Last night we were invited to my sister-in-law’s home for dinner. It was a send-off for her oldest daughter, Alexis, who is heading to Michigan to start a new adventure … her next chapter. Her boyfriend, John, is from the midwest and would like to go back. It’s a great place to live and he is really missing home. I understand, I’m from the midwest – I love it there, too. Alexis is head over heels in love with John and is looking forward to living in his home state. I think she is going to really enjoy the beautiful fall colors, and definitely, her first cozy snowfall. Lex was born in Wisconsin, but left there before she was old enough to appreciate those things. John is a very nice young man. He’s very kind and you can really see how much he cares about Alexis – they are just perfect for one another. I know him and Lex will be very happy. When I gave him a hug good-bye, I asked him to take care of my beautiful niece, which he assured me he would.

I offered to make my guacamole to bring to her send-off dinner, which is why I named it Auntie Krissy’s guacamole. Alexis and her sisters love my guacamole so I thought it would be the perfect appetizer to share with everyone last night.

For this guacamole, I started with 5 large avocados.

Aren’t these avocados beautiful?!

Once I had removed the pits and scooped them out of the shell, I cut them into large chunks and put them in a bowl. To the bowl, I added the zest and juice of two limes.

After that, I added half of a diced red onion, 3 large cloves of garlic cloves – minced, kosher salt, and red pepper flakes. I mashed everything together with my potato masher. I then added a couple tablespoons of cilantro and mixed them into the guacamole.

Once I mashed everything together, I placed a few of the nuts back onto the guacamole along with plastic wrap set directly on top of the guac. I learned from someone many years ago that if you place the nuts on top of the guacamole until you are ready to serve it, it helps to keep it from turning brown. I’ve done this ever since and it works quite well. Obviously if I were putting the guac out to serve right away, I would avoid this step.

Once we were ready to head to the party, I scooped the guacamole into my serving dish. We served this with tortilla chips, but you could also serve it on pita chips or vegetables. It would even be good as a spread on a turkey sandwich, yum!

Ingredients

5 large avocados

2 limes, zest and juice

1-1/2 teaspoons kosher salt

1/4 teaspoon red pepper flakes

3 large garlic cloves, minced

2 tablespoons minced cilantro

Directions

1. Cut avocados in half. Remove seed and remove avocado from shell. Cut into large chunks. Place into a bowl.
2. Add the lime zest and juice.
3. Add salt, red pepper flakes, garlic and mash.
4. Add cilantro and mix into guacamole.
5. Serve with chips.

Enjoy!

Until next time, Kris