The Hazel Bloom

Classic Cheese Fondue

I think it's a crime that fondue suffers from the whole trendy thing. Fondue is in, and then it's out. And then it's in again, and out. We're talking dipping yummy stuff into hot melty yummy other stuff - how can this ever go out of style?

For me, fondue means sticky, melty, wonderful cheese fondue. Cut up some crusty bread cubes, potatoes, veggies, and tart apples, and dip away.

Plus, it's almost mandatory to drink wine with cheese fondue. Hello, home run.

So I say, forget if it's in style or not (and who can keep track, anyway?) Just dust off your pot and serve up a dinner that's all about melted cheese. You'll be glad you did.

 

Classic Cheese Fondue

Adapted from Fondue by Lenny Rice and Brigid Callinan

Ingredients:

• 1 pound Gruyere cheese
• 2 tablespoons all-purpose flour
• 1/2 clove garlic
• 1 cup dry white wine (please make sure it's on the dry side!)
• 2 tablespoons kirsch (optional)
• Your choice of stuff to dip: Rustic bread cut into cubes (if it's a fresh loaf, I recommend cutting it up a few hours ahead and letting it sit out so it hardens a bit and is less likely to fall off the fondue forks into the cheese), Granny Smith apple (especially yummy), pears, broccoli and cauliflower (I like to steam mine just slightly beforehand), baby potatoes. Oh, and the Fondue cookbook also suggested pickles, so we tried a couple sweet pickle chunks. Surprisingly not bad!

Directions:

1. Grate the cheese.
2. Toss the cheese with the 2 tablespoons flour.
   
   
   
3. Rub the fondue pot with the cut side of the garlic.
   
   
   Look! Invisible hands!
    
4. Add the wine to the fondue pot, and over medium high heat, bring it to a boil.
5. Lower the heat to medium low, and stir in the cheese 1/2 cup at a time, adding more then the previous 1/2 cup is pretty much melted.
   
   
   
   
   
6. Stir in kirsch if using.
7. Enjoy immediately!

Damn, They're Good! I Try Recipes from Three of My Favorite Bloggers

 
One thing an aspiring blogger quickly realizes is that there are a lot of folks out there doing an amaaaazing job at this blogging thing. Many are very well-known, and rightfully so. Wonderful writing, beautiful photos, creativity I can only dream of - and no lack of sheer perseverance, I'm sure. I'm so often in awe when I poke around on some of my favorite blogs.

So I thought I'd try recipes from three of my favorites, and share a bit about each with you. And on the off chance you haven't yet heard of these bloggers, even better - because you're in for a treat when you check out their sites.

Creamy Caramels from La Fuji Mama

Not only does she have the catchiest name ever, La Fuji Mama has a food blog that's packed with a terrific variety of recipes. She posts step-by-step photos that helped me make one of my most popular treats to date - her Creamy Caramels.

People laughed, they wept, they prayed, they swore their lives had changed forever after they took a bite of one of these caramels. Okay, okay, I exaggerate. But they were universally loved by the folks at work and my sister's family (I pawned them off on everyone to save myself - they were so good and the recipe made so many that I was in serious trouble having these around the house).

I even got a special text from my 19 year old niece about them:

"You made the best caramels I've ever had in my life, dude! ;o)"

An absolute keeper recipe, thanks to La Fuji Mama.
 

Paprika Cheddar Drop Biscuits by Joy the Baker

Other than the fact that she was obviously trying to outdo me the other day, I love Joy the Baker. And by trying to outdo me, I'm talking about how I posted a lovely little story about simple guacamole, and then suddenly this crazy, awesome, buzz-worthy, impressive Avocado Pound Cake turned up on her site. I mash up a few avocados with garlic and lemon, she shows her way with avocados by making this amazing green-hued pound cake. Coincidence? I think not. (Ha, ha.)

I overlooked that little incident, though, and tried her Paprika Cheddar Drop Biscuits the other day. Oh, yum! Smoky paprika, zingy sharp cheddar, and no rolling and cutting - winner!

