At the time we chose to spend a week in Alamogordo, New Mexico, we had no idea what to expect — we just thought it looked like a big enough map dot to have a decent grocery store, a liquor store (we were getting low on Tito’s vodka!) and who-knows-what-else, but the location was perfect for a stopover for what we wanted to visit in the area, so we chose it. Little did we know that in addition to being home to White Sands National Monument, it is also home to the world’s largest pistachio! Well, this was an unexpected bonus, and it turns out we were staying right across the street from it!
For this past week we have made the Boot Hill RV Park our home, and from Charley’s front window we had a full view of the giant pistachio, deemed the world’s largest by the Guinness Book of World Records, no less. Talk about lucky! Our morning walking route took us down backroads in the area where we got to see lots of pistachio trees growing in the dry desert dirt. Neither of us have seen pistachio trees before, but Fred learned all about them on his $2 pistachio tree farm tour!
Given that we had a coupon for a free gift in the McGinn’s gift shop, we just had to go in for a look-see! Their sampling table featured all sorts of flavored pistachios — ranch, lemon-lime, hot chili pepper — who knew these little treats came in so many flavors? I found I liked the plain ones best so that was the bag we purchased. What did Fred enjoy? You guessed it… the pistachio ice cream!
Inspired by the big pistachio we stared at all week long and by all of the pistachio trees growing on the pistachio tree ranches all around us, I decided to make a pistachio creation of my own for us for dinner tonight — spaghetti squash with some fresh herbs, garbanzo beans for protein, Feta cheese for a little salty flavor, lemon juice to brighten the whole dish up, and pistachios for crunch. Yum! And we have Alamogordo and the world’s largest pistachio to thank for it!
