This is my little place for my creativity.

UPDATE: THE SITE IS MOVING AS OF FEBRUARY 10, 2014 TO:

http://www.emilylikestomakestuff.com
http://www.emilylikestomakestuff.com
http://www.emilylikestomakestuff.com
http://www.emilylikestomakestuff.com
http://www.emilylikestomakestuff.com


It's time to move on to a place that is more DIY for this DIY-er. Please come on over to see what is up, comment, make suggestions, stalk, or just say hello.
The links are all the same--I have trouble clicking on tiny stuff on my phone so I thought that having it over a few lines of text might make it easier for folks like me.

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This is more or less a record of my crafty pursuits. I'll use this space to keep track of promising ideas and my own successes or "learning opportunities" for future reference.

Comments are welcome, but will be removed if they don't actually contribute to the content. In other words, comments should have all meat and no time-sucking fillers.

As I complete the projects/ideas on the right, I'll move them to the left so you can see how well it worked out.

Thursday, August 25, 2011

Emily's Guacamole & How to cut an avocado

Carlos, this posting is all for you.  (No, not that Carlos. This is for my best buddy from Madrid.)

Seriously, I know this is one of the easiest crowd-pleasers to make.  But, often,when I get it in a restaurant, it is not so great.  If you have never had it made fresh and right, you have never had it really good.  Here's how I do it and you can, of course, supply your own variations.
Here's how to prepare your avocado.  
1.)  Slice it lengthwise.  You can go crosswise, but long is easier.
2.)  Twist it to separate the halves.
3.)  Visualize the pit/seed.  
4.) Holding the half in your hand, strike the pit with your knife blade to sink it in just a bit.  Usually I don't go deeper than a screwdriver.  A sharp knife is better here.  A dull knife will slide off and hit you.  Has this ever happened to me?  Yes.  But I have never gotten cut.  I am not striking with enough force to chop down a tree--just enough to slightly hack into the pit.  
5.) Holding the half securely in your hand by the peel, twist the pit using the knife.  It normally will come right off.
6.)  I have used this method for more than 20 years, including working at Taco Villa.  It has only failed me 2 times, both of them today.  Thank you, Murphy. (I just dug the pits out with a spoon along with all the woody chips that I had hacked off-haha.) 

Ingredients: 1 jalapeño, one small onion (I like yellow ones), a lime, clove or 1/2 spoon of garlic, maybe 1/2 teaspoon of salt and 1 avocodo (or 2), very ripe.
Note:  Your avocado must be black on the outside (unless it is a giant one from the Caribbean) and a bit squishy.  (This is the problem with most restaurants, the avocados aren't even ripe.  They are usually still hard and not ready to be eaten.  This, my dear, is the true secret to good guacamole!

Last night, I got a bag with maybe 12 or 14 avocados for a dollar.  Why?  Because they were all RIPE now.  Perfect.  I am in true guacamole mode today!

To make things easier, if you want, throw your lime juice in the blender with your pepper to grind it up.  You can throw in the salt and garlic, too.  It is much easier than trying to chop them up.  Mash up your avocado, blend in your other ingredients and add the chopped onion last.  Let it set for a few hours to supreme goodness.

One more note.  How to chop an onion safely.  I am not sure why folks like to sometimes slice it like for a hamburger and then try to chop it while holding it in their hands like that.  It seems like a sure fire way to end up in the ER to me.  (Not that I am saying that I have ever seen that, nope, not me, never heard that from anybody.  HINT HINT)

Just humor me and do it like this.  Slice your onion in half and peel the outer 1 or 2 layers back.  If you leave them attached, you have a sort of a handle to give you a bit more control.  Slice it lengthwise and then down the flat part that is not touching the cutting board.  Ta da!  Perfection!  No blood.  No injuries.  No stitches.




If you won't be serving it right away or if you were out of lime, you can place the pit in the bowl to protect the color.  Blackened guacamole is still delicious, but a bit gross looking.
One more note:
If your limes are smallish, Key-limes and they are old, the juice may be very bitter.  I still like it, but it may not be the favorite for your friends from Spain.  (Carlos, I have a baggie of perfect-guacamole in the freezer for you right now.)

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