Thanks, Joy the Baker. You may have won the avocado challenge hands-down but just wait 'til you see what I can do with a pomegranate, missy! (Now I need to come up with something, fast.)
 

Lemon Ricotta Pancakes with Sauteed Apples from the Smitten Kitchen

Deb of the Smitten Kitchen does this food blogging thing perfectly. Simple, easy-to-navigate site, a gazillion wonderful recipes, and her writing and food photography are top-notch. You've undoubtedly already visited her site, but just in case you haven't, run over to Smitten Kitchen, get your pointer over the Surprise Me! button and prepare for lots of mouth-watering reading.

Heck, I even saw Keri Russell cite Smitten Kitchen as her favorite website in a magazine recently. How cool is that?!

I recently tried the Lemon Ricotta Pancakes with Sauteed Apples on her site, and as expected, they were scrumptious. The ricotta pancake are interesting, in a good way - not your typical pancake. The lemon and apples raise it all to the next level.

Yum.

And so, thanks to all the fabulous food bloggers out there, and especially to La Fuji Mama, Joy the Baker, and Smitten Kitchen for making the Internet tubes so much more mouthwateringly, well... tubular.

My Veggie Garden: A Love Story

It's not every day a guy offers to build a gal a full-blown garden in his backyard. Sure, it'd gotten to the point where the dogs and I were at his house more often than I was at my own, and clearly we were headed in the direction where eventually I'd be there full time (considering my little cottage barely fit one human and two dogs, let alone more). But I was blown away, thrilled, giddy, and a little freaked out by what started out as "you can plant a few vegetables here if you want," and ended up an amazing vegetable and herb garden complete with arbor, gate, and picket fence.

It was about a year ago at this time that Spring Fever and its close relative Gardening Virus hit me, hard. But I was pretty much living in two places since my guy entered my life and rocked my world a year previous - and I knew a garden at my little cottage would die a neglected death. A garden at his place may fare a little better, but wouldn't get 24/7 attention, either. Conundrum.

After weeks of watching me pine over HGTV and gardening magazines and listening to me fret about how I could possibly have a successful garden in this state of flux, he offered up his yard. I could build a little bed in a sunny spot, if I wanted - he promised to take care of it when I wasn't there. Plus, he has a sprinkler system and this may just be a terrific opportunity for him to geek out over systems, soaker hoses, and timers... it'd work.

So with very little hesitation, I scoped out the sunniest areas of the yard and started thinking about how we could build a 3x6 or so raised bed against the fence. As I tend to do, I obsessed and surfed the Web (Google image search is a wonderful, dangerous thing), and obsessed even more so when he mentioned that we should think of some way to protect the bed with edging or a small fence so my dogs couldn't run through it. And what about leveraging an entire corner instead of just placing it against the fence?

Say, this sunny corner?

With a little more obsessing, mulling, and surfing, a "few vegetables" turned into a sketch of a 12x12 plot complete with picket fence and arbor entrance. Having never built such a thing before, my guy, showing signs of being only slightly overwhelmed, did some mulling and surfing and researching of his own. And then he was ready to transform my lofty design into reality.

Visions of HGTV two-day transformations in mind, we set aside the three-day Memorial Day weekend as an all-work all-garden-building set of days. My guy and his saintly roommate did most of the hard labor.

 

As a (usually) pretty dang independent chick, I wanted to be in there doing everything along with the guys - digging the two-foot-deep post holes in rock-filled, hard pan soil and sawing lumber ("I can do it too!") - but more often than not, my chivalrous guy insisted on doing the super tough stuff while I looked on with sandwiches and trays of lemonade (and plenty of beer). And I didn't totally mind that. Scary.

