Welcome Home

Doesn't this care package just shout, "CALIFORNIA!" to you?

A day or two after I returned from North Carolina, this package arrived from our friend Jeanne in SOCA. Her mother has a huge Fuerte avocado tree and she herself has oranges, Meyer lemons and limes in her yard - and they all produce 'way too much for two ladies, so they sometimes box up the extras and send them via USPS to us.

I can't think of a better way to be welcomed back to California. Well, maybe that's not quite true - Cora's wagging tail and My Beloved's kisses come higher on the list of delightful welcomes, but this comes in a very close third.

I supremed one of the oranges to make a citrus-and-avocado salad the first night it arrived. Very similar to grapefruit-and-avocado, only a little sweeter. I drizzled both with a little balsamic vinaigrette and that's all that was needed. Ingredients so fresh and beautiful don't need a lot of fussing.

It was a little disorienting to leave cold and light snow in the morning and be back in 50 degree weather by evening, to say nothing of the jet lag. But, as soon as I opened this box, I knew I was truly home.