AVOCADO HEAVEN BY THE SEA
by Bonnie Carroll

Linden Street in Carpenteria rocked as literally thousands of visitors strolled from booth to booth enjoying every kind of avocado concoction known to man, and a few more. The live bands who entertained were “awesome,” according to the kids who danced and applauded with approval.McConnell’s Ice Cream designed a green avocado ice cream for the occasion, and the Carpenteria High School cheerleading squad mixed up huge vats of guacamole for consumption. My favorite was a shrimp and avocado cocktail with sauce. I can’t believe I ate three of them!

The celebration also attracted vendors who sold scented candles, western hats, the farm growers organizations, a collection of numerous vendors selling avocado decorated items, including earings, and oven mitts. Locals all were there with their families, while enjoying dinner, refreshments and mingling with friends. Local radio stations held contests, and the Sheriff’s Department was present to keep things orderly. This is an event not to miss.

For the 2006 schedule see www.CarpenteriaChamberofCommerce.com.

NUTZ4SOUP FOR THE HOLIDAYS
Say I Love You With Home-Made Soups, Sauces & Dips This Holiday Season

The hottest new company in Los Angeles is Nutz4Soup, selling products at specialty markets and online, featuring a soup of the month club, and offering a variety of the most authentic and healthy tasting soups and other products that can be sent to family and friends throughout the country. Delicious soups, the kind you may not have tasted since visiting your grandma's house as a child, can be a gift of love during the holidays or anytime. Not only are these recipes filling and delicious, but they come with authenticated nutritional values on the package, that validate things like low calorie, low or reduced fat, zero cholesterol, low or reduced sodium and absolutely free of emulsifiers, stabilizers, preservatives or artificial ingredients. The gourmet frozen soups, appetizers, dips and sauces all provide exceptional nutritional content and flavorful ingredient combinations that are the cornerstone of every Nutz4Soup product.

Additional taste sensations by the innovative new company include thirteen hour spaghetti sauce, caponata, sun dried tomato pesto sauce, kalamata olive tapenade, caponata; a savory cream cheese and dip collection of roasted red pepper, Venetian vegetable, lemon curry and cilantro wildfire. Susan Hegel and her husband have spent years developing their delicious and healthy recipes, and the couple says "we get a warm feeling when orders come in from customer to ship our soup to their relatives and friends who are feeling under the weather."

NUTZ4SOUP RECIPES INCLUDE:

• Buddha's lentil, a middle-east flavor
• Kauai karrot, with fresh coconut, ginger and pineapple
• Champagne broccoli is delicious with shredded low-fat cheddar cheese
• Wild mushroom artichoke can be used as a flavorful liquid for mashed potatoes
• Xtreme vegetable is filled with fresh locally grown vegetables
• O u beautiful dahl is a combination of lentils, vegetables, herbs and spices
• Marvelous mushroom with wild rice, mushrooms, vegetables and rice in chicken broth
• Zinfandel bean, cranberry, cannelloni beans in red zinfandel wine
• Lavender potato, delicious served hot or as a cold vichyssoise
• Carrot beet ginger, perfect for the beet lover in all of us; try with a dollop of sour cream
• Coral tomato, delicious alone or served over orange roughy
• Roasted butternut squash, slow roasting intensifies the natural sweetness; great sauce over halibut
• Pretty bean soup, six beans bathing in a saffron broth
• Eight lilies onion soup, best onion soup on the planet; serve with French bread and gruyere

Join the Nutz4soup-of-the-month club provides members with 4 pints of soup each month, at a considerable savings, with shipping and handling fees included. For orders or additional information please visit www.Nutz4Soup.com or call 888.700.SOUP.

After the holiday blues?

Recent research on Chromium proves to be the meat of the subject in this great new book on depression.