My wonderful guy built my garden complete with picket fence to keep the doggies out (except, um, when I invite them in), and a massive, wonderful arbor marking the entrance. Inside are two raised beds - an 11 foot by 3.5 foot bed for vegetables, and a 5 foot by 3.5 foot bed for herbs. There's room for a couple of containers, too - a half wine barrel, and a galvanized tub perfect for peppermint. And I crammed a garden bench in there, too. We mulched around the beds and containers with several bags of eco-friendly hazelnut shells.

We bought two cubic yards of the wonderful Bailey's compost out of Snohomish, Washington (two cubic yards was a HUGE amount, by the way!). And then I planted, and planted, and planted.

 

 
It was a crazy, but productive, Memorial Day weekend.

My guy suddenly had a full-blown garden in his bachelor backyard.

But as it turned out, he really didn't need to watch over the garden when I wasn't there, and he wasn't going to be a bachelor much longer. The next morning, he asked me to move in with him. I think he knows I would have said yes, garden or no, but I suspect he felt a little better bringing it up when he'd just done the most romantic (and permanent!) thing anyone has done for me - built me the most amazing suburban backyard garden I've seen. This year, we're getting married. Not under the arbor, mind you - that would have been perfect, no? But we're having our wedding rehearsal under it.

And I - the luckiest girl in the world, I'm pretty sure - am looking forward to many happy veggie, herb, and flower-filled years ahead.

 

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Hungry for more about gardening? Check out the new GrowCookEat weekly feature over on the wonderful goodLife{eats}.

Carrot Cupcakes with Cream Cheese Frosting

These Carrot Cupcakes, topped with Cream Cheese Frosting, are soooo good. And they're especially perfect for Easter.

Though, I must confess, I'm not usually a carrot cake fan these days. I used to be, but something changed.

When I was younger, certain foods exercised my gag reflex like, I don't know, Richard Simmons sweatin' to the oldies. And others, I loved so much I thought there was nothing better in the world. But over time, there's been a little switcheroo with many foods. Those I loved, I suddenly realize I can't stand 'em anymore. Foods I hated? I've developed a new appreciation.

Take cantaloupe and honeydew. Used to eat them all the time, and loved 'em. Then I realized one day I was choking down a bowl of diced melon, and I thought to myself, "I hate these." Oh! Okay.

Or walnuts. Since I can remember, those durn, dasterdly bitter gag-worthy nuggets just hung out in otherwise perfectly good chocolate chip cookies and banana bread. (Bless my mom, who always cooked up a few walnut-free chocolate chip cookies just for me).

But I must say, I've actually learned to appreciate the dreaded walnut. Candied, and tossed into in a good salad? Yum. Chopped or ground up fine and baked into Pistachio and Walnut Baklava or Secret Kiss Cookies? Actually, yes. 

(Don't get me wrong. I still think it's a sin to desecrate a good chocolate chip cookie with them.)

Today, though, is about carrot cake. I know it's practically un-American to hate carrot cake. I know I risk the wrath of millions (okay, maybe about 100 if enough people read this) by saying it, but I realized a few years ago that I truly hate carrot cake. The only good thing about carrot cake was the cream cheese frosting.

Is it the walnuts? Is it the raisins? Is it the other stuff people cram in there? I have no idea.

But it's Easter time, I had some carrots that needed something done with them plus some adorable cupcake liners from Bake it Pretty and this recipe in Martha Stewart's Cupcakes recipe book called to me. "C'mon! You'll love it! Especially if you leave out the blasted walnuts! And if nothing else, you can lick off the cream cheese frosting..."

Sold.

(Martha is so convincing sometimes!)

So I left out the walnuts, pecans, the raisins, and even some of the carrot - a half pound instead of a full pound.

... and ended up with some cupcakes that I loooved. And, I'm sure, will always love.

I hope.

The cinnamon, ginger, and clove sets off the carrot just right, and the cream cheese frosting adds the right hit of tang and sweetness.

Here's the recipe!

