St. Augustine Avocado Gazpacho

My husband and I moved from Duluth, MN into our new home on April 15th.  Our home is a 43' sailboat that is currently sitting in the Annapolis Landing Marina on Back Creek, Annapolis, MD. There has been LOTS to do in the past month and we have so much yet to learn about this new (to us) boat. But that will be the subject of other posts.

Castillo de San Marcos,  built 1572 St. Augustine, FL 

One of our tasks has been to change our state of residence.  We don't own a house or land anymore in any state and so, last week, we drove from Annapolis to Green Cove Springs, FL with our faithful Border Collie, Jax in the back seat.   It was in Green Cove Springs where we gave up our MN residency to become residents of Florida.   While we live on our sailboat, we will use a consistent mailing address by virtue of a mail forwarding service, St. Brendan's Isle located in Green Cove Springs.

 There is a lot to be said for Florida.  <HOT>  We visited St. Augustine which was really interesting <HOT> and we drove through the Ocala National Forest <HOT> on our way to visit my sister who lives in The Villages <HOT>.  A highlight there was an airboat ride on Lake Panasoffkee <HOT> to see alligators and birds.   We only saw a couple of alligators because mid-day <HOT> they apparently like to hang out in shaded mud which I understand completely. 
So after returning to Annapolis <HOT> late in the day yesterday I was in no mood <HOT> to make or to eat hot food.  Gazpacho was just the ticket.  I found a recipe on AllRecipes.com and with the exception of a few minor tweaks on my part, I give credit for this recipe to whomever originally posted it online. This is wonderful gazpacho!  My version of it follows.  I highly recommend it.

Avocado Gazpacho

2 1/2 c. Spicy V-8 juice
2 1/2 c. vegetable broth (I just used bouillon)
1 large tomato, diced
1 14 oz can diced tomatoes (with basil & garlic) with juice, 
1 carton grape tomatoes, chopped (cuz that's what we had)
4 large avocados, peeled, pitted and cut into bite-sized pieces

The last of the Avocado Gazpacho

1/2 large cucumber, peeled and diced
1/2 large green bell pepper, chopped
1/2 large red bell pepper, chopped
1/4 c. extra-virgin olive oil
1/2 large red onion, finely diced
2 lemons, juiced
Handful of chopped fresh cilantro (I really like cilantro, so this is quite a bit more than the original recipe called for)
2 T. white wine vinegar
A few dashes of Tabasco sauce
Salt and freshly ground pepper to taste.  (I started with perhaps 1/2 tsp of salt and 1/4 tsp of pepper and then adjusted further from there.)

Mix all of the above ingredients together in a large bowl. Cover and chill for 3 hours or overnight to allow the flavors to blend.  ENJOY!

Servings: Original recipe says 8 (however we liked it so much that for us, it was 6 servings)

Oh, and heads up to friends and family:  When you come to visit us, you're probably going to be served this dish.