com

* Here's the fine print - you knew there had to be some...right?! But SOME of it is GOOD news! ... read on...
A. There is NO purchase required to enter the free YEAR contest (yeah!) - just comment below AND be a FB friend. (FaceBook link)
B. To get the FREE MONTH of Avocados, well - we need you to sign up and BUY a month - and stay with us for at least 3 months. We'll refund your third month. Requires you to sign up for the monthly Diva Club ($24.95, includes shipping!) - go here for all the info: Diva Club Details
C. The Diva would really appreciate it if you also sign up for this blog - but its not required. ;-)
D. We'll do the drawing and alert the winner (via FaceBook) on July 20, 2011.
E. Winner must be 18 - live in the USA . No substitutions or cash value. Just avocados. That's it.