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Thursday, March 27, 2008

Random Thursday Thoughts: Guacamole, The Foodie Blogroll, and Today's Tunes


First up--guacamole! Is there anyone that doesn't love fresh, cool, chunky guacamole? Anyone? Bueller? Ok, I guess there's gotta be at least a couple of people that don't like it. So more for us!

Guacamole is one of the easiest, and most satisfying things to make. It's so freaking good. The trick is to get good avocados. I always get Hass avocados, but in a pinch, the bigger, green ones are good, too. You can read everything you ever wanted to know about avocados here. If you're buying Hass, look for the darker, almost black ones, that yield a bit to a little squeeze. If they're all hard and green, you can ripen them at home pretty quickly in a paper bag. But be careful--they're funny little things and go from "We're ripe, yay!" to "Um, we're just going to lie here and get moldy...in the next sixty seconds, ok?" ugh!

So cut them in half carefully, from top to bottom, whack the pit with your knife, carefully! and twist it out. Take a knife and carefully cut lines vertically and horizontally while the halves are still in the peel. Then run a spoon under and around the flesh and scoop it out. Did I mention to be careful? Please do!

So here we go! I've made this so many times that I don't use a set recipe or measurements. You can eyeball your avocado/tomato/onion ratio. And if you hate tomatoes or despise onions (but why would you?) you can skip those. Your guacamole won't mind.

Guacamole

3 avocados
1 lime
1 or 2 cloves garlic, finely minced
1 medium tomato, chopped and seeded
1/2 a small onion (red, white, sweet--doesn't matter)
1 jalapeno, remove seeds and ribs if you want it mild--leave them in if you like it hotter
chopped cilantro
coarse salt

Get your avocados ready, and put the chunks in a medium bowl. Cut the lime in half and squeeze the juice from one half over the avocado. Add the garlic to the bowl and mash it all up some more with a fork, but leave some chunks--chunks are good!

Add the tomato and onion and some salt, then cilantro and jalapeno. Oh, leave out the cilantro if you hate it-- I'll forgive you. Mix it up and give it a taste, and add more lime juice if it needs it. I usually use almost one whole lime.

When you've got it just right, cover it and put it in the fridge to let the flavors mingle amongst themselves. About 1/2 an hour or so. But if you're like us, you'll grab a bag of corn chips and sample some (ok, a lot) before it even hits the fridge. And don't bother with this business of sticking an avocado pit in the guacamole to keep it greener, longer. It's a lie. From the Save the Avocado Pit People--SAPP, for short. Put a bit of plastic wrap right on the surface, and keep it in the fridge. It'll last into the next day, but no longer than that. And if it's a little discolored on top, just give it a stir.

Serve this with chips, in wraps, over a spicy salad, on tacos, in burritos, etc.



Next up--The Foodie Blogroll! Have all you food bloggers joined yet? What are you waiting for? It's a very cool way to get more exposure for your blog, give you more traffic, and a good way to get to know other foodies like yourselves. PLUS you'll find more great blogs to read!

There are three requirements:

1) Your blog must be at least one month old with at least five posts. (I joined one month to the day after I started blogging, hehe.)

2) Your blog must be at least 80% about food.

3) You have to put the Blogroll in your sidebar in plain sight where it can be seen by Jenn, the genius who started it all. It's nice and not in-your-face. See it in my sidebar, there on the right?

Here's a blurb from Jenn, on Foodieblogroll.com:

Why Should I join The Foodie Blogroll? What’s in it for me?

The Foodie Blogroll is the first of its kind and is one of the fastest growing online communities for foodies. With over 1000 members spanning the globe in less than a year, there is a reason for its popularity. It is the first blogroll created just for foodies like you. When I started my food blog, I went looking for a blogroll for food and cooking related websites and there were none to be found. So I decided to create my own! This is all about building the best community online for foodies! Imagine what having over 1000 websites linking to you can do for your blogs traffic and Google or Technorati ranking.

A great benefit for joining is a forum for members (and other foodies alike) to hang out with each other and get to know each other and talk about our favorite subject – FOOD. There are also contests and your blog could also be featured as part of my Finest Foodies Friday – where I feature the best blogs from the Foodie Blogroll! If you are not a member, you can’t be featured.

