It's all about the raisins

Not just any raisins. Rancho Vignola raisins!

When we put in our order in September, it was our first time buying from them and although we heard nothing but rave reviews. we were still rather conservative with our order. We ordered one box to split between 3 of us. I had requested 10 lbs for myself and I thought that would last forever. I laughed when we split up the raisins because there was so much! Little did I know that these raisins were like none other raisin on this Earth. Even my non-raisin loving son ate them and loved them. But then, on a dark, grey February morning, we ran out of raisins. This was quickly followed by running out of dates and almonds too! Yikes! How would we make it to next Fall? I tried checking out the stores around us but the raisins did not compare. L ate the almonds, but said they weren't as good and he would not touch the raisins.

Happy was the day I heard that there was a March sale at Rancho Vignola! Was I going to order? Yep!!! 10 more lbs of raisins? Ha! No way! I learned my lesson and this time I would like a whole 25 lb box, please!

But then panic set in. What if everybody knows how wonderfully amazing these raisins are? What if they run out? What if the people before me get the last box?! Katherine (who was also out of raisins) and I had a long talk about the raisins - first how amazing they are and then what would we do if they ran out. She had wanted a box as well but what if there was only one box! We decided if that was the case, we would share it. But how we were both hoping for our own box!

After 5 angst-ridden days, a phone call from Rancho Vignola came and a beautiful voice informed me that our order would be shipping in full that very day and should arrive the following day! A happy dance was performed.

Sure enough the next day:

Beautiful, glorious raisins! 25 whole pounds for us (oink oink!)
And not only that but the most amazing dates (only 15 lbs of those - what was I thinking???!!!) and the almonds my son loves to snack on throughout the day.

And here is a photo of my glorious order! Pumpkin and sunflower seeds for salads, bread and granola bars, dried apricots, peanuts and soy nuts for snacking, dried blueberries for baking and trail mix and the yummiest dried pineapple rings I have ever tasted! Only 5 lbs of those - they wont last long. Missing is 5 lbs of chocolate chips and 7 lbs of banana chips.

As you may have noticed from this particular post, I enjoy food and take it very seriously. There is only so much food I can eat in a day, and it's important to me that every bite is a taste sensation. As I have to wait another 7-9 months before I can order more of this amazing food, I plan to eat it slow and savour every bite.