How strange to think just a day or two ago I was hunting for chiles in coastal Oaxaca and now I'm back in Napa doing laundry and wondering if I really need to see the repeat of the Real Housewives of Beverly Hills reunion show. I am weak.And now full of regrets. I didn't need to watch it.

I'll drop names later but I've been on an incredible 10 day road trip and I've seen things, and eaten things, that I could never have imagined. We drove for hours and reached some pretty obscure corners of the state of Oaxaca, always in pursuit of the incredible chiles that make the cuisine so particular.