Taking a break from my food history and writing about avocados. Why you may ask? I got an amazing package in the mail from a woman, Brenda Cusick, who calls herself the Avocado Diva. And that she is. She can give you so much information on avocados. It’s amazing. I never knew there were so many varieties of avocados.
My knowledge of avocados is pretty basic. I probably first had them in a Mexican restaurant in the form of guacamole. I’m familiar with Fuertes (not a favorite) and Hass (favorite). When we bought our house many decades ago, we acquired an avocado tree. Until we moved here and had a tree, I didn’t know that avocados have to be picked and put in paper bags to ripen. We kept waiting for them to ripen on the tree!
Lamb, Reed and Gem avocados
I heard about Brenda at the Ventura County Fair in the Agriculture Building from Kat Merrick of Totally Local VC but never got to meet the Avocado Diva. Totally Local VC promotes buying from and supporting our local community and our local farmers. I saw some really large avocados and some really small ones. I didn’t get to sample any however. Kat told me that there is one avocado that you can eat with the skin, too.
Then there was an event at the Petty Ranch to taste and buy local figs where I got to taste new varieties of figs, too. Brenda was there with her avocados and I finally met the Avocado Diva. I tasted some of her guacamole made from Gem avocados. Yes, a new type for me. Had never heard of it. Great avocado flavor. Nice texture and a bright green/yellow color.
We hooked up on Facebook, I received a box of her lovely avocados (picture is the bottom layer of the box) and now I’m writing a blog about her avocados. I have experienced the various types she sent me in different ways. Some with just salt, some with Italian dressing on them, some in a salad, some with wine. The Lamb avocados can be large as you can see.
The avocado Diva will send a box of avocados along with something like spices or a “finger lime” which I got. It’s small and finger shaped. You cut it and squeeze the little round balls of citrus out. They are caviar like! Bright citrus flavor that goes well with the avocados.
You get a lovely newsletter that tells you about the various avocados you received. She describes them so you can tell one from another and sometimes includes a photo. She includes instructions on how to ripen them as well. The avocados are heritage avocados and are all purchased from small farms and ranches along the Central California Coast.
These could be great business holiday gifts or a gift for a friend, family or even for yourself.
That’s the basics. Next blog will be about my experience with 4 different avocados: Walter Hole, Reed, Gem and Lamb. Yes, those are avocado varieties! Surprised me too.
What are your experiences with avocados? Do you like them? Did you, too, think they ripened on trees?
This caught my eye because I have begun to love avocados this year. We’re lucky – we have a tree. I used to put them in a paper bag, but now see that they ripen even if just left in a warmish environment. I like them simple: lime and mountain salt. But I’ve learned from Mexican friends how to guacamole them – and that’s a delicious treat! There are even more sophisticated recipes, but I haven’t got to that yet. Thanks for the blog, Julieanne. It gave me a chance to talk about a new Like in my life!…and to discover your website!
Thank you, Meenakshi. Stay tuned. I’ll be writing about eating those four varieties. Avocados are versatile. When you are ready to branch out, I can tell you about a 7 layer dip for chips. One layer is, of course, avocado! You can actually make a salad dressing with them too. It’s called an Avocado Green Goddess dressing.
I have been purchasing the ‘diva box’ from the Avocado Diva for the past year. And then for Christmas last year, I bought a monthly box for my mom. She’s shipped a box to Alaska every month. I’ve learned so much in the past year, and tried so many different varieties. The mexicolas are amazing…small and edible skins. For anyone who has ever scooped out the flesh of an avocado, this is an event. And wow, so awesome! My entire family all has their favorites. My daughter loves the Reeds and Bacons (those come out in January/February each year) and I tend to like them all. We’ve spent years buying those from the grocery store, half don’t even get properly ripe before going bad. I’m never disappointed when receiving my boxes from the Diva…it’s like Christmas, no matter the month. My finger lime I received last year inspired me to buy a finger lime house plant. And my mexicola experience last year inspired me to buy a potted mexicola tree to spend the summers outside and winter over in NJ home. My guacamole is the hit of every party I bring it to (the last party, 4 large avocados seriously lasted 12 minutes) and I have friends who are now Diva fans. I’m looking forward to reading about your experiences with your avocados. I’m sure your experience will be as amazing as my last year has been!
What a great testimonial for @avocadodiva. She will love it. I was very impressed with her packaging and the information she gives you. Thank you for all the great information too!
LOVE avocados! Always have 🙂
The California varieties are smaller than the ones I grew up with in Venezuela, but they’re all just wonderful. Nothing like having avocado in salads, or a shrimp/crab/lobster salad in an avocado half, or a lovely guacamole to dip or even to serve with a grilled steak. I love soups and slicing chunks of avocado in the soup is an extra treat!
Once while traveling in Brazil I tried an avocado shake (made from avocado ice cream) – can’t say I liked it at the time, but my then husband did 🙂
Such versatile fruit with so many benefits. Look forward to your experience with the 4 varieties.
Some of these varieties were quite big. The Reed looks like a large baseball. The lambs look like large Hass. And then there are the smaller ones. How big were the ones in Venezuela? Does anyone bring one when they visit? I ate 1/2 one with some raspberry balsamic in the center with salt. That’s it. Yummm. I might agree with you on the shake but my hubby made an avocado pie and it was really good if you get around the green color! LOL
The ones in Venezuela are like the ones you get here in Florida, so there’s no need to bring them (plus customs issues with bringing in fruit) – they’re about 2-2.5 lb each, some even larger than that, with a mild juicy flavor and very fleshy.
Avocado pie – hmmmmmm interesting!!!
One of my favourite food and last week at the market bought a very yummy creamy Reed avos. I used to have a tree in my yard when i lived in Sydney- was awesome I love then in soups and smoothies too
I’ve never had a Reed until now. And eating it with just salt and raspberry balsamic was divine. It’s so creamy. Chunks of avocado are good in tortilla soup too. Thanks for commenting.
I adore avocados and eat them on buttery toast all mushed up mmmm. I only get one at a time as they take so long to ripen then they all do at once lol!
Actually, these all ripeded at different times. I still have 3 in a bag in the frig. You can keep ripened avocados in the frig for a week or more. And I have a 1/2 of an reed and its’ still a beautiful yellow color and I put no lemon on it. When you get different ones, they ripen at different times and she tells you about different ways to ripen them as well! Thanks for commenting.