Zestfest 2007: Get your spice on!

By now, you folks know that I love chiles and spicy stuff... It's Hatch chile time right now, and I'm in heaven.

Well, that ain't all... You chile-heads will also love ZestFest at the Will Rogers Center this weekend. My wife and I have gone the past several years, and it's always a lot of fun.

My recommendations for a good ZestFest experience:

• Get there when it opens. Why? Several reasons...
  
• It's not crowded yet (noon can be a mob scene)
• The booth staff people aren't tired of seeing you yet, and they're still happy to give you samples
• The smaller independent booths are excited to be selling their stuff, and may make you a deal if you're one of the early customers
• As soon as you walk in, visit the concession stand and buy a bottle of water. Trust me on this, you will want water at some point, and your mouth will most likely be burning at some point.
• Bring cash. Some of the vendors accept credit cards, but not all...

For you forward-thinking folks, this can be a good opportunity to buy small-batch hot sauces and salsas as gifts for spice-loving friends. We've even done Christmas shopping at ZestFest!

So visit ZestFest this weekend and get some good spice into your life...