Salinas, CA
One of the reasons we love it here in central coast CA
is the abundance of fresh produce.
Now that life has opened up a bit,
some of the produce festivals have begun again.
One I haven't attended since the 80's is the Artichoke Festival.
The nearby town of Castroville is the artichoke capital of the world.
The warm days and cool, foggy nights make it ideal for growing.
The festival has gotten so well attended,
that they moved it to the Monterey fairgrounds years ago.
George and I set off and paid our $10 each senior entrance fee.
We also paid $25 each fee for wine tasting..
more about that later.
we saw the artichoke mascot walking around..
that had some great lettuce,
asparagus, artichokes (of course!),
and a lot of other local produce.
we picked the brain of the local grower.
Ours did great this first year,
each giving us about 4 chokes.
but alas, the wine wasn't very good.
What a waste of $50!
I didn't even take pictures.
None of the wineries pouring were from
the local appellation.
(Appellation is a geographical area primarily used to
identify where the grapes for a wine are grown)
After being disappointed in that building,
George walked around looking at the old cars
that were on display..
which was all things artichoke.
I had an artichoke burrito,
while George had an artichoke sausage sandwich.
They were both delicious!
Towards the end of day we sat
and listened to a band that was playing.
They were awfully loud,
and not all that good :-)
It was fun to enjoy the festival again!
Thursday we got to enjoy going to Hahn
with our friends Greg & Connie again.
Greg has been recovering from open heart surgery,
and a terrible bout of sepsis that he got in the hospital.
We have spent some time with them in the last 3 months,
but his mobility has been an issue.
Our garden is doing fabulous!
George planted zucchini,
and we've been harvesting those a lot!
I found a great Keto bread recipe,
and it turned out great!
my first try at them,
and they are doing wonderfully as well.
that are doing great as well.
Life is good here in California!