I am currently in the middle of a steamy hot love affair…

With avocado.

I have always liked avocado. Guacamole has always been one of my favorite dips. I always like adding avocado to salads and then there is avocado toast. Oh my heavens avocado toast. Don’t even get me started.

I even shell out the extra money at restaurants to get avocado added to my burger, salad or sandwich. Hear that servers: you will always get the avocado upsell on me. I just love it.

This love affair makes it even more odd that I am just now seeing it as an ingredient I can add to just about everything. Take this sandwich for instance, the avocado gives it so much creaminess and richness that I just may say goodbye to mayo in my chicken salad sandwiches forever. After you try it, my guess is you will too.

I know I can’t be the only person who craves certain things on hot days and other things on cold days. When the sun is shining and temperatures are rising I want something light. Something like a salad. Or grilled shrimp tacos. Or guacamole.

And a Corona. Always a Corona.

When it is cold it’s a different story. I want mashed potatoes. I want gravy. I want fried chicken and green beans. That is why spring is a difficult time for me. Take Monday for instance, it was so dark I had to turn on the light at 1:30 in the afternoon. Then it started raining sideways. Then by 6:00 the sky was blue and the sun was out. But by then it was too late, I had been trying to get warm and cozy all day and this tummy warming dinner was already in the oven.

Not that I regret it though. I mean this casserole is good. Stick to your ribs good. And there are tater tots on top. Really, it can’t get much better.

• oh oh oh I also got this beautiful and oh so comfy dress, in Grenadine Guilloché, as a gift from Kellan and Ryan. Seriously I do not know why I am just now discovering Athleta, every item is beyond comfortable. I also bought this skirt in Electric Purple recently and between the dress I got today and this skirt I know what I am going to wear every day this summer.
• Now that we’re in the middle of May, many of the TV shows have ended or are a week or so away from their season finales. I am one of those people who think that they should have ended the Office when Steve Carell left. I also thought the show this season was a little meh, however the last few episodes have actually been pretty good. Now that the writers have stopped messing with Jim and Pam and we’ve been seeing flashbacks of their romance on the show, I am realizing that I am going to miss my dose of Dunder Mifflin shenanigans on Thursday nights. How about you?
• When Ryan and I were at the nursery picking out flowers for a garden we also looked at some witch hazel trees. I’m thinking I would really like one because of their beautiful fall color. Does anyone have any experience with them? Is there a variety you recommend?
• Remember on Friday when I talked about Kellan’s sophisticated palate? I’m going to add edamame to the list. Last night when Ryan made us stirfry he made some edamame to go with it. Kellan ate pretty much the whole bag on his own. We couldn’t shell them fast enough for him. Too cute!
• I don’t own or buy a lot of specialized kitchen tools because I don’t have a lot of place to store them but am I glad I could make room for the OXO 3 -in-1 Avocado slicer that I got in my Big Traveling Potluck swag bag. Holy usefulness Batman! It pits, slices and scoops out the avocado. And when I say scoops out, I mean there is not any avocado left in the skin. If you love avocados like me, you want this in your kitchen.

I’m not going to lie, after we first gave Kellan solids, I was a little worried that he was not going to like anything. In the beginning he didn’t.

Not even a little bit.

But I didn’t give up. I continued to give him avocado. Corn. Black beans. Whatever it is that we were eating for dinner, I’d give him a little bit and cross my fingers. Slowly but surely he began to eat and a few interesting things emerged.

For one, Kellan loves quinoa and chicken curry. He doesn’t like string cheese but cannot get enough of freshly grated pecorino romano. And pepperoni pizza is OK but surprisingly, or not, this prosciutto and arugula pizza got a better response.

Maybe Kellan likes the salty prosciutto. Or maybe it’s the peppery arugula. Or the simple crushed tomato sauce.

Or maybe little dude got his mommy’s palate after all. Either way, this pizza is a winner. A blissfully simple winner.

What is it about breakfast in bed that makes it so much better than breakfast at the dining room table? It could be the pretty little tray. It could be the fact that the bed is so cozy. It could be that you can prop yourself up on your soft pillows while eating. Most likely though, it is the fact that someone took the time to make you breakfast in bed that makes it the best.