Carrot Cupcakes with Cream Cheese Frosting

Adapted from Martha Stewart's Cupcakes cookbook

Carrot Cupcakes

Makes about 18 cupcakes

Ingredients:

• 1/2 pound carrots, peeled and finely grated
• 3 eggs, room temperature
• 1/3 cup buttermilk
• 1 1/2 cups vegetable oil
• 2 cups sugar
• 1 1/2 teaspoons vanilla extract
• 3 cups flour
• 1 teaspoon baking soda
• 2 teaspoons baking powder
• 1 teaspoon salt
• 1 teaspoon cinnamon
• 1 teaspoon ground ginger
• 1/8 teaspoon ground cloves

Cream Cheese Frosting

Ingredients:

• 1 cup (2 sticks) unsalted butter, room temperature
• 8 ounces cream cheese (light/neufchatel is tasty too)
• 4 cups powdered sugar, sifted
• 3/4 teaspoon vanilla extract

Cupcake directions:

1. Heat the oven to 325 degrees Fahrenheit.
2. Line 18 regular-size muffin tins with cupcake paper liners.
   
   
   Are these fluted flower cupcake liners not the cutest? I'm so obsessed with Bake it Pretty right now.
    
3. In a large bowl, mix together the carrot, eggs, sugar, vegetable oil, buttermilk, and vanilla.
   
   
   
4. In another bowl, mix together the flour, baking soda, baking powder, cinnamon, ginger, cloves, and salt.
   
   
   
5. Mix the flour mixture in with the carrot mixture until well mixed.
6. Pour batter into lined cups. Martha recommends filling the cup about 2/3 cup full. I like to live dangerously and go for a little over 3/4 full - usually a 1/3 cup measuring cup gets me close.
   
   
   We so need new muffin tins.
    
7. Bake for 23 to 28 minutes. They're done when the top springs back when you tap it, or a when a cupcake tester or toothpick comes out clean.
8. Cool on wire racks for about 10 minutes, then pull the cupcakes out of the tins and let them cool on the racks completely before frosting.
   
   

Frosting directions:

1. On medium speed, beat together the butter and cream cheese until fluffy. 
2. Reduce speed to low and add the powdered sugar, 1/2 cup at a time. I really advise against more than that, because you may find yourself disappearing in a powdered sugar cloud. Not that I'd know, not at all.
3. And finally mix in the vanilla.
   
   
   
4. Try not to eat all of this frosting before you actually have a chance to frost the cupcakes. Because it's pretty dang delicious.

And, frost your cupcakes! I topped mine with a little Demerara sugar for a little extra sparkle.

Enjoy!

Irish Soda Bread

I have but one simple plea for you all today. Please, take just a moment and step away from the green beer, folks, and revel in the wonderfulness of Irish Soda Bread.

Oh yes, I know - for many, it's a time of year for all that is green and holy. But for me? It's the time of year for currants and caraway seeds. Time for the most tender, heavenly, crusty crust known to man and leprechaun. It's Irish Soda Bread season, lads and lassies. And when it comes to mid-March, well, it's my bread and butter. Figuratively. And literally.

My favorite recipe is probably not terribly authentic but heck, it's close enough, and like most Irish Soda Breads (and unlike many other St. Patty's theme recipes) doesn't involve one teensy drop of green food coloring. And genuine or not, it's so delicious, I want to dance a jig. But I don't actually dance a jig - ever tried to do that while eating a thick slice of buttered bread? Not good. Not good at all.

My recipe? From none other than the Barefoot Contessa herself, the great and powerful Ina Garten of everything simple and fabulous. I follow her recipe almost to a T - I leave out the orange zest and often add some caraway seeds. And I add twice the butter - a happy mistake that created such an extra-terrific loaf of bread that I can't go back now. The result is an amazing, crusty round of dense, slightly sweet bread that's divine right out of the oven and, the next day, makes the most amazing toast you've ever had.

And so here, finally, is the recipe. Okay, fine, fine, enjoy it with a little green beer if you absolutely must.

