Zest Fest 2012

A short road trip to Irving for Zest Fest 2012!  I met up with my friend Katie and found out what a chilehead she is after she made 2 trips back to the car to unload her purchases.

I'm short on the show photos, there are plenty to be found. So here is a brief round up:

The Winners From I Love It Spicy

Photos From Scott Roberts

ZestFest 2012 at Facebook

My meager bounty of yummy loot.  I could fill the bath tube with the hot sauce that I have around here so I was more tasting and looking goodies for other than hot sauce or salsas.  With that being said, there are some excellent products out there  and it was a treat to taste all of the flavors of Zest Fest!  Congratulations to the winners and all the others that work so hard to bring spice to our life!

See more about the products at my
Photo Gallery.

After the Saturday at the Zest Fest, it was off to Grapevine for adventures with my friend Katie.  First stop, Tommy Tamale.  An large selection of fresh tamales, salsas and sauces.  After some sampling, I left with Spicy Pork and Four Cheese.  The owners are awesome and hard working.  I hope to see them next year at Zest Fest.  (They mail order, too)

Next stop, Tolbert's in the Grapevine historical district for some food, drink and after dining tunes.  Tolbert's was founded by co-founder of the Terlingua Chili Cookoff, Frank X Tolbert, Sr. and family. 

Highlight of the night was Buddy Whittington, blues rocker.  The band was late to start but  we got in the groove with an near 2 hour first set.  And I will have the opportunity to find Buddy in my hood next weekend. If he makes it to your town, don't miss the show!  Thanks Katie!

And then there was the midnight hour harvest of Opuntia sp. for Congo Joe.  I was able to collect from a couple of locations but got lost on the way out of town and missed the spiny one.  Next trip!

Back on the road home I always pay tribute to the Founding Father of Texas, General Sam Houston. But what did I find, some was stealing his monument.  Oh my gosh!  NOT, just a freak photo from my window.  I love road trips!

I had a hoot!

Beth in Texas

Customer Profile: Joey Tio Sauce

Joey Tio has some excellent sauces and his new Green Sauce rocks just like Uncle Joe.  His grill fired jalapenos put this one over the top.  His Original Red is just the right heat and the garlic and twang that is favored by this Texas Chica.

He makes sauce with passion and with the demand from family and friends, these creative sauces  keep him on the ready to fill the demand.

Joey's talents go far beyond the hot sauce.  He is also a guitar man, teacher, songwriter and singer.

Find out more about Joey Tio and his Acoustic Cloud Studio

Love ya Uncle Joey!

The Heat Beat

At least that is what I call the hot sauce blog recap at Matters.com.  I like this!  Check it out and see if you see anybody, blogs or products that you know and vote.  Lots of News and Reviews all on one page.

The Heat Beat

While your at it check out other topics, if you are like me, you will find the Food and Drink topics lots of appetizing fun.

I can tell Peppermania Texas is a long way from making Matters but I'm gonna work on it.  Please Email anything you would like to see here while I search the highways and byways for worthy stoof to post.

In the meantime, you can email photos of your hot sauce, other products of heat or your harvest along with a description and we will get it posted on Peppermania's Hall of Flame.  I know you're out there, chances are you ordered woozie bottles or seeds from Peppermania!  Show us what you got!

See ya later alligator!

Beth in Texas