I had read about the Fiery Food Show for at least the last five years. But every time I thought about going, it had already come and gone. This year I finally thought about it early enough to make plans and get there. It’s in Albuquerque and fortunately Thea’s sister and brother-in-law are there so we can stay with them. Thea downloaded the new Dresden novel, “12 Months” for the trip.
We drove out on Friday morning and got there with plenty of time to chitchat and relax with the relatives, pet the doggo, and go to the Indian buffet at Maharaja‘s
We got to the Sandia Casino at about 10:30 on Saturday and parked. It was a good omen that as soon as we piled out, a shuttle pulled up and asked if we wanted a ride in. It was unfortunate that the casino didn’t allow even penknives through the gates. Thea took all the weaponry back to the car while I found where I needed to pick up the entry tickets at the will-call desk.
My plan was to go twice through and sample as much as I dared. I did my research and set very low expectations. I was asking “Do you have anything without garlic?” It got me a lot of sad head shaking and vendors pouring over their list of ingredients. I found the Miso Heat booth. After I sampled it, I bought one of everything that they were selling at their stall. Thea found Zindrew Crunchy Garlic Chili Oil. After her taste testing and purchasing their ‘Batch X’, she proceeded to find a beer. I got to shake hands with ‘Smokin’ Ed Currie as he was at his ‘PuckerButt Pepper Company’ booth. I’ve got the hat to prove it.
I was too optimistic with my planning. By the time we’d made it once around to all the booths, it was 12:30 and so crowded that even well intentioned, physically disadvantaged persons were being forced to run over people in order to move through the press.
It took until Sunday before we made it to lunch at Blake’s LotaBurger. I need to get my LOTA Burger New Mexico Style with double chiles and onion rings whenever I’m in town. Fifteen hundred calories never tasted so good.
On Sunday afternoon, we went to Musica Antigua de Albuquerque‘s seasonal concert, “Creatures Great & Small“. It is beginning to look like this will be a recurring event for us to attend. The next concert is in May and we’re planning on being back for it.
Then on Monday, we went to the BioPark‘s Aquarium and Botanical Garden. It’s been a while since I’ve held a camera. I hope you can excuse the flubs. I was also having some trouble with the lens going randomly to ‘FEE’. I may need to clean the contacts on my camera.
On the way back, we made a very brief pitstop for lunch at Buc-ee’s. We didn’t stop on the way to ABQ because Buc-ee’s is on the south side of the highway at exit 76 which is suffering from construction. That meant that we were past it before I noticed and unless it’s an emergency, I don’t backtrack my route.