Irish Soda Bread

Makes one loaf

Adapted from Barefoot Contessa's Irish Soda Bread recipe

Ingredients:

• 4 cups flour, plus another tablespoon or so for the currants
• 4 tablespoons sugar
• 1 teaspoon baking soda
• 1 1/2 teaspoons salt
• 1/2 cup (1 stick) cold unsalted butter, cut into squares
• 1 3/4 cup buttermilk (I make cheater's buttermilk with milk and lemon juice)
• 1 egg
• 1 cup dried currants
• 2 teaspoons caraway seeds (optional)

Directions:

1. Heat oven to 375 degrees, and grease a cookie sheet or cover it with a sheet of parchment paper. 
2. In a small bowl, mix 1 tablespoon of flour into the currants, and set aside. Barefoot Contessa says the flour keeps the currants from sinking to the bottom of the dough, and who am I to question her?
3. Mix together the flour, sugar, baking soda, and salt.
4. Beating on low, mix in the butter until fairly well blended. You'll probably still see little lumps of butter here and there, but that's okay.
   
   
   
5. Crack the egg into a small bowl and beat it with a fork.
6. Pour the egg into the buttermilk, give it a stir, and then add the buttermilk and egg to the flour and butter mixture while beating on low.
   
   
   
7. Mix just until everything comes together.
8. Add the currants and mix just until incorporated.
9. Turn the dough onto a floured board. The dough will be very wet and sticky.
   
   
   
10. Work enough flour into the bread to be able to knead it a just a few times.
    
    
    
11. Form the bread into a round loaf.
12. Move the loaf to the baking sheet. 
13. With a sharp knife, cut a shallow X into the top of the bread dough.
    
    
    
14. Bake for 45 - 55 minutes, until golden brown and it sounds a little hollow when you knock on it. You can also try using a cake tester just to be sure - when it comes out clean, it's done.
15. Cool for a few minutes, and then enjoy Irish Soda Bread season! It'll be gone before you know it. And then it's Cadbury Egg season.

Rosemary Roasted Potatoes

When I was, oh, 16 or so, I heard a man wisely say to someone who was bemoaning a horrible photo of themselves: "You take a picture of a potato, you get a potato." I have no idea why I stored that little nugget away, but a few months later when my high school friend Rik* got her senior photos back and was going on about how bad they were, I pulled it out of my hat. "You take a picture of a potato, you get a potato!"

I know how it sounds. But I swear I didn't mean it like that. For one, Rik was, and still is, absolutely beautiful. Her photos were, in fact, terrific. I swear, in my 16 year old mind, it was more like, "Rad dude! I get to whip out that little gem of wisdom!"

Anyway, Rik, I'm still sorry!

But today, I actually did take a picture of a potato. And I got a potato. And I ate a potato. And it was a delicious potato.

Specifically, Rosemary Roasted Potatoes.

For these little numbers, I prefer to start with Yukon Golds - they don't get all mushy, I don't have to peel them, and they have such a buttery, wonderful flavor. But any potato will do. Really.

Mmm, Yukon Golds. Which are actually from Mount Vernon, Washington, and not the Yukon, but I'm pretty sure that's acceptable.

I cut them into wedges, toss them with olive oil, rosemary, and kosher salt, and roast them in the oven. Sound easy? That's cuz it is. This is pretty simple, straightforward stuff. You take a picture of a potato, you get a potato.

Here's the recipe!

* Names have been changed to protect the rightfully insulted.

Rosemary Roasted Potatoes

Serves 4-5

Ingredients:

• 2 pounds small or medium Yukon Gold potatoes
• 2 tablespoons olive oil
• 1 heaping teaspoon dried rosemary (if you have fresh, my goodness, by all means, please for the love of God use it and let me live vicariously! My rosemary died. I'm still grieving.)
• 1 teaspoon kosher salt, plus more to taste
• Fresh ground pepper, if you like

Directions:

1. Preheat oven to 375 degrees.
2. Wash the potatoes well, cutting out any blemishes that look gross.
3. Cut each potato in half lengthwise, then cut each half into three wedges.
   
