The nut capitol of the world

A little less than an hour from here, midway between El Paso and Ruidoso, is a tiny little community called Deming, NM. Should you ever drive through it, you will know it by the giant pistachio outside of the only store in town. If that isn't enough to tip you off, I'll just let you know, Deming is basically the nut capitol of the world, as far as I can tell anyhow.

I have known for a while about their delicious local pistachios, and have even driven through the part of the area with pistachio groves on both sides of the road. I always seem to miss the harvests, but end up getting a few of the fresh pistachios from friends or in stores here, when they are just newly roasted. They taste amazing, way better than the usual ones you buy in the stores.

I got something else out of Deming today, though. In the parking lot of the shopping center about five blocks from my house, a van was set up with big signs that read "Pinones". For those who do not know what pinones (pronounced "pin-yon-eys") are, they are pine nuts, an important and hard to find ingredient in many dishes, especially pesto. I stopped to have a look, because my basil plants are getting huge, and I was waiting for the pinones van to come back this year before I picked my basil to make pesto. The pinones van came back a few weeks ago, but I didn't have the money to get any when they were there, and on payday, they were gone. Then today they came back!! It was about to rain, so I had to get there fast before they left, but I made it, and I scored a very decent sized bag of locally grown pinones for $10.

If Thak will agree to it, I'm going to buy more of them because we'll probably be gone by the time the pinones van comes back to our city next year. If they're there tomorrow, I may stop again and get some more, just because it's better than buying in the store... Plus, I've kind of got this thing about supporting local farmers by buying directly from them at retail prices. Must remember to get fresh pistachios in a couple months when they're harvested, too. That would be something to sent back home. (Pssst! Relatives, be looking for a package that makes a nice maraca style noise when you shake it, sometime September timeframe. It will be some fresh pistachios from New Mexico!)