Guacamole and Chips

A great starter, that's what I am.  Michelle is the finisher.  I open.  She closes.  We're a team.  There are exceptions of course.  For possible new clients, Michelle opens, I mettle, she closes.  I'm like the filling in a good cake.  Then there are the rocks in the drive way (see 2010 What Happened post).  I started, Michelle did mettle, now she reminds me that I need to finish.

I get started on things and then my mind begins to...

In the spirit of starting, here is a recipe for Guacamole.  One of my all time favorite starters.  Guacamole can also be a finisher.  I have been known to dive into the fridge for a late night guacamole nom nom session.  Guacamole is not only fun to say, but it's versatile.  It can be a starter, a finisher, in a salad, under an egg, over a chip, on a burger, and right beside a steak.

There is another thing about guacamole some people might not realize.  It is one of the few four syllable words that you can say real fast 5 times in row.

Guacamole, guacamole, guacamole, guacamole, guacamole.

See how easy that is. It also happens to be that easy to make.  Just be sure to pick some avocados that are a little soft, and some tomatoes that are a little extra ripe.  If you can't find soft avocados, put them in a brown paper bag for a day, or so they say.  I've never tried that.

We went to a New Years party, so  I asked Michelle "What are we bringing?"  Michelle bellowed from the sofa "YOU sure do make a nice guacamole."   Yep. I fell for it, so here you go.

The Line Up    Print Recipe
4 Large Haas avocados
2 Roma tomatoes
4 - 5 garlic cloves
2 limes
1/2 finely diced sweet yellow onion
1/2 cup finely chopped cilantro
1 jalapeno
2 tsp salt
1 tsp chili powder
1 tsp freshly ground cumin
Dashes of Cholula until you are satisfied






Fixin It
Put the chopped onion in a small bowl and squeeze a lime over it.  This will mellow the onions a bit.
Remove pulp from avocados and place in a large mixing bowl.  Squeeze a lime over the pulp and toss.  This helps keep the avocado from turning brown.  Put in the garlic, salt, chili powder, and the cumin.  Grab a masher. This is where the fun hits the foodie road.  Mash away until you get to your desired level of creaminess or chunkiness.  My daughter Kenzie likes hers chunky.

Dice the tomatoes and stir in.  Spoon some onion out of the lime juice a little at time to get the right amount to your taste.  You may not want all those onion in there.  Reserve as much lime juice as you can, then add it in a bit at time so it's not overly limey.  It's a good dish to tinker with and ask for some help from an official taster.

For a party, serve it in a nice dish with chips and veggies.

One more minor detail.  I forgot to buy the chips.  It wasn't my fault.  The store was packed with procrastinators just like me in a hurry.  I choked under the pressure.  About an hour before we left for the party, I decided to make my own.

Cut corn tortillas (I always have those around) into wedges, strips or what ever dips your chips.

Heat a skillet of canola oil at about 350. Fry the tortilla pieces until turning brown.  It only takes a couple of minutes.

Dust with salt, chili powder and cumin before the oil drys off.

Just one more little tip.  If you have some left over guacamole and it looks a little sad with some brown sags under its pretty green eyes, stir in a little mayonnaise.  It will give your left over guacamole a make over.  Good as new.