   
   
4. Place the potato wedges in a bowl, and drizzle with olive oil.
   
   
5. Gently toss the potatoes a bit, then add the rosemary and salt, and give them another toss so the rosemary and salt are fairly evenly distributed.
   
   
   
6. Lay the potatoes in a single layer on a cookie sheet with edges. Add a little more salt and pepper if you like.
   
   
   
7. Place in the oven and bake for about 40 minutes, until most of them are turning golden brown. I like to take a peek and flip 'em over and around at about the 20 and 30 minute marks. Helps make sure they get brown on most sides.
   
   
   
8. Let cool for about 5 minutes, and serve!

I always have to have mine with lots of ketchup.

My guy? He prefers a cheeseburger on the side.

Either way, they're easy, simple, yummy, and actually often quite photogenic. Gotta love that!

Reverse Chocolate Chip Cookies

Today seems like the perfect day for some good ol' easy and delicious drop cookies. Don't you agree? How about a big, thick, chewy, uber-chocolatey number that's like an inside-out chocolate chip cookie? Rich, yummy chocolate dough. Sweet white chocolate chips.

 
Oh, these things are sinful.

I apologize in advance.

Reverse Chocolate Chip Cookies

Adapted from this White Chocolate Chocolate Cookies recipe on Allrecipes.com

Ingredients:

• 1 cup unsalted butter at room temperature (softened)
• 1 cup white sugar
• 3/4 cup brown sugar (packed)
• 2 eggs
• 1 teaspoon vanilla
• 1 3/4 cups all-purpose flour
• 1 1/4 cups unsweetened cocoa powder
• 1 teaspoon baking soda
• 1 teaspoon baking powder
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
• 2 cups white chocolate chips

Directions:

1. Heat oven to 350 degrees.
2. In a large bowl (or your amazingly awesome apple green Kitchenaid stand mixer that you feature in so many photos that it looks like you work for them [and damn, that would actually be a cool company to work for]), mix together the butter, white sugar, and brown sugar. Beat the sugars and butter until well incorporated and fluffy.
3. Beating on lowish, mix in the eggs.
    


4. Mix in the vanilla.
5. In a separate bowl, sift together the flour, cocoa, baking powder, baking soda, and salt.
   
   
   
6. Add the dry ingredients to the wet mixture, either beating on low, or stirring in by hand, just until blended.
7. And then stir in the white chocolate chips (yum).
   
   
    
   
   
8. Plop the dough by the spoonful (or, if you want huge, thick cookies, which I love with this recipe, try an ice cream scoop - works great!) onto a greased or lined cookie sheet. Note: If you pull out the big guns and go with ice-cream-scoop sized cookies, push the dough down a bit before putting the cookies in the oven - they'll bake up a little flatter.)
   
   
   
   
   
9. Bake for 8 to 10 minutes (or larger cookies for about 11 worked for me). You want the cookies to look a little puffed up, but still somewhat soft. They'll set up when they cool.
10. Cool on the cookie sheet for about 5 minutes, then transfer to a wire rack to cool all the way.
    
    
    
11. Enjoy one or two (okay, fine, or three), and then if you're anything like me, you'll pack a bunch into a couple of your awesome new Bake it Pretty cookie boxes and give most of them away in a desperate plea to friends and family to please save you from yourself. 

Note: Seriously, Bake it Pretty is amazing. What a dreamy, dreamy, wonderful, dreamy, paycheck-endangering site.

Baby Kate's Nursery

My friend Megan is quite possibly the most talented amateur interior decorator that I know. The adorable thing is, she has no idea what a natural she is at this sort of thing. Whenever I leave her house, I'm inspired to paint the living room already or finally retire that bachelor bedroom set with the mirrored headboard my guy has going on (and I "inherited" if you will) (love you honey!)

