THE ALL-IMPORTANT DIP

I remember being 15 in my Spanish II class at Whitney Young. As the semester came  to a close we had a potluck and each student was asked to bring a dish. The one and only Latin student brought guacamole. At that time I was so finicky! If  food was too red, or too mushy or too done or too ANYTHING, I wasn't trying it. Fortunately for my taste buds, I gave my classmate's guac a try (only after glancing at her unpolished nails, to see if there was dirt or any other foreign object trapped under them. LOL). It was so bright and chunky, creamy AND DELICIOUS. Now Guacamole is one of my favorite dishes.

GAMEDAY or ANY DAY GUACAMOLE - Make about 2 cups
Prep Time: 10-15 minutes

Equipment:
Medium Bowl
Fork
Bowl Scraper or Large Spoon
Chips & Dip Platter

Ingredients:
3 Large Ripe Avocados
1 Medium Tomato, diced*
1 Small Onion, diced (I like the onions to be diced very finely. Nothing worse that a big chunk of onion in guac.)
The Juice of half of a small lime
1/2c Fresh Cilantro
1/2tsp Sea Salt
1/2tsp Black Pepper
1tsp Garlic Powder
1tsp Onion Powder
1/8tsp Cayenne Pepper (optional)
Tortilla Chips

1.  Peel Avocados, remove seeds & place in medium bowl
2.  Mash with fork (2 mashes per avocado)
2.  Sprinkle seasonings onto avocado (add additional salt, etc as needed)
3. Stir with fork, about 5 times. Leave some lumps
4. Add, onion, tomato, cilantro & lime juice
5. Stir with large spoon or scraper about 5 more times, making sure that your scape the bowl with each stir
6. Place in a chips & dip platter and surround with the tortilla chip of your choice
7. Garnish with lime slices and cilantro leaves

* I don't suggest making guacamole too far in advance. Don't make it more than 4 hours prior to serve time. But if you are making it more that 4 hours in advance, don't add  the tomato until you're ready to serve. Keep refrigerated.