_______________________________________________________________


And there's forums on her site, too, for contests and getting to know other bloggers. So drop Jenn an e mail and get started soon!



And lastly, Today's Tunes!

I've been listening to Puddle of Mudd. I love these guys! It's a great album, lots of fun, and really, don't we all know at least one Paranoid Flake?

Also in rotation the last couple of days is Flyleaf . I love this album, too. Definitely makes kitchen time (what I mean is cleaning time) more enjoyable.


Being served soon: Brownies, Cornbread and Tuna Orzo Salad. But not all together, because... ewww. hehe. Stay tuned...



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18 comments:

Anonymous said...

I love guacamole! I usually do not add cilantro, cause it is my husband's nightmare:) but next time I will make a separate bowl for myself with cilantro, per your recipe:))Love cilantro!

Anonymous said...

I want to jump IN that bowl of guacamole!! We devour guac around here and sometimes I cheat and add a little bit of salsa to it if I don't have the tomatoes and cilantro. I used to loathe cilantro and I have no idea how, but now I LOVE it. Avocados are a beautiful thing.

Jessy and her dog Winnie said...

That looks delicious! Wow now I'm starving. I don't think that I completely understand this blog roll thing, how do you sign up?

Elle said...

Jessy, right next to your comment, on the right side of the screen, is the Blogroll, with the tomato? Click on Submit your blog, and fill out the form on that page, or go to this link:
http://www.foodieblogroll.com/submit/
The form is on that page. Jenn will get back to you with the code to put on your blog.


Farida--Cilantro is a love/hate thing, isn't it? Luckily, we both love it!

April, I love the idea of adding salsa in a pinch--good thinking! Avocados are beautifu, aren't they? Yum!

test it comm said...

That guacamole looks good. Especially with the thinly sliced lime garnish.

Anonymous said...

I thought about joining the Foodie blogroll but obviously i've been too lazy! haha. One of these days as they say. :-)

Guacamole anytime baby! For breakfast, lunch, dinner, sleepwalking... I love it! Yours looks so pretty!

jd said...

Yay for guacamole!

I absolutely love guacamole, & yours looks particularly delicious.

Great pic!

Anonymous said...

Yum! I could totally dive into that bowl of guac right now and go swimming. I'm not even kidding. I looooove tomatoes in guac, but mr.pickypants won't have it. :P Deeeelicious, Elle!!

rach257 said...

that is a GORGEOUS picture and i am dying for a huge bowl of guac now...thanks a LOT!! :)

Pixie said...

Elle, I'm a true love of guacamole- thanks for the tip of using a brown bag as I have some avocados that need to get ripened quick- I will be careful though! And welcome to the foodie blog roll!

Becky at VintageMixer said...

Good to know...I was hesitant to become part of the foodie blog roll, but I'm glad you think it's worth it. Thanks for the tip

Anonymous said...

nice blog you have here! glad you got to join the foodies blogroll, it is a fun place there on the forums and just notice all the traffic on your blog increasing!! have a great day.

Elle said...

Kevin--thanks so much!

Zen--thanks! I eat it anytime of day, too. ;)

jd--thanks for the nice comment and for visiting!

cg--you need to make two guacs, then. One for you, and one for Mr. Picky!

rach--thanks SO much for your nice comment on my pic! And for stopping by, too!

pixie--thanks! And the blogroll is great! I've already met some great new people and found some deeelicious blogs.

becky--thanks for stopping by! And yes, I definitely think it's worth it. It doesn't take up too much space on your blog, but it does give you more traffic.

summer--thanks so much for visiting, and for your nice comment!

RecipeGirl said...

Hey, I'm glad to see that there's a New Englander who appreciates guacamole! All of my husband's Massachusett's relatives look at us whacky when we try to serve it up. And don't even get me started on fish tacos. His relatives flat out refused to try those!!

Elle said...

Recipegirl--WHO could possibly refuse guacamole and fish tacos?? I know what you mean, though, some of my family is the same way, hehe.

grace said...

that is some good-looking guacamole! all i need is a spoon, no chips required. :)

Elle said...

Grace--thank you so much!

Taterloyyd said...

Guacamole = AWESOME
...and so do you :)

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