Megan is due in April with her second baby girl. I helped her paint her first daughter Abby's room with delicious butter yellow stripes a few years ago when Abby was born, so helping Megan out with the nursery decorating has become somewhat of a tradition - as much as something can be a tradition when it's only happened twice.

The bummer of it was, thanks to work and life, I was almost completely unavailable to act as Megan's nursery decorating consultant. And of course, this turned out to be a blessing, because she did an amazing job without me. Far better than if I'd been involved. I would've just mucked up her mojo.

Megan started out with this terrific bedding, Cocoa by Banana Fish. Is this not the cutest? I love love love that Megan went the route of aqua blue and brown for a little girl. It's unexpected but wonderfully girly in its own right.

But I did get called in to put the final touch on the nursery - painting daisies, inspired by the adorable blue and brown daisies on the fabric - on the walls! Of course, as soon as I got over there, sleeves rolled up, ready to paint, Megan told me a little about her vision. When I realized it involved vines and leaves, I feared I was way outta my league. Thank goodness for Todd the artist, the guy behind the amazing Jack O' Lantern last Halloween. He was happy to come on over in a New York minute, and fueled by beer and pizza, he whipped out his pencil and drew vines and daisies and leaves on the walls that Megan and I then filled in with paint. 

Really, all in all, I was fairly useless when it came to decorating baby Kate's room. But Megan and Todd did a marvelous job with it. And hey, I painted the vines and filled in some of the flowers!

Don't even talk to me about the horribly crooked vine I painted over baby Kate's name. 

(Can't wait to meet her in April!)

P.S.: I know these photos only show the adorable vines and daisies on the walls. I have photos of the process, but my computer is giving me grief. And tomorrow, blessed tomorrow, I am getting my big girl camera - bye bye point and shoot - so maybe Megan will let me come over to her awesomely-decorated house and take a few more photos of the completed nursery so I can share it in its entirety. You'll love it!

Guacamole

I love simplicity. Simply Recipes, Real Simple, heck, even Simple Minds ... all onto something, aren't they?

When it comes to guacamole, I believe simpler is better.

No tomatoes, no cumin, no jalapenos, no crazy other stuff.* I mean, hello, we're starting with an avocado here, one of nature's perfect (and perfectly tasty) foods.

(*Disclaimer: My friend Reema admittedly makes an excellent avocado salsa that contains chunked avocado, all the crazy stuff I listed above, and more, and it's delicious. But it's a salsa. So there!)

Anyway, in the case of avocados and guacamole, I believe in letting the big creamy beautiful green guys shine all on their own. Well, with a little enhancement, especially in the form of garlic, I admit. But only a little. See? This is all I add to my guacamole:

 
One of the things I love about this recipe is usually it even brings guac haters on board. And the coolest thing about that is all you needed to do is scale it back to its simplest form, and suddenly most everyone loves it.

Want the recipe? Here ya go!

Guacamole

Ingredients:

• 4 medium avocados
• 1 1/2 tablespoons finely minced garlic (about 4 medium cloves)
• Juice of two small lemons, or one large (about 4 tablespoons)
• 1/2 teaspoon kosher salt

Directions:

1. Slice the avocados in half lengthwise and get that pesky pit out. To do this, I slice the avocado in half, pull it apart, and I hold the half with the pit in the palm of my hand. Then I let the knife fall, sharp side down, into the pit. Usually, with just a bit of a twist, the pit will come right out with the knife.
   
   
   
   
    
   
2. Using a spoon, scoop the avocado from its shell into a small or medium bowl.
3. Add the garlic, lemon juice, and salt.
   
   
   
4. Mash it all together with a fork, or like, me, a potato masher. I like to leave some good-sized chunks of avocado. No green paste here, no sirree!
   
   
5. Give it a taste, and adjust the garlic, lemon, and salt if you like.
6. Taste again, just because it's so good.
7. That's it! Enjoy with chips or whatever else your heart desires.

 
(Hands just rarely photograph well, eh? One of nature's unwritten laws, I guess.)