Last year on mother’s day I got breakfast in bed. It was nice. Wonderful actually. So wonderful it would be nice if it happened again.

Hint hint honey.

We eat nachos quite a bit. I have always been a fan of adding more than just your standard meat and cheese. I love to add fresh pico de gallo. Black beans. Corn. Jalapenos. Guacamole. For the meat, I would most often just use seasoned ground turkey and I thought all was fine and dandy.

Then I used chorzio.

Why I never thought to use chorizo on my nachos before is beyond me but it adds a wonderful spicy flavor that you just can’t get from turkey no matter how much you season it. For this reason I now always use chorizo when I make my nachos.

Except that time I tried using a jalapeno mango sausage. But let’s not talk about that. I don’t count that as a kitchen success.

At all.

But back to Cinco de Mayo goodness, I also top these nachos with a spicy chipotle avocado cream. With the avocados, spicy chipotle hot sauce, tangy lime and creamy yogurt, trust me when I say you need it in your life.

Speaking of avocados, have you all seen the new cookbook, Absolutely Avocados, released by Gaby Dalkin? Tell me you have. If you haven’t you need to. Like for reals. There 75 recipes using avocados. Recipes for breakfast, lunch, dinner and everything in between. Sounds amazing doesn’t it? Yeah, it is.

And because I think it’s so amazing and because I think everyone should have a copy in their kitchen I am giving away TWO copies today. All you need to do is leave a comment below telling me your favorite way to enjoy avocados.

Mine? With a spoon.

Giveaway Rules:

Giveaway ends Tuesday May 7 at 5pm PST.

US Residents Only.

Winners will be chosen at random.

I sponsored this giveaway. My opinions are my own.

These brownies were actually a spur of the moment creation. I needed a dessert for our Sunday dinner with friends a couple of weeks ago, and while I was rummaging through the pantry to try to find something, anything, to make I saw the container of cocoa and immediately thought brownies. Easy enough.

But while I was in the pantry I decided I needed a little snack so I decided to get myself an Oreo. I mean, really, why not?

As I was mixing together the brownies and munching on an Oreo, I had an epiphany.

OK maybe not an epiphany exactly. But I had the sudden urge to remove the creamy center and crush up the Oreo cookies and mix them in with my brownies.

So I did.

You’re welcome.

I have been to a couple of other food blogging conferences in the past. But this one was different. In a very good way. It was more about the community of people rather than the passing out of business cards and blogging techniques. Not that those things are bad, but this was a nice change of pace. One of my favorite quotes was from Chris from The Peche. He said, “I do not need your business card to remember you because after this, I will know you.”And he was right. No one was really concerned with promoting themselves, we were just interested in getting to know each other. And that is what made this conference great.

The Big Traveling Potluck was hosted by the lovely Maggie and Pam of Three Many Cooks and Erika from Ivory Hut. It was the first time the Big Potluck, which is usually held in Bucks County, PA,  had traveled to the West Coast. And boy am I glad it did.

The fun started on Friday evening with a lovely welcoming party where we dined on local food as well as food provided by the attendees. I made my Rosemary Cranberry Spread. There was hummus, caprese skewers, meatballs, salads, and strawberries.

Oh the strawberries. Perfectly sun ripened local strawberries, it doesn’t get much better.

Saturday we spent the whole day together listening to inspiring, thoughtful, hilarious and just plain wonderful speakers like Melissa, Matt, Lori, Helen, Barrett and Jeannie and Ree. Or Auntie Ree Ree as she is known to Kellan.  To say that these people are inspirational is an understatement.

And then there was the food. Of all the conferences I have been to, the BTP, hands down, had the best food. For breakfast there was an unbelievably good breakfast pizza with hummus. Who would’ve thought that hummus on pizza could be so good? I had two slices in between chasing Kellan around.

Lunch was provided by Whole Foods and was create your own bean and grain salad bar. There were so many choices and everything looked so good, I just started piling everything into my box. I started when quinoa and rice. and was going to do an Asian theme once I saw the sriracha and Thai turkey meatballs. But then there was chipotle cream and I couldn’t resist adding that. Then there was grilled asparagus and roasted red peppers. It was a smorgasbord of goodness. And I can’t wait to try to recreate it at home.

In the afternoon there was margaritas and also a guacamole challenge that was judged by who else but miss Gaby Dalkin. I mean after releasing her book, Absolutely Avocados, there is no doubt that this girl knows her guacamole. I keep hearing wonderful things about the goat cheese guacamole in her book, I might have to try that very soon.

Unfortunately, I missed the dinner hosted by the California Avocado Commission.  I got a wicked migraine because of the heat. I’m a PNW girl and I just don’t do well when it gets above 80. But let me tell you something, the people at this potluck are so unbelievably caring. There were people looking for medicine for me, getting me napkins with ice, getting me water and ultimately I got a ride back to the hotel with the lovely Jodi.

On the plus side, at dinner they raffled off a KitchenAid Mixer and guess who won? That’s right. Me! Yahoo! Thanks KitchenAid!

Finally, Sunday morning, I was feeling much better so there was no way I was going to miss another chance to hang out with my wonderful new friends over brunch. And what a brunch it was with an avocado toast bar. Let me say that again. Avocado. Toast. Bar. Oh my talk about heaven.

After a couple of hours of visiting with new friends, eating avocado toast and enjoying an unbelievable view, it was time to head out. I’m not gonna lie, I was a little sad.

It was simply an amazing weekend that gave me a new outlook on blogging and the community it creates. And let me tell you, I am beyond proud to be a part of the food blogging community.

I’ll miss my new friends but I am already looking forward to the next one.

I have been meaning to share this recipe for a while now. I initially made it and used it as a topping for meatloaf. I then made it again but used it a sauce for some short ribs. On each occasion I didn’t have a chance to take a picture before the meal was devoured. Good sign. Not so good for the blog though. Then I thought to myself, it’s easy enough to whip up why not just share the recipe for the BBQ sauce itself?

This is another recipe that was created for our Sunday night dinners with a good couple friend of ours. You see, they are huge fans of BBQ sauce. It’s their ketchup. They even like it on pizza. So needless to say, I was a little nervous to test out this sauce on them. But I didn’t need to be, during dinner they kept raving about it. And ever since they tried it on the meatloaf they have been asking me for the recipe. I’m taking that as a compliment.

This is called sriracha BBQ sauce because there is sriracha in it, but because I was feeding a friend who doesn’t like food too spicy and a toddler who also can’t handle the heat like is mama just yet, I just put in two teaspoons. If you want a bit more of a kick go for a full tablespoon.

• I posted a picture awhile back on Facebook showing a pizza I had made for our Friday night pizza nights. While people were interested in the pizza itself, I also got a lot of interest in the handle cover for my cast iron skillet. It was a spur of the moment purchase when we were in Phoenix but it is Le Cruset so you can buy it here. I bought red because my kitchen is red and turquoise but they have some other lovely colors too.
• Speaking of kitchen utensils and cast iron skillets, what is the one thing you could not live without in your kitchen? Right now it is my Lodge Seasoned Cast Iron skillet that I got for Christmas. I use it for everything. I cook bacon in it. Make grilled cheese sandwiches. Quesadillas. Steaks. Fried chicken. Like I said everything. I pretty much never put it away and it has a permanent spot on my stove.
• Let’s keep with the kitchenware topic. I am in LOVE with Fiestaware. I have a set of dishes in Scarlet and Turquoise that I got for my birthday and a set of knives in Scarlet that I got for Christmas. A lot of people who use Fiestaware like to use a mix match of colors for their dishes. Kind of a collect them all type of thing. When it comes to your dishes do you prefer to have a whole matching set or like the idea of mix and match?
• Kellan is saying more and more words each week. His vocabulary is expanding so quickly. It’s time to start watching what we say and I’ve even had to start spelling things so that he doesn’t know what I’m talking about. Like N-E-M-O. One mention of that word and we are sitting down to watch it. Again. Just